There are many different art forms. One of the oldest art forms that people often forget about is the tattoo. One in every five adults has a tattoo, according to a Harris poll conducted in 2012. The tattoo craze took off in the 1960s and was popular with the biker and hippy cultures.
“[Tattoos] are the thing that out dates everything. It outdates prostitution which is known as the oldest profession on earth,” said Chris Anthon, owner of a private tattoo studio Royal City Tattoos. “There is evidence that shows tattooing going back to 3000 BC. It wasn’t a job back then, but it has been around since there has been people.”
Although tattooing goes way back, the way of modern tattooing dates back to 1891, when the first rotary machine was invented by Thomas Alva Edison. It is said that Edison got the idea for the machine by looking at the way that trains move on a track in a continuous circular motion and applied that to the idea of the first rotary machine. Edison also played a part in the creation of the coil tattoo machine once known as “the electric pen.” The pen was used like a photo copier for copying pictures before they started using it for tattoos.
“The change of the electric tattoo machine was a big (change) in the early 1900s but it used to be guarded by tattooers that didn’t want to share their information,” said Anthon. “Each city would have one guy at most. Demographics by Paul [Vicary] was the first guy and the only guy in Guelph for the longest time, but in the 70s and 80s, if you wanted to open a shop, you would have to go to the other local tattoo guy and ask him permission, and you would have to open a certain distance away.”
Most tattoos have some sort of meaning. For example, in some culture’s tattoos are sometimes used as protection against harm. The symbols for tattoos are picked out to reflect the wearer and show their personality.
“Every different part of the world had a form of tattooing,” said Anthon. “I always found it interesting because there is no communication between people, yet somehow everyone came to the same conclusion to do it. There were lots of different methods to do it, but everyone found a way to mark themselves in that way.”
While there are many new techniques in the tattoo world, such as glow in the dark ink and tattoos that play songs when scanned onto an app, it’s important to remember the history of the art.