17 Fun Tattoo Facts | Atlanta Tattoo Shop | Gate City Tattoo
You love tattoos! So do we. With tattoos having a long history we have complied some lesser known facts about tattoos and tattooing. There is a lot more to tattoo history and tattoo culture than what you see on the skin.
In 1955, the assistant secretary of defense suggested that citizens tattoo their blood type on their arms in case there was an attack against the U.S
To get a tattoo, the skin is pierced between 50 and 3,000 times a minute by a tattoo machine.
Samuel O’Reilly invented tattoo machines around the late 19th century. He based his design on the autographic printer, an engraving machine invented by Thomas Edison.
Americans spend approximately $1.65 billion on tattoos annually.
The word tattoo is one of the most misspelled words in the English language, often spelled tatoo.
In the United States, Miami has the most tattoo shops with about 24 shops for every 100,000 people and Salina, Kansas has 2 shops for every 100,000 people.
The first ever recorded reference to the word “tattoo” is found in the papers of Joseph Banks. Before that Europeans used to call tattoos “marks” or “prics”.
In the late 1990’s, the Butterfly Art Barbie was released and was quickly discontinued due to angry parents.
Queen Kamamalu of Hawaii was the very first woman to get her tongue tattooed (1808-1824)
Thirty-five of the first 43 U.S. Presidents allegedly have tattoos.
Early forms of tattoo removal included the application of wine, garlic, lime, or pigeon feces.
2012 was the first year more women were tattooed than men.
In 1846, Martin Hildebrandt was the first professional tattoo artist in America.
The oldest tattoos were discovered on two mummies in Egypt dated between 3351 and 3017 BCE.
One of the oldest known tattoo ink formulas consists of Egyptian pine bark, corroded bronze, vinegar, vitriol, leek juice, and insect eggs.
The most searched language as inspiration for tattoos is Japanese.
The Macy’s star logo was taken from a tattoo that founder R.H. Macy wore on his forearm which he acquired on a whaling vessel in his youth.
Do you have a fun tattoo fact? Share it below in the comments!