Old School Tattoo
When the majority of people think about old school tattoo designs they think of Sailor Jerry. Sailor Jerry is considered to be the grandfather of old school tattoos and Jerry himself was considered to be a classic. He was an ex-sailor who was as salty as his tattoo style and he had a dagger sharp intellect that could size up a person or a situation in a split-second. He also created a style of old school tattoo that is still being copied to this day. After Jerry ended his career in the 1920s, he decided to settle on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Island Chain.
This was a good decision for him because once World War II started there were millions of sailors and marines stomping around the island. And all this military personal served as the fodder for his newly establish tattoo parlor. Over the next four decades, Sailor Jerry created old school tattoos on countless marines and sailors, all the while perfecting his craft. His old school tattoo style used bold lines that had serious sensibilities about color and shading. These tattoos would become the standard for the old school tattoos of modern tattooing. Sailor Jerry’s legacy lives on even to this day. |
Old School Tattoos
Old school tattoos are a term that has caused much confusion in the tattoo world. Not many people know exactly what comprises an old school tattoo, so I’ve decided to give you guys a basic definition. Old school tattoo designs are American tattoos that became popular during the three decades from the 1920s through the 1950s. These tattoos are usually composed of simple designs such as pin-up girls, birds, ships and anchors. Old school tattoos were generally done in large, bold designs that were meant to be worn with pride. They were done in such large and bold designs because tattooing back then was very much different than modern tattoos.
This is true for a number of reasons, but the primary reason was because the tattoo guns and inks weren’t very good. Over time tattoos would become distorted and become illegible. This was because the ink used at the time, ‘Indian ink’, would often break down into lighter colors. So tattoo artist made sure the designs were big and simple to make sure this didn’t happen. Another reason old school tattoos were simple is because “flash” wasn’t used. Most artists at the time had to either do the tattoo “free style” or they had to stencil the design on the skin in charcoal. As the artists worked these charcoal stencils would smear and the design would break down. A simple design allowed the artists to continue with the tattoo without having to redo the stencil. |
