Jake

My boss (Jack Witt) used to zap at a couple of different spots on the Pike (Lee Roy's, Long BeachTattoo) and has a killer scrapbook of vintage photos and business cards. I scanned all of them the other day. Being an ex-HA(apparently not an easy club to quit) and working on the Pike in the mid 70s, he has a boatload of great stories.
I can't give ALL of the gems away, but here's some decent ones I can post.

What ever Chad Koeplinger does next

OK :D I was expecting a scene out of Toxic Avenger...


Wait, they ARE in a diner in that scene!!

that reminds me... Lochlan and I gave our nephew quite the xmas present last year. he shaved off his mustache and I shaved off my beard and we put them in ziploc bags for him to be able to have his own facial hair. hahahaha. he's super skeptical of gifts from us now.

that reminds me... Lochlan and I gave our nephew quite the xmas present last year. he shaved off his mustache and I shaved off my beard and we put them in ziploc bags for him to be able to have his own facial hair. hahahaha. he's super skeptical of gifts from us now.

Heres a different take on the classic by incredible Japanese artist Hiroshi Hirakawa .Hes just joined the staff at three-tides Osaka, i'm not sure of his role perhaps someone can shed some light ?

here's Josh's back piece by Bob Roberts. fucking killer tattoo.
for those who are interested click here for part 1 of Cody Miller interviewing Josh Arment and click here for part 2.

here's Josh's back piece by Bob Roberts. fucking killer tattoo.
for those who are interested click here for part 1 of Cody Miller interviewing Josh Arment and click here for part 2.

here's Josh's back piece by Bob Roberts. fucking killer tattoo.
for those who are interested click here for part 1 of Cody Miller interviewing Josh Arment and click here for part 2.

wait a year til you're 18 and can travel on your own and save up money and go to someone that you'll get a killer tattoo from rather than just an average one. trust me it's worth the wait. the chest is a big spot that anything less than an awesome tattoo won't do justice for the rest of you're life...

wait a year til you're 18 and can travel on your own and save up money and go to someone that you'll get a killer tattoo from rather than just an average one. trust me it's worth the wait. the chest is a big spot that anything less than an awesome tattoo won't do justice for the rest of you're life...

I heard if you smoke crack and drink faygo you turn into a member of ICP. Thats how they started actually. The combination is called "A Dark Lotus".

Andrew WK gets these assholes good.

This man deserves his own thread, but I'm definitely not qualified enough to start it. Perhaps Bryan Burk, Juan Puente, or someone else who has spent time in Japan with him would like to...
Anyways, here's a brief sample of the legendary Horiyoshi III's work. For those who want to learn/see more, Juan Puente has a photo book out that you should buy.

I've watched Davey walk across the crowd with the crowd all putting their hands up to create a platform for him to walk across. Hardcore AFI fans are wayyyy into it.

That Ripley tattoo is nice and smooth.
Side note did anyone notice the brown stain on the boxers of the guy with the Jesus tattoo gougetheeyes just posted? Must've been a rough session

I hump all my female clients and on occasion some of my male clients.
Anyone wanna make an appointment? I take a $50 deposit.

Haha...I have a mini Battle Royale done by Rassier. It's a panther-headed eagle versus a Hot Stuff-headed snake:

agreed. that's the first thing that caught my eye before I noticed the million other pieces of awesomeness
here's the front side of that suit which is equally insane

Some dude came in the other night with "FUCK COPS" HUUUUGE on the side of his neck asking how much to cover it up. It wasn't even healed yet. EWPS!

Those Lieber sailor girl acetates are damn good.
On another note about the source of references and influences, last time Lehi tattooed me I asked him if he liked Wido de Marval's tattooing (he works with Leu in Switzerland). Lehi said he'd never heard of him. I asked him whose Japanese-derivative tattooing he paid attention to. He said "No one's, really, I just look at the old Japanese stuff. That's what all these tattooers are trying to do, anyway." Reminds me of the Mike Malone letter to Keith Underwood that was published in TAM a few months ago. Malone adminished Underwood to "Look Look Look" at how Jerry executed his flash. He emphasized Jerry's formulaic approach to drawing archetypal images. Same thing as Lehi looking at Yoshitoshi, Kuniyoshi, or Horiyoshi II. I'd guess that Chris Conn's work, as distinct from someone like Jerry's as it might seem, relies on a very similar formula.

And now, an absolute facemelter by the one Horitomo:

my dachshund lucy and bert grimm.

So as I was walking along Venice Beach today, I saw tons of tourists entering a myriad of tattoo/piercing shops. Seeing as most of the tourists were absolute 'tards, I can only imagine what kind of "fun" those artists deal with on a regular basis.
Anyways, what's your worst walk-in story? Whether it was an abnormally absurd request or an out of his/her mind customer tell your story here!

Part Two
Chicago’s Tattooing past is as deep and influential as both the Bowery and The Pike and South State Street was the spot for all of these tattooers to come through. Like I stated before hundreds of tattooers came through to work on South State Street, from the early 1900s through until the demolition of the area in 1967.
Here are a few of the oldest photos I have found of unidentified tattooers tattooing on South State Street, if anyone knows who they are I would be stoked to hear it. These photos looked very staged, but it looks like the typical arcade style tattooing, just a small little corner or spot underneath some stairs where these arcade owners could house a tattooer as well. These photos where found in an online archive of old Chicago pictures from a local paper that no longer exists.



A lot of the tattooers where complete winos and would tattoo for the Mob owned arcades just long enough to get some drink, then would disappear until they needed to work again. Other like the ones I will mention below made South State their homes if not only for a short while. Most notable tattooers that worked on South State are but not limited to.
Ed Thornton
Bill Moore (Chicago Tattoo Supply House) not affiliated with Chicago Tattoo Co
Paul Hansen
Bill Killingworth
Jerry Pope
Ned Resinol
Ernie Sutton
Randy Webb
Mickey Kellet
William Grimshaw
Owen Jensen
Bert Grimm
Philadelphia Eddie
Don Nolan
Oakland Jake
Stoney St. Clair
Amund Dietzel
Phil Sparrow
Buddy McFall
Cliff Raven Ingram
Sailor Jerry Collins
Ralph Johnstone
Tatts Thomas
So there are 22 of the heaviest hitters to ever hold a tattoo machine and they all came through Chicago at one time or another and the history is relatively unknown or not talked about. To me this makes Chicago’s history even more intriguing. When people talk about tattooing they either mention The Bowery or The Pike, but Chicago was home to some pretty amazing tattooers that helped shape not only the look of what tattooers today call traditional designs but they where also trying to improve their tools and techniques.
Out of the list you have a few stand outs that are obvious you have of course Sailor Jerry, he was said to be introduced to electric tattooing by Tatts Thomas, here is the only card in existence that shows Sailor Jerry was tattooing on South State Street in Chicago. This card was in China Sea when Rollo bought it after Jerrys death, Kandi Everett had it in her possession for the last 20 something years and passed it on to me recently.

Bill Moore had the Chicago Tattoo Supply House and worked closely with Tatts Thomas over the years, Tatts and Bill moved shops a bunch of times during Bills stay on South State Street. Bill used to run ads in Popular Mechanics at the time touting his “Tattoo Outfit” so there you have tattooers selling to the general public way before Spaulding ever graced the back cover of Tattoo magazine. Bill Moores earliest ad was found in Billboard magazine in 1932, where he is listed at 434 South State the same address that Sailor Jerry used to work at. This was the Burton Arcade, which a lot of other tattooers had worked at as well. Bill Moore died in Chicago in 1944.
Ralph Johnstone to me is one of the most under rated tattooers of this time. Not only was he one of the most amazing circus banner painters but he also was an amazing tattooer that by all accounts was extremely kind and never had a bad word to say about any other tattooer. Ralphs business cards used to say he would work off of photographs, which meant photo realistic portraits in the 1950s. Ralph and Tatts Thomas worked side-by-side for Ralphs entire State Street Career which lasted I believe until everyone left in 1963. Johnstone also painted flash for Milton Zeis who at the time had a supply business and tattoo correspondence class out of Rockford Illinois. These business cards below show some of the address that Tatts and Johnstone worked at. The cards where also drawn by Ralph himself, as you can see he was light years ahead of his time in the way he approached illustration and tattooing for that matter.


Here you have a couple of Ralph Johnstone’s clients with full chest pieces, and the third pic is of 3 backpieces with Johnstone in the front the center was done by Tatts Thomas it is on Sailor Bill Killingsworth the other 2 where done by Johnstone.



Thanks for your interest more to follow on some of the other tattooers that shaped South State Street.