A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
American Traditional Tattoo Iconography, Symbolisms, and History
Research and opinion by Ray Reasoner Jr. and Jay Plecas
American Traditional (Old-school, Oldschool, oldskool, oldskewl, ...whatever) is a style that has drastically regained popularity over the past couple of decades but it originates in the early nineteen-hundreds and blossomed in the nineteen-fifties. One thing to keep in mind with all of these representations is that context always plays a role in communication through art. Some of these meanings will apply in one situation and not in another, or with one group of people from a certain region and not another. As with all of our articles this will be expanding over time.
Early Origins
So, as most of us know, tattooing is an ancient practice (see Tribal Tattooing). It has risen and fallen in many societies, even multiple times in some of them (such as Japan and China). In the Americas there was tattooing waiting here when the Europeans (primarily Spanish and Italian, who had greatly forgotten, minimized, or abandoned most of their tattooing traditions at that point) arrived (1490's). Though it was not this reintroduction that truly sparked the popularity of tattooing back up again.
A couple hundred years after Columbus and company, there was still continuous exploration being done by sailors for fame, fortune, as well as for the gaining of knowledge. These swarthy seafarers would capture tattooed natives (Pretty terrible practice, but that was the way of that era.) from around the globe and put them on tour with the circus. One example of this is "Prince Giolo" (1690's), who was brought on tour by the explorer William Dampier. Over the years there have been many tattooed attractions in the circus, which didn't take on the "sideshow" feel or organization that we generally think of until many years later. Quite often these "spectacles" would take place in a viewing gallery with a single "specimen" (for the upper class) or under a large tent (for the common folk). Their adorned bodies were of huge interest to the "civilized" folks in Europe and North America. Some of the carnies would tattoo themselves or others heavily to gain some of the interest of the public in the same manner. This started the growth of tattooing by a larger measure once again.
Another hundred years later other sailors, such as James Cook (explored 1768-1779) and they would come in contact with many different cultures. Some of these sailors started getting tattoos similar to the ones that they would come in contact with in the Polynesian Islands, as well as coming up with their own. Patriotic tattoos were also on the rise among the ranks after the U.S.' success against the British in the Revolutionary war. (Museum of the American Revolution) This was the beginning of tattoos coming back "home" on locals and minimally increasing the spread of "semi-civilized" tattooed people. In all reality it was pre-Cook that this had started and he is simply an example of one of the bigger explorers that spent a lot of time in Polynesia. Quite often cargo ships and military vessels would also have these contacts. However, some of these tattoos also had ties back to the "Old World" as they were of the religious nature and had their origins in marking different pilgrimages and different religious organizations.
These early contacts and interactions led to the sailors using very primitive tattooing methods, most of them done by the stick and poke method. Like many tribal tattoos the tools were very rudimentary; a sharpened object (preferably a needle) and some sort of ink (India ink, lamp black solution, etc., would be pushed into the skin. Some, apparently, even used gunpowder for ink; something that I was completely unaware of happening until recently learning it. You would think that this would be terrible for you but apparently our skin doesn't absorb much sulfur. It is a level IV toxin, meaning that it is in the least toxic category (EPA). A lot of hand-poked tattoos occurred in this era as electric tattooing really hadn't evolved yet. Tattooing practices in the "civilized world" remained without machinery for another hundred years. It had obviously been without it for thousands prior to this.
1800's to early 1900's
In the 1800's the U.S. Navy grew in leaps and bounds, doubling and tripling the numbers from the 1700's. By the 1840's, and WWII underway, there was an average of 1.4 million people in the Navy throughout the decade. This number fluctuated between a couple hundred thousand to over three million (from history.navy.mil). Now that the U.S. Navy had grown and had become a powerhouse of the military, more and more Navy boys started returning home with ink from home and abroad; this is the true flame that ignited the tattooing fervor that developed in the United States of America. This is not to say that the other branches had no part in this increase in tattooing, but sailors have been getting "Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed" for over a hundred years at this point. Martin Hildebrandt opened one of the first permanent shops in the country in the early 1870's. The number of tattooers in establishments were not nearly in the numbers that they are today. Your average mid sized city now typically has as many tattooers as the entire country had back then.
In 1891 Sam O'Reilly modified Thomas Edison's stencil pen design (one of Edison's is in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI) and got a patent for it as a tattooing pen. Mechanical engineering and electricity had finally made it's way into the ancient practice of tattooing. The first electric tattoo pen was a rotary, the use of them in tattooing is not revolutionary (pardon the pun, couldn't help it), as many suppliers would have you believe. These early O'Reilly machines held the ink within them and the needle would pass over the ink, dragging a bit of it to the tip where it would be pushed into the skin. There has been some debate over whether or not this was truly the first machine and if it was truly Mr. Sam O'Reilly that developed it. He apparently had family that tattooed as well. Without a doubt he was the first one to patent it so that's what history says is fact.
All early tattoo machines ran off from wet cell batteries as there wasn't much of a power grid in most places. I can speak from experience that deep cell marine batteries actually work pretty well in a pinch. These early batteries were not so advanced though, they were not self contained and resembled a science project much more than what we think of as batteries nowadays. A series of jars and wires with metals and chemicals looked more like the Baghdad batteries that archaeologists have discovered than a Duracell. O'Reilly's pre-modification machine had originally been engineered this way by Edison.
It was not uncommon for machines in this era to have permanently affixed tubes or barrels (where the detested slang word for a tattoo machine "gun" derived from) that were either screwed in or built completely in place. This of course changed over time with the later developments in cleanliness and sterilization methods entering the industry. Ironically, many years later "Sailor Jerry" Collins would brag about using forceps to change his tubes in a matter of seconds and that his clients would happily pay extra for this extra step of cleanliness. The irony is that the use of forceps was followed by tattooing without gloves. The "sterility" was fairly pointless in minimizing any cross contamination...but people seem to love a bull-shitter and he was one of the best. They gladly paid his prices and left satisfied.
The largest regions of tattooing in the late1800's and early 1900's were New York, New York and multiple cities in California; due to the large population in New York and the huge Naval bases throughout California. These were of course not the only areas where tattooing existed, but they were the largest concentrations. Pretty much any major city had an area with a handful of shops, especially if there was a Navy base nearby. Buffalo Bill Cody started his wild west show in the early 1880's which occasionally featured tattooed sideshows. Bert Grimm worked with him in 1916, the year before Cody died.
The Bowery in New York's lower Manhattan district in the late 1800's was home to all of the debauchery that one could handle. The next morning you could stumble into a barber/tattoo combo shop and have leeches thrown around a black eye so that you could still get hired for work that day. Whore houses, gambling, used clothing (with or without blood), gun play, food (with or without mold), sideshows, etc. could all be accessed here for cheap. Tattoo shops were part of this "realm of the dime". Charlie Wagner worked here from the 1890's 'til 1953 when he died. He started a supply company in 1901. (This was the same year that the King of England, Edward the VII received a tattoo before his coronation, not that this relates to American Traditional tattooing, but I thought that it was an interesting tidbit.) In 1904 Charlie patented his inline coil tattoo machine that has been used, more or less, for over a hundred years. Many different variations of this staple of the tattoo profession have been made throughout the years and many are still modifying them today. Coincidentally, he occupied the same space that Sam O'Reilly had been in at 11 Chatham Square. In all reality, Chatham Square was home to a plethora of tattooers over these early years. One can easily assume that the rent must have been cheap enough and there must have been good accessibility. Many of these tattooers did, however, also work for Charlie. Lewis "Lew the Jew" Alberts was one of these in the early 1900's before moving to Brooklyn, and then finally Newark, New Jersey shortly after the end of WWI.
Starting in the early 1900's stencils were hand cut on acetate sheets and had charcoal or carbon of some sort dusted over them as they were sticking to petroleum jelly or bacitracin to leave the lines needed to do the tattoo. Some tattooers used hectograph paper or hectograph pencils. There was no thermo-fax or printable stencil machines from USB ports, none of it existed yet. It was all done either full freehand or with acetates. Oddly enough, as a child I was often punished for misbehaving by being forced to run ditto copies for the school for hours on end...little did they know that would help me later :) since that process was incredibly close to the thermo-fax.
Tattooers were obviously still traveling with the circuses as well. Many, many sideshow attractions spent countless hours under the needle on a quest to achieve their final form. This was serious business and typically only the high-end tattooers got to take them on as clients. Many of these tattooers would post pictures around their shops, or in their booths, to let the clients know that they were "that good".
The Thriving Years
From the 1920's 'til the 1950's tattooing was booming in Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Long Beach, New York, and most major cities around the country. Supply companies had been around for quite some time and tattoos were a common sight in many places. Though still tied to the circus and with convicts in many circles, it was still the sailors that mostly spread the tattoo love back to the masses. It's actually during this era that you can see a duality in the media as to how tattooing was viewed. One newspaper would write raving reviews about how interesting and wonderful tattoos were, while another would write of the evils of the tattoo...and those that wore them.
Self promotion was at it's height; many criticized others for self promoting while they promoted themselves. It's a funny era. It was like blood in the water and the sharks were hungry. The piranha were starting to gather, as well as the occasional leech. Signs would plaster the front of most street shops advertising the highest quality and the lowest prices. Obviously everyone cannot be the best or the most inexpensive, so many were just lying in order to drive business through their doors so they could skin the rubes....
Most of the best known tattooers of this time were artists of some sort, armchair chemists, at least middling electricians, machinists, or mechanics, and had enough medical knowledge to not be spreading the majority of known diseases at that time. The vast majority of the successful tattooers were a minimum of two of these things. The clip cord was developed sometime in the 40's, no one really knows who the first was, but they became popular fast and Milton Zeis was one of the first to build machines made specifically to use them. Now let's get into what was happening in different parts of the country from the 1920's to the 1950's.
California
In the 1920's Charlie Barrs was set up in Los Angeles. Bert Grimm came to work with him in '24 and '25 before moving on to Chicago in '26. He used to bounce back and forth across the country working with a large number of known tattooers. He worked in Cali at least a couple of times, LA and San Diego for sure. We'll actually go into more detail on Charlie and his vast contributions in the Virginia part of this article. He's kind of a legend, no one knows for sure when he was born, no one knows for sure when he died...kind of weird actually. Just know that he was the cream of the crop in this era and that we'll come back to him later.
In 1930 Lee Roy Minugh "Prince of the Pike" set up shop in the back of a book store in Los Angeles before moving on to the Pike in Long Beach. He would have been about nineteen years old at his first shop so I am assuming the nick-name had a double meaning. Lee Roy had apparently become an ordained minister in 1954 so was probably a young "Good Guy" at that time on the Pike. He had gotten his first tattoo at about thirteen years of age. He did quite a few of Capt. Don Leslie's (1904-2007) tattoos; Don was a fairly popular circus performer, block head, fire breather, sword swallower, and most dangerously, (I kid, I kid) a dear friend to Lyle Tuttle. Lee Roy later gained infamy in the late 1950's for tattooing a media mogul named Steve Allen on television. For some damn reason there is no record of this except for a few images. I searched for hours and hours for the exact episode that it happened in, even a more accurate date...nothing. I can find every person or band ever performing on the show, but not Lee Roy :)))), since he wasn't a musician, actor, or famous at the time no one seemed to log it into the archives...unfortunate. Steve seems to have just gotten the tattoo to say that he had one.
Later in Long Beach, the tattoo artist Bert Grimm made his final professional tattooing home (1954). Bert Grimm was already a well known name in tattooing at this time and still today in some circles. He had the oldest continuously operating tattoo shop (Bert Grimm's World Famous Tattoo Studio) in the United States. The shop is still where the Nu Pike used to be in Long Beach and is owned/operated by Kari Barba under the "Outer Limits" name that she is so well known for founding. Bert had learned the trade from Sailor George Fosdick back in Portland, Oregon somewhere around 1916. Bert was by no means the only tattooer in Long Beach in that era, but he was by far the best known. Many tattooers were sprung into fame after working in this shop, including Lyle Tuttle, Bob Shaw, Col. Todd, Bob's sons Larry and Bobby, and Rick Walters, to name a few. This is not to say that their skill and prowess had nothing to do with their success, but they definitely ran in the right circles. Lyle Tuttle also opened his first shop in Frisco in 1954, after having worked with Bert.
Florida
Leonard "Stoney" St. Clair is the epitome of determination. He was diagnosed with Rheumatism arthritis at the extremely young age of four. At the age of sixteen he started tattooing after being a sword swallower in the circus for a year already. So yeah, he ran away with the circus at fifteen years of age. Okay, so maybe not ran away; he had an uncle that was in the circus and he wanted to do it too...:)))close enough. But he didn't join with his uncle, he was hired by a lady who taught him to swallow swords with a fire poker. So this fifteen year old crippled kid (handy-capable, whatever) in a wheelchair rolled off to the circus after three days practice with a fire poker....wow. He just so happens to be in Norfolk Virginia while Cap Coleman is there and draws an eagle for him...Cap was impressed. He hangs out with Cap for a few days (which some refer to as him apprenticing under Cap...check your facts kids) and gets handed a couple of tattoo machines before heading out of town. The guy across the street from Cap (Prof. EJ Miller) teaches him how to cut stencils and such and offers him help if he needs it. Prof. Miller tells him to write him while on the road.
Stoney dinks around on grapefruits and ends up getting bamboozled into being a tattooer for the circus that he's in after the current one gets run off in 1928. The circus ends up wintering in Tampa one year and Stoney set up shop. Apparently he came and went for some time until in 1957 he set up a permanent shop. He eventually moved to Nawlins (New Orleans, LA) and then Columbus, OH. Remember this little piece of wisdom from Stoney: "The only safe name to put on you is mom."
Hawaii
In Honolulu tattooing was running full bore due to WWII. Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins moved to Hawaii from Chicago (1930's) and remained there until his death in 1973. While there he did many things; he tattooed, got his Captain's papers, skippered a Pearl Harbor Memorial boat tour, got his FCC license, hosted a radio show as "Old Ironsides", and generally created mischief whenever he could. He wasn't real big on gullible people so he messed with them incessantly. He, as previously stated, was a bit of a "Bovine Fecologist" and there are many stories about him messing with the slow witted. He did everything from tricking people into painting with sugar in the bug infested islands to sending purple flowers to a tattooing rival which he indirectly caused to have a heart attack after seeing his purple ink in a fresh tattoo. You need to understand that in these times in the US there were primarily five colors of ink that were "stable". For the most part they still weren't all that safe. Some of them contained lead (white), mercury (red), and cadmium (yellow). It wasn't really until later when Huck Spaulding sacrificed himself by testing all sorts of pigments on himself and getting skin cancer multiple times that we got the wide variety of colors that we have today. Sta-glo inks are part of that contribution. Others also made these contributions, but Huck was the most successful in the old days. Later, National Tattoo Supply would come out with homogenized ink (HLC) that was considered safer and richer in color. Much later Mario Barth took that a step further and released the first "safe" ink. They offer msds (material safety data sheets) for all of their inks showing the ingredients and they avoid chemicals that are proven to be harmful. I'll get back on point, I promise. In the early days pigments were typically sold in powdered form and the tattooer would need to mix them up with a liquid themselves. This concoction was a trade secret for years amongst tattooers and still is to some extent. Many had their own recipes for what made the ink flow better and not gum up.
Illinois
Norman "Sailor Jerry " Keith Collins was sailing the Great Lakes as a Merchant Marine (1920's). He met Tatts Thomas in "Chitown" and started learning to tattoo with a machine from him. Jerry had been hand poking tattoos up to this point. Tatts had been tattooing with the Ringling Bros. Circus (1910's) but had settled down in Chicago, perhaps tired of all of the travel, who knows. Gib worked multiple shops on or near State Street, as well as one in later years with Cliff Raven.
In the late 50's Cliff Raven began his journey as a tattooer with Phil Sparrow (or alias Sam Steward, depending on the circle). We'll likely get to more info about Cliff in another blog.
Michigan
In Detroit Percy Waters had recently founded his supply company (around 1919) that grew to be one of the largest in the world during this era. He sold all sorts of supplies, including his patented adjustable coil machine. He tattooed many sideshow attractions over the years and remained in Detroit until the late 1930's when he moved the supply business back home to Anniston, Alabama.
Another supply company owner, JF Barber also set up in Detroit in the 20's after working in Cincinnati, Ohio a decade earlier. His machines tended to be a bit smaller than the average tattoo machine.
New York
In New York, Prof. Charlie Wagner had seen some ups and downs but he was still in the Bowery. He had a few dozen sideshow attractions under his belt (Betty Broadbent probably being the best known) and was still chugging along. He tattooed there, as stated earlier, until 1953 when he died. An odd side note; Charlie would date his tattoos, like a painting, the date and two stars apparently. Charlie (must be something about that name) affected many tattooers in his fifty years in the Bowery, including Brooklyn Blackie, and "The Bowery Boys", aka the Moskowitz family. Willie Moskowitz started tattooing in his own barber shop (1948) after growing tired of dealing with his junkie tattoo guy, and at the behest of Charlie. Apparently the guy would dip out on rent, show up one day, not the next...typical junkie stuff. His sons Walter and Stanley would later carry this torch on. This is part of how the next legacy of New York tattooing would carry on up into the 2000's...but that's a different story. I'll just say that I love machinist ball-peen hammers and revisit this in a later article.
Bill "Jonesy" Jones was working with Charlie up until either the late 40's or 60's when he left to work for Nic Picaro at his supply company (depending on the source the date he left varies, though it is known that he worked for Nic until his death in 1969). I would assume that it was just before Charlie's death in '53, but no one seems to have an exact date. Prior to this he was building machines and tattooing with Charlie. Bill came to be known as an amazing machine builder, especially his still copied frame style. He loved building machines far more than tattooing people since he didn't care for the rowdy bunches very much.
North Carolina
In Jacksonville, NC Spaulding and Rogers Mfg, inc was founded by Paul Rogers and Huck Spaulding (1955, but '56 on paper) as a mail order supply company. Paul didn't stick with the business for a real long time and took on more of a background role until finally leaving the company. The company grew on without him until moving to Voorheesville, NY in 1976 (ny.gov) and went on to be one of the largest supply companies in the U-S of A. Paul went on to continue traveling, tattooing, and building machines for many years and had "The Iron Factory" in his back yard in Jacksonville, FL until he died. Many people hate Spauling and Rogers mfg. inc., but Darwin "Huck" Spaulding contributed quite a bit to the world of tattooing. Misinformation will have him as the pioneer of peddling Chinese knock-off supplies but nothing could be further from the truth. The company has employed many people in Voorheesville for many years and has made the vast majority of their products onsite. You may not like him or them, but you should respect him anyways.
Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia has played a pretty vital role in the development of American Traditional tattooing as well, especially in this era. Charlie Barrs, who had ties to Paul Rogers, Bert Grimm, Owen Jensen, and many others, went to work in Norfolk with August "Cap" Coleman (Coleman had moved to Norfolk around 1918 and set up shop) so that Coleman could pick up a few things from him, or so the story goes. "Cap" had a boat that he would travel around on and, of course, wore a Captain's hat on most occasions. The story also has it that "Cap" didn't charge him booth rental or commission in exchange for this knowledge. You have to understand that a lot of things weren't written down in this time period of tattooing. It wasn't until later that quite a few of the top rated artists started writing each other on the regular. A lot of the things that we know are second hand from Paul Rogers, Ed Hardy, and Sailor Jerry Collins; through their stories and correspondence. As it continues Cap Coleman seems to have learned some tattoo design construction and machine tuning technique from Barrs, but he made the artwork part a bit bolder. Mind you, Coleman was already an established and well known tattooer, Charlie tightened him up a bit. This is the birth of the American Traditional style.
Bert Grimm himself attributed Charlie Barrs as being "the granddaddy of all good tattooing" and Paul Rogers credited him with helping him develop his world renowned machine building skills though he met Charlie much later in life. Charlie Barrs had his finger on the pulse of tattooing for decades as he influenced many world classed tattoo artists. It is not altogether strange that many have not heard of him since through all of these years almost all that described him did so as him being quiet. This meaning that he was not an arrogant loud mouth, something that a lot of artists today could take heed of. Strangely enough it was "Cap" who emboldened the artwork and gained credit among quite a few people for developing the style. I had honestly never even heard of Charlie until my friend Jay Plecas, who is assisting me a bit with this article, had brought him up in conversation and I then needed to know more. It's almost unfortunate that the squeaky wheel gets noticed sometimes. I'm more of a replace the broken wheel kind of guy.
Anyway, Cap stayed in Norfolk until tattooing was banned there in the 50's, when he moved across the river to Portsmouth. He apparently was found in the Elizabeth in 1973, dead. He donated his well earned stock market investment money to a few local good causes, including the Lions Club, a school for the deaf, a United fund, and an infant fund.
Wisconsin
Right around 1913 Amund Dietzel, a native of Norway, found his way to Milwaukee. He worked for a few years there before going back on the road until 1919, when he returned and worked at multiple locations there until the Milwaukee tattoo ban of 1967. This was six years before his death. During his travels he worked in many major cities and is associated with a couple of tattoo machines.
The Fall and Rise (Again)
By the 1960's tattooing took a hit in NY (1961). The moral majority banned it due to the criminal and unscrupulous elements within. They also blamed the tattoo shops for a Hepatitis outbreak in the city, which though possible, is unlikely since most legitimate tattooers knew how to deal with this issue by then. Tattooing took a turn in the mainstream and went back underground to an extent, not all of the way, more like in the corners of the room. Criminals were being associated with them due to media coverage implying such.
Even though this was occurring in New York and other major cities the rest of the country was starting to open up, just the tiniest bit more to the idea of tattoos. They were slowly becoming feasible, accessible, and something intriguing that could set them apart from others. Tattooing started to reach out of the Navy yards into the colleges. There was a better view forming; less of a "convicts and whores" mentality surrounding tattoos. Hippies and rock stars were getting tattooed. Women by the thousands were getting tattooed in the 60's. It spread from the colleges to the home. Kids saw their Aunt's and Uncle's tattoos and the musicians that they idolized having tattoos. Growing decade by decade, group by group, until now where roughly one in three people in the United States has at least one tattoo and a lot of people watch one of many tattoo "reality" TV shows. We'll be going into these eras and the people that helped to shape them in other articles.
This data reminds me of a Lyle Tuttle quote "Tattoos aren't meant for everybody, and they're too goddamn good for some people!" This seems kind of harsh but I was fortunate enough to meet Lyle and spend a little bit of time with him. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, nor were we friends, but we had a few good conversations almost twenty years ago. My impression of him was that he wasn't real big on slow minded, unappreciative people, and of course that he liked to have a good time. I believe that the prior part of his personality is what this quote is about. Respect the ink, respect the trade, or don't bother. These years later I understand even more as rich people are getting anesthesia to get tattooed and then have a staff to do their aftercare for them. Average people are using skin numbing cream for silver dollar sized tattoos and burn victim aftercare so that they don't have to remember to wash and take care of their ink while it heals. "Tattooists" are learning to tattoo via the internet and ignoring any and all research into what they are tattooing onto people! I realize that I'm ranting a bit, but a tattoo is much more than a fashion statement, or an accessory. Tattoos are not tennis shoes! The industry needs to return to a craft...but unfortunately it will probably have to die first...to go back underground once again...back to the darkened corners of the jungles (be they concrete or otherwise). I can carry on and on about this, but I digress back to the topic at hand....
American Traditional Tattoo Motifs
So the images used in most traditional tattoos had a point, or a meaning. It was typically more than just decoration. As Lyle Tuttle would refer to the tattoos as "travel marks", but quite often to a higher degree. With many of the sailors (or other military people for that matter) if you knew how to translate their tattoos you could literally know where they had been on their travels and likely what their job was to some degree. That's not to say that every tattoo on every single person was this way; love, comedy, and tragedy are almost always a part of art if it truly reflects it's creating culture. There is also the art for art's sake mentality, but it was not so common in this era. Now let's get into some of the American Traditional topics of choice and the elements and/or reasonings behind some of them. These are being listed alphabetically and not by popularity.
13:
This one could go way back (in my opinion) to the pagan lunar calendar and pagans were considered evil, or possibly even a properly tied noose (13 wraps). So over time 13 became a number associated with bad luck or being on the outside of the law/church. It also has possible ties to the Knights Templar, which were betrayed on Friday the 13th, 1307. Many people, whatever the true origin, feel that this is their totem number. It's a way of embracing those things that those that shun or detest them.
8-ball:
This is a little newer school than most of the other traditional designs but still falls under old-school, I believe that this is associated with luck as well for the most part, but nowadays it is also linked to drug use (i.e. 8-ball of pepsi< or er coke, yeah, damn soda companies, hehe)
Anchors:
An anchor can represent having crossed the Atlantic or being a Merchant Marine. Some people get them to symbolize keeping themselves grounded and focused.
Crossed anchors between the first finger and thumb identifies the wearer as being, or having been, a boatswain's mate.
Battle Royale:
This was, and is, usually a larger design due to it's complexity. It entails an eagle, a dragon, and a serpent fighting. This represented the US, China, and India all fighting for supremacy. The eagle for the USA, dragon for China, and snake for India. Some will explain this as a balance or eternal balance tattoo. But this era of tattooing was not about balance, it was about war and the eagle is almost always fighting the snake and the dragon, rarely balanced with all attacking each other. Though the USA has had good relations with India, in the past we have used violence to gain an upper hand in trade with them. These three countries are the three largest populations on Earth. It has been that way for some time. Many will try to attribute "feel good" meanings to this design, but there is none to be had for this is war.
Black Panther:
A strength, cunning, and speed totem, the black panther can also represent something sneaking up on you, or if dead, keeping something from sneaking up on you.
In some circles this tattoo also obviously represents the Black Rights Movement, but this was not the original intent of the tattoo.
Bulldog with a Military Hat or Helmet:
This is a Marine Corp tattoo. Styled for "Jiggs", the Marine Corp mascot from 1922. Some versions will also include devil horns for the "Devil Dogs" (Teufelshunde), which is a name commonly used to describe the viciousness of the Marines during WWI. As the story goes, this moniker came from the Germans warring against them.
Cannons:
Cannons, typically crossed, show that the bearer has had Naval military experience. I would imagine that this is more likely for someone that was actively involved with munitions in some way.
Cards:
Plays on numbers and favorable hands can dictate fortune (royal flush, 4 aces)or the obvious opposite (dead man's hand= 2 aces, 2 eights and an arguable fifth card) can show misfortune. In the olden days it was also quite common for the suits to be associated with different aspects of life; hearts for love, diamonds for money, spades for death, clubs for chaos. This also plays into some of the Romani fortune telling practices.
Individual cards have also had different meanings, an ace of spades has long been seen as a death card. The queen of hearts has equally been viewed in the context of a lover, whereas a king of hearts is torn apart by love and pushes a knife into his own head. The knave (jack) represents youth or inexperience.
Chicken and Pig:
When a ship would wreck it would be common for livestock to survive and wash up on shore. Henceforth, this is a sign of good luck in case of a crash.
Compass Rose:
This represents direction, both as a totem and as a tool. Finding your way is thought to be easier with one of these inked on you.
Dagger:
The dagger has long symbolized loyalty since it was quite often used in blood oaths. Not many of those happening anymore....
Dancing girls/women/pin-up:
It was not uncommon for sailors to get women as reminders of home or for good luck. An in-skin keepsake of a missed girlfriend, wife, or just the thought of a woman might help them through the dark days and bring back thoughts of good times. Flapper girls were a fairly common tattoo for guys wanting to remember good times; partying, laughing, and obviously getting drunk. It was also used to show different ports through using different nationalities of women.
Dead Black Cat:
Destroying bad luck before it crosses your path. A black cat by itself can also symbolize being wild or sneaky, as well as bad luck.
Dice:
Being a game of chance dice are always considered good luck as long as the numbers are in your favor. the number 7 has long been associated with good luck. It even goes back into biblical times (if you're into that). 7 and 3 are good, 6 is bad, hehe, along with snake eyes of course being the worst.
Dragon:
This represents having served while in the region of China or Japan.
Golden Dragon-This tattoo is earned by sailors for crossing the International Date Line.
Eagles:
Since Roman times eagles have been seen as the alpha bird. These raptors didn't lose that role in American Traditional tattooing. Eagles were obviously linked with patriotic tattoos and represented strength and prowess of the hunt.
Five pointed, split-color stars:
Known as Nautical stars; there is no shortage of reasons that these were popular for so long and then regained popularity as So-Cal Stars. These were intended as charms for luck in navigation since many of the old-school sailors navigated by the constellations. They also resemble the stars worn by the military, as well as the way a compass rose on a traditional map is typically split.
Geisha:
Though commonly mistaken for prostitutes, only a specific style of Geisha is/was a sex worker. These incredibly talented entertainers are associated with Japanese culture. These pin-ups typically showed that someone had been to Japan as well and either served as a pleasant reminder of a good time, or just the culture.
Harpoon:
The harpoon showed that the bearer has worked on a fishing or whaling fleet.
Hearts:
Hearts, like skulls, are ubiquitous in American Traditional tattooing culture. Context generally determines the meaning.
Cracked Heart-
A split or cracked heart still today symbolizes loss or heartbreak.
Heart and Dagger-
The heart and dagger symbolizes loyalty; one who would rather put a dagger through their heart than betray something, someone, or a particular belief. This is a symbol that actually goes back to the old world and finds it's origins in a few religious sects of Christianity. I later years a heart with multiple daggers (3 or more) and roses would typically represent the "Pains of Mary". This is a Catholic representation of the hardships that the Virgin Mary went through during her life. The accurate number of blades is seven, but it was not unusual for smaller renderings to show less.
Heart with Mom Banner-
Do I really have to explain this? I'm sorry I can't. If you need this one explained you should retake the second grade.
Sacred Heart-
A heart with flames coming from a single ventricle having a cross within it, a crown of thorns wrapped around it, and a wound in the lower portion. This obviously represents the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
"Hold Fast":
On the knucks, this is obviously a grip improvement totem tattoo.
Hot Stuff:
A cute little devil with a pitchfork from a comic first hitting the stands in October of 1957 by Harvey Comics. This is a little newer in the traditional family, since it came toward the end of the true era.
Hula Girl:
This shows that the sailor has been to Hawaii.
Man's Ruin:
Usually depicts the many wondrous ways that a man can destroy his life or have a good time, however you look at it. Boozing, Drugging, Gambling, Womanizing, etc., are combined into one image with or without the wording.
Neptune/Poseidon:
This Roman/Greek God is said to show that someone has crossed the equator.
Palm Tree:
The same symbolism as a Hula Girl, Hawaiiiiiiiiiiiii!
Pharoah's Horses:
Three Arabian horse heads running neck to neck. Originally a painting by John Frederick Herring Sr. in 1848 or 1854; this painting gained popularity and entered the tattooing world at an unknown time. One of the earliest accounts of a completed Pharoah's Horses tattoo is by Leonard "Stoney" St Clair but perhaps Augustus "Gus" Wagner was first. Once again word of mouth vs documentation, since Gus had a photo.
There are many different meanings associated with this image. Strength, Power, Perseverance is one set, while Strength, Wealth, Power is another. From what I can tell these meanings were added later by the tattoo community. JF Herring Sr. was an avid horse buff that just seemed to love the animals. It is also quite possible that he made more than one of these paintings since the dates don't line up between sources. Sotheby's auction house documented the painting as having a signature with 1954 as the date while other sources claim it was made in 1848.
Poppy Flowers:
This pain killing flower is a bit more of a modern American Traditional design. Though the morphine that was derived from it was highly appreciated in times of war, it was not commonly tattooed. Many people now get them in commemoration of WWI and WWII. Flowers often confused with poppies in the old tattoos are usually wild roses.
Rock of Ages:
An unbroken stone cross in the waves of the sea or ocean. This represents solid faith that is unwavering amidst chaos. This design could also be taken as representing someone being buried at sea. There are various depictions of this; some with a mourner, or someone praying, and some without.
Romani Heads:
The beautiful heads and necks of Romani women (formerly referred to as Gypsy, but this name has a fairly derogatory origin) are thought to represent freedom and/or mysticism. This can be a reminder of that beauty or an attempt at gaining the good mojo from the freedom and magic.
Rope on the Wrist:
This represents being a deckhand since they were the ones commonly handling the ropes. A proper strong knot, rather than a simple or plain knot, at least a square knot is recommended for this as a totem of increasing grip.
Rose and Dagger:
This supposedly meant that the wearer was loyal and willing to fight or kill anything, I dunno about that, seems a little strange to advertise being willing to "kill something pretty". Maybe I just don't relate to super macho men. I would make a guess at that tying more back into the British with the roses being so prevalent in that culture.
Rose of No Man's Land:
This tattoo takes it's name from a 1918 song by Jack Caddigan and James A. Brennan about the nurses taking care of those wounded in WWI. The roses were the female nurses and no man's land was the space between opposing trenches. The representation of this took to adding an actual nurse to the image. This would typically be the first person that an awaking soldier would see if they were lucky enough to wake up and survive. The nickname of "Rose" for the female nurses may have been in place before the song was made and been the reasoning behind it.
Sea Turtle:
This coaster of the oceans was earned by crossing the Equator.
Shaking Hands:
This design is pretty self descriptive, but just in case you don't get it...they're not trembling. It's two hands engaged in a handshake. They generally represent cooperation and were a popular symbol amongst union workers.
Shark:
The shark is one of those creatures that we have always had a love/hate relationship with; we are in awe of them, yet most of us have an inherent fear as well. Getting one of these was often as a totem to gain their power or to show that the bearer was not bait fish.
Ship:
A fully rigged sailing ship (three mast), other than just being impressive is supposed to be earned by sailing around Cape Horn, the vast majority of people that have these have not done that though. They are typically just a representation of loving the sea and the eternal sway between provider and destroyer, as well as respecting the ingenuity required to exist and overcome in that environment. The water and weather condition around the ship can make a statement as well. Rough waters and storms can represent overcoming hardship and/or the chaos of the seas, while calm waters and sunny skies can represent the good days and the great provider which is nature.
Skulls:
Death, yep, that inevitable end for everyone eventually. The usage of these in American Traditional is pretty much all context based and usually pretty straightforward.
Snakes:
Snakes were commonly used as totems; either dead to ward of liars and/or evil sneaky things, or alive and ready to strike to invoke speed and alertness.
Swallows:
Commonly mistaken/confused with sparrows. Swallows have a split tail, whereas a sparrow does not. Swallows are used to mark every 5000 nautical miles sailed.
Also, when sailors were returning home after being at sea, the first indication of being close to land was to have swallows flying around the ship. Hence, this is also a sign of home, and making it back there.
Two swallows-
"I think it has something to do with having crossed the Northwest Passage. If a sailor made it one way they had one swallow tattooed, and upon returning they had the second swallow done, usually on the chest."
(courtesy of Kitten69kim)
In Closing:
So there you have it, for now. A brief (or maybe not so brief) history of the American Traditional Tattooing style, a handful of the people that helped develop it, and some of the designs that it has given us. Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did studying and expanding my understanding of the craft that Jay and myself love so much. His memory is just way better than mine :) .
A combination of multiple books (especially those from Michael McCabe and Hardy Marks), years of experience, conversation, obviously the internet, and the Tattoo Archive from CW Eldridge were used as reference. Please support the Tattoo Archive and the PRTRC (Paul Rogers Tattoo Research Center) benefits from their activities and they do a wonderful job of preserving the history of tattooing and those that pioneered it. Besides, Chuck's one hell of a good, honest guy.
"If you don't know exactly where you come from it's hard to see where you're going...and if you should." -Me
Later Days,
Ray
No AI was used in the writing of this article.
_ 
_