Check out some astounding vintage tattoos in this collection of history's coolest photographs of people displaying their ink.
Charlie Wagner in New York studio, 1940s.Bodies of Subversion/Powerhouse BooksWork by Jessie Knight, Britain's first female tattoo artist, circa 1939.Public DomainJapan, 1870.Felice Beato/Library of CongressPoster of woman wearing nun's habit revealing a tattoo of Che Guevara, 1965.Library of CongressPrivate Burchall and L/Corp. Griffith displaying their tattoos in 1944.Public DomainTattoo at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Baltimore, 1935Margaret Bourke-White/Public DomainJapanese man, 1890.New York Public LibraryMrs. M. Stevens Wagner, 1907.Library of CongressGerman stowaway at Ellis Island, 1911.Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library1955.Sherman Hulton/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesA model in the 1970s.Roy Kemp/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesButterfly leg tattoo by Jessie Knight, circa 1939.Public DomainBetty Broadbent, 1930s.Vintage Images/Getty ImagesIrma Senta, 1920s.Public DomainVintage pirate and veterans designs.Vintage Tattoo FlashBecause kimonos were usually reserved for royalty and the elite, Japanese lower classes rebelled with large body tattoos, circa 1940s.Public DomainAugust, 1973.Roy Kemp/Getty ImagesAl Schiefley and Les Skuse give woman "sweet" and "sour" tattoos in 1940s England.Public DomainDoris Sherrel getting her social security number tattooed by Jack Julian, 1942.Public DomainBird tattoo by Jessie Knight. Virginia, circa 1939.Public DomainA woman gets a permanent beauty mark tattoo in Copenhagen, 1956. John Firth/Getty ImagesJanet “Rusty” Skuse, who held the Guinness World Record of Britain's most tattooed woman for more than 20 years.Amsterdam Tattoo MuseumEdith Burchet. London, 1920.Public DomainDate unknown.Vintage Tattoo FlashLes Skuse at work on champion tattoo lady Pam Nash in 1960. John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty ImagesWallona Aritta, date unknown.Public DomainVintage mermaid tattoo design.Vintage Flash TattooTattooed sailor in 1908.Huton Archive/Getty ImagesEmma de Burgh's Last Supper tattoo, 1897.Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett CollectionCally d'Astra, 1860.Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Getty Images Tattoo of a naked woman riding a bird in 1928.Fox Photos/Getty ImagesTattoo artist Stella Grassman in the 1930s.PinterestBack tattoo of man's face, 1936.William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty ImagesJapanese man in the 1870s.Felice Beato/New York Public LibraryHorse and jockey tattoo, 1930s.Public DomanYoung man with tattoos, date unknown.New York Public LibraryUnidentified woman, 1897.Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett CollectionBetty Broadbent, date unspecified.Public DomainButterfly garter belt tattoo, 1930s.Public DomainTattooed lady on the midway during the World's Fair, circa 1939 - 1940.New York Public LibraryBob Wicks' flash sheet number 36, circa 1930.New York Historical SocietyIndia, 1880s.New York Public LibraryTattooed lady with sailor during the World's Fair, 1939-1940.New York Public LibrarySnake tattoo, 1928.Public DomainEagle and shield, circa 1875–1905, by Samuel O'Reilly.New York Historical SocietyTattooist and goldsmith "Nerses the Goldsmith" tattooing a pilgrim, probably an Armenian woman, at his store underneath the Armenian Patriarchate, in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. Circa 1900-1911.Library of CongressAlaskan indigenous Tlingit woman named Kaw-Claa wearing her potlatch dancing costume, Alaska, 1906. Frank H. Nowell/Alaska Digital Collection/Wikimedia CommonsMāori woman, Mrs. Rabone, in 1870. Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.Wikimedia CommonsThom de Vita and client in his studio at 326 E. 4th Street in New York, 1976.John Wyatt/New York Historical SocietyEd Smith's self-portrait showing Rock of Ages back piece, circa 1920.New York Historical SocietyNora Hildebrandt, circa 1880.Charles Eisenmann/New York Historical Society
We know for a fact that humans have been tattooing themselves for at least 5,200 years (the discovery of Iceman Otzi and his 61 tattoos from 3250 BC proved as much).
Since then, body art has been used to denote faith, class, fashion, patriotism, and everything in between. The styles have changed with the decades -- as have the procedural methods, thank God -- but the most important thing about getting inked has remained constant: It looks really cool.
Above, you'll find 51 photos of vintage tattoos that help represent the world's most personal art form.
