Nick Colella

This is a 10 sheet set i did in early 2010, all sheets are 11 x 14 printed on thick stock you can paypal $100 to [email protected] and ill cover the shipping.

you can see close ups of each sheet on my profile page

thanks

nick

awesome story..if you just read that book on Pat marcy and the first ward, thats the book by the ex mob lawyer Robert Cooley i believe call the Chicago Outfit or something like that.. look in the index for Michael Colella..hes related

Yep as far as i have heard through stories the mob ran that whole area including the tattooing. Everyone kicked to them the tattooers, the dancers, the bookies, everyone. As far as mobsters go Accardo was the best. Never spent as much as a night in the clink and there's no cooler nickname than Joe Batters. He got it cuz of the severe baseball bat beatings he used to give!!!

Below is a pic of Tatts Thomas and his wife at the time and Owen Jensen and Dainty Dotty this pic was supposedly taken on South State Street, like i said everyone was supposed to have been through there.

Dari

You and Sarah both..Ha!

Shane

Thanks for getting me thinking about this. I agree with what you are saying about the popularity of tattoo then as to now. I do believe it was probably just as popular taking all your examples into consideration. A lot of us bitch about civilians being able to buy equipment off the internet but if I’m not mistaken Wagner and Waters where advertising their catalogs in the back of Popular Mechanics and other magazines. And Zeis had a mail order correspondence school back then. If there was a correspondence school the tattooers now would be in an uproar about it.

I’m not sure about elsewhere in the country but the research I did on South State Street in Chicago showed that hundreds of tattooers had pass through Chicago and had set up shop to tattoo on South State Street, everyone had a turn at it, it was just as popular as the Bowery or the Pike.

The South State Street levee as it was called was jammed full of arcades, burlesque shows, bars and flop houses, it was considered in the 30s, and 40s the worst red light district this country had ever seen, but what really got the neighborhood jam packed and the tattooers slammed was that in the middle of all of this was the Army and Navy recruiting stations. These recruits flooded the area everyday to enlist and then went back every two weeks on day weekend to indulge in all that life or South State had to offer until they were shipped out. In Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos Phil Sparrow talks about the constant flow of sailors to the neighborhood and how busy it was.

So that’s just a small example of the popularity of tattooing at that time in a 4 block square area, image that across the entire country, war is good for business and at that time amazing for the tattoo business.

As everyone knows Tuttle probably has the largest most vast collection of tattoo memorabilia anywhere, but I was told that he has somewhere of about 4000 hand painted sheets of flash , that’s inconceivable the amount of tattooing that was done off that flash. And most of it was from the early part of the 20th Century

9 times out of 10 that script is going on the ribs. it all started when the idiotic "tramp stamp" was coined, that screwed up everything. the lower back was a cake walk to tattoo, the ribs suck for microscopic letters

just stop by the shop and we can get you anywhere you wanna go..

whats up Deb!!!! hope you and Don are doing great!!!

its a strange thing to me. I sit in either Chicago Tattoo or some other tattoo shop for 8+ hours a day at least 5 days a week and when people who i dont know or arent covered in tattoos come in with face tattoos it freaks the hell outta me. Im with Julio in that its hard to look someone in the eye with tear drops or crosses or in one case a 3 inch fully black and gray shaded Virgin of Guadalupe on the cheek come in and just wanna rap about tattoos or bend your ear or just whatever get directions or some shit. Im always fascinated by it, its like the ultimate physically altering tattoo. its super punk rock to me even if its on some gang banger.

Its like when i started getting tattooed it seemed like there was a method to it an earning if you will, you had both upper arms done then you moved to the forearms and then full sleeves and then it was chest then back and stomach then it was all out you got your neck and hands neck and hands.

its no longer like that, its what was coined by my friend Nikki Balls, its the "warped tour tattoos", its neck, throat, full forearms, hands and knuckles. when they take their shirts off you are blinded by the glare of their blank skin everywhere else.

kinda strange, i remember what a big deal it was to get my first forearm tattoo, the visible one, it was as cool as getting my first tattoo on my upper arm. i didnt get my knuckles or hands done until i was tattooing for almost a dozen years, i thought yeah ive earned this shit now.

Since Mario and I travel to do shows together for the most part we pack pretty similarly, but one thing ive noticed if you carry on your supplies, ie. needles tubes and inks, keep your cards on you, im not sure about other countries but TSA workers love tattoos and as soon as you throw out a card and talk tattoos they are all about letting you through carrying on all your equipment. At least in my experience.

im not sure of other spots but Chicago I know pretty well, my wife and are try to get out for an amazing meal well it used to be once a month then it was onc in a while and now since we have a family its once a year or whenever we can fit it. So here is a list of my favorite spots that we have been to

the first ones are the heavy hitters and then ill go into the local spots.

Alinea-Head Chef Grant Achatz www.alinea-restaurant.com it just retarded 29 course 5 hour amazement!

Spiagia-Head Chef Tony Mantuana http://www.spiaggiarestaurant.com/ amazing tasting menu from a 4 star non mom and pop italian restaurant

Schwa-Head Chef Michael Carlson http://schwarestaurant.com/ its like punk rock meets fine dining intense

David Burke Steakhouse-Head Chef David Burke http://www.davidburke.com/ old style steakhouse with steaks aged in a room lined with Himalayan rock salt harvested once a year

Craftsteak - Head Chef Tom Choliccio http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/craftsteak-steak-house.aspx we where amazed at the food had a feast with 6 of us and it was some of the best cut and cooked steak we have ever had

Joel Robuchon-Head Chef Joel Robuchon http://www.joel-robuchon.net/ voted Chef of the Century and he lived up to it

Hot Chocolate- Head Chef Mindy Segal http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/ a good friend and a 4 time James Beard Award pastry chef nominee

L2O - Head Chef Laurent Gras http://www.l2orestaurant.com/ amazing food with a great room, the service was awesome

so heres some local spots there are always Chicago spots that ive been going to for years that have great food whether it be a hotdog or a beef sandwich (you can ask the guys at Blackheart about my love of those two things) so these are a few of my favorite spots for Chicago food

this spot is number one for a reason its a great place and the owner is an amazing guy who just gets it, my wife and I had our rehearsal dinner here, there is a line no matter when to get his food he is open from 10:30 to 4pm Monday through Saturday there are no other spots than the one and wen he goes on vacation he closes the doors

Hot Dougs- Owner Doug Sohn http://www.hotdougs.com/ Hands down the best hotdogs and gourmet sausages in the city if not the country, he is listed on Anthony Bourdains top 13 places to eat before you die!

Johnnie Beef-Owner Johnnie http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnnies-beef-elmwood-park as the review says "some people do to church on sundays i go for the italian beef combo at johnnies

Pita Inn http://pita-inn.com/ amazing Mediterranean food

Bari http://www.yelp.com/biz/bari-chicago a perfect Italian deli with fantastic sandwiches made to order

Sabatinos http://www.sabatinoschicago.com/ the pasta is ridiculous and the breaded clams are nuts plus you get the guys playing the guitar and violin coming to your table and it looks like a mob hit can happen at any time

Los Napales http://www.losnopalesrestaurant.com/ The spot for legit authentic Mexican food in Chicago

Gale Street Inn http://www.galestreet.com Best rib spot around and the have amazing jambalaya

Bongo Room http://www.thebongoroom.com/ an OG boutique breakfast spot with retarded specialty pancakes

Longman and Eagle http://www.longmanandeagle.com/ a new gastro pub that opened not to long ago the sweatbreads and Pork belly are intense

Pizza D.O.C. http://www.mypizzadoc.com/ Brick oven pizza and amazing food Emiliano Libertori used to love this place when he lived in Chicago

Pizza Metro http://www.pizzametro.com/ Everything here is so good super small sit at the bar and wait for a square!

ok and now for the Pizza

so theres always this debate on the pizza and as far as i see it Chicago has three different types and and all beat out NY and i dont care what anyone says, so the 3 styles are

Thin Crust

Dagastinos http://www.dagsdelivers.com/zgrid/themes/753/portal/index.jsp;jsessionid=a-pSGbUxXw34

Deep Dish

Art of Pizza http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-art-of-pizza-chicago

Bakery Style

D'amato's http://www.yelp.com/biz/d-amatos-bakery-chicago

im sure i missed a ton but thats all i got for you tonight