A Dozen (or So) of Ed's Sixty-Eight (Approximately) Tattoos

Every neighborhood has at least one or two of them: old-timers who have retired from the workforce and can now shed their suits and proudly display what they have accumulated over a lifetime: their vast tapestry of ink.

Ed lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (my neighborhood) and worked for a bank for forty years. Even today, when the stigma of tattoos is dissipating with the changing times, Corporate America still has employee handbooks which prohibit visible body art.

Ed started getting inked, like many men of his generation, when he was 18 and entered the Service. And, over the years, he collected tattoos. And he's not done, although the real estate is shrinking in quantity.

By his best estimate, Ed gave me a number of sixty-eight (68!). While chatting with outside of the laundromat a couple of weekends back, he let me take a snapshot of his right arm. In this photo, alone, I count at least twelve individual pieces:


Although the focus of the shot is the mermaid on the bicep, one is still drawn to the butterflies, the traditional panther, the New York Yankees logo, the fairy, and the sun.


Old school tattoos have a tendency to be less customized and more based on existing flash art. The result may be an affinity for the pieces, but a lack of great "back story" for many (but not all) tattoos on the older generation of inked Americans.

With so much ink, it is often hard to remember where everything was tattooed, although Ed credits a lot of the work to Brooklyn mainstays like Michael Angelo and artists affiliated with the great the late Huggy-Bear Ferris.

Thanks to Ed for sharing his arm with us here on Tattoosday!

Of course, we hope to feature more of Ed's work here in the future....

John's Demon Sleeve

Under normal circumstances, I may not have stopped John, as I tend to not feature full sleeves here on Tattoosday. However, last Wednesday I was on a roll, and he gladly modeled his right arm for me:


Here's a little better look at that demonic face that dominated the bicep:


John's ink, which he estimates covers 25% of his body, has no specific meanings, the artwork is just a form of expression. He's 42, and has been getting tattooed since he turned 18.

He credits this work, along with most of his ink, to Bobby at Skin Deep Tattoo in Uniondale, New York.

Thanks to John for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoos in the News - Friday Jones Fifth Avenue

Sara from W Magazine just e-mailed me about a couture studio in New York's Flatiron District.
She writes:

"...Thought you might be interested in our article on Friday Jones Fifth Avenue, the "couture" tattoo saloon located inside the Flatiron District's Senses NY Saloon & Spa. Classically-trained tattoo artist and owner Friday Jones has catered to a clientele of Hollywood stars and socialites including Angelina Jolie and Lydia Hearst. The unique combination of a spa-like environment and design excellence has driven Jones' expanding market, even offering white tattoos as a more subtle alternative for those not ready to commit to black ink."

Check out the article here.

The question becomes, when will one of these tattoos be spotted by the Tattoosday camera?