History of Tattoos

Tattoos have been around for centuries, literally thousands and thousands of years. Throughout time, tattoos have always held an important role in ritual and tradition. In fact, in the past, women from Borneo marked their skills with tattoos. Tattoos were also used to help stave off illness and disease by placing the tattoos around the fingers and wrist. As part of the history of tattoos, they were also used to symbolize a society or clan visually.

Tattoos’ purpose has changed from culture to culture throughout time. In fact, research has shown that the earliest tattoos came from Egypt at the time of the pyramids. Most believe they started much earlier, though. At this time, Egyptians were believed to use tattoos to mark peasants and slaves. Around 2000 B.C., tattoos found their way to China and then went on to Greece, where the Greeks used tattoos as a form of communication among spies.

As part of the history of tattoos, Japan also used them. In fact, the Japanese used tattoos for ceremonial rights and religious purposes. During this time, women from Borneo were the artists for the tattoos. They created the designs that told the story of the individual’s place in life and the tribe that he came from. Tattoos were very popular during this time, although it was quite common to get an infection from them. They were a long way from perfect, including in the way they were done.

The history of tattoos occurred in the western regions, too, although they weren’t well accepted at first. The explorer William Dampher reintroduced tattoos to western areas. During 1961, he brought a prince who had been heavily tattooed to the area and showed off his tattoos with exhibitions. Dampher made quite a lot of money with these exhibitions, and in turn, they also made tattoos popular and desired throughout London and surrounding areas. Until that time, it had been nearly 600 years since tattoos had been popular or had been seen much in that area.

New York City’s Chatham Square first began to feature American styled tattoos. At the turn of the century, it attracted people from everywhere in the United States, especially those who had money. A man named Samuel O’Reily set up shop there and became the first man to use an electric tattoo gun. At first, this now popular method of tattooing was based on the electric pin that Thomas Edison had used, with a needlepoint to puncture paper.

Today, the electric tattoo gun is part of the history of tattoos, and features moving coils, as well as a tube and needle bar. These guns have made it possible to get inexpensive tattoo and also helped revolutionize the tattoo process. They allowed artists to give tattoos fairly quickly, too. People flocked to this new technology so that it became the best and most efficient way to get tattooed.

Tattoos really began to become popular during the late 1960s and were featured on television and in magazines; they were also popular topics of conversation. Today, tattoos are also very common, with nearly 50% of the US population boasting at least one tattoo. Bikers and other “clans” still use tattoos to symbolize membership. There are literally millions of designs out there if you’d like your own tattoo; they include different color combinations that make tattoos both unique and the phenomenon they have become today.