tattoos have been around for thousands of years in 1991 a 5000 year old body was discovered frozen and with 57 tattoos 3000 year old mummies have been discovered with tattooed skin and in ancient societies tattoos were a marking of religion Western society took a lot longer to adapt a tattoo culture there was always a stigma behind it if you had tattoos you weren't a proper gentleman or lady to this day there still are a lot of people with this prejudice while there are countless different tattoo styles I'll be focusing on American traditional tattooing from the mid 1840s to the early 1900s the circus was a huge platform for tattooed people tattooed women especially would show off their bare arms and legs out of rebellion and leaving the Victoria era sailors as well would frequently get tattooed with images of swallows roosters pigs knives and women by 1900 all major port cities had tattoo parlors though the sanitation and standards at these shops were awful by 1909 the government passed a law stating that indecent or obscene tattoos was approval for dismissal from the military there was an opportunity to alter and change the design but otherwise would lead to a discharge during World War two American traditional tattooing really isolated itself as a style sailors would often go to the bar and then after get tattooed without the technological advances we have today it was often you'd go to the tattoo shop and pick a design off the wall this was known as tattoo flash often the tattoo flash had very common themes of Eagles snakes pinups bottles of alcohol clipper ships and other patriotic and military images among this style there are many pioneers Norman sailor Jerry Collins ed hardy Mike Malone and Eamon diesel Norman Collins more famously known as Sailor Jerry is one of the most famous names in all of tattoo history and tattoo culture Collins well known for his bold imagery and the use of the only three colors available at the time black red and yellow though he is well created his own pigments and eventually started to tattoo with the color purple American traditional is characterized by its heavy bold outlines use of saturated color and sticker like feel these tattoos stand the test of time and that is commonly shown through military veterans that still have their tattoos despite its age and military history American tattooing remains incredibly popular today it's not uncommon to find pop culture images being used with this classic application and design and some of today's most famous tattoo ours are still keeping this style alive