Today is July 17th which is National Tattoo Day – #nationaltattooday. I always had a rule in my home that children couldn’t het Tatoo’s or Piercings until they were over 18 and out of my home. But like all parents we have to pick our battles. Last year knowing Charlie would be graduating at 16 I let Charlie pierce his ears.
Was it something I wanted my son to do no, but it made him happy. All of Charlie’s friends had there ears pierced. David did as a young man as well. I’ve eaten bough earrings for Charlie for Christmas to show Charlie I support him. Now Charlie has decided he want’s a Tattoo. I’ve been struggling with this the past couple of months because I know the BIBLE says it’s wrong.
Again I would rather have David be with Charlie if he gets a Tattoo than doing it behind our backs. Charlie showed me the tattoo he likes and it isn’t bad It just bothers me that it will cover all of Charlie’s back. Then he has also decided he wants one on his chest and I hate the fact that Charlie is going to be covered in Tattoos and that one day he will hate David and I for allowing him to get Tattoos and his Ears Piercing but what else can I do other than stand beside my son and support him in his hopes and dreams.
Tattooing is the art of inserting pigment under the dermis layer of the skin to create a decorative, symbolic, or pictorial design. On National Tattoo Day, which is July 17th. We set time aside to learn more about the tattooing process and its societal importance and history. If you don’t have a tattoo, you’re likely to know someone who does, and if you’ve asked them how they knew at the time when they were getting inked whether they would still want that design on their skin years or decades later, you may have just gotten a peculiar look instead of an explanation.
There is certainly a fraternal connection between people who bear tattoos, a connection that those without ink can never really understand. We asked one correspondent to try to address this phenomenon, and he said, “Tattoos began as a ceremony, and tattoo’s are still kind of like that. Once you’re under an artist’s needle, it’s a little like a religious experience. It’s like the ‘Aha moment’ people talk about having in business life. It illuminates something you didn’t see before.”
National Tattoo Day has only been celebrated for the past few years, but the art of tattooing has been around for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows that the ancient Egyptians practiced tattooing and the ‘Iceman,’ or Ötzi, the natural Mummy discovered in glacial Ice in the Alps in 1991 and carbon-dated at 3250 B.C., bore 61 tattoos.
Ancient tattooing was most widely practiced among the Austronesian-speaking peoples as far back as 1500 B.C. Austronesian practiced tattooing traditions including facial tattoos that some modern Scientists allege were connected to headhunting among warring indigenous tribes. Fast forward to 17th-Century Europe, ‘painted’ individuals were sometimes abducted from their native Countries and put on public display, the European abductors collecting money for each viewing. The explorer William Dampier took his tattooed slave Jeoly, known as the ‘Painted Prince,’ on an extensive tour to show off and capitalize on Jeoly’s tattoos.
The first tattoo shop to open in the U.S. belonged to Martin Hildebrandt, who started his business in New York City in 1846. Martin Hildebrandt, was sought after by Union and Confederate Soldiers alike. By 1975, there were still only 40 tattoo artists operating in the U.S., but by 1980 that number had ballooned to 5,000. Today, tattoo shops are in every City and medium-sized Town in the Country, and on July 17th, we honor their proprietors’ contribution to American culture.
NATIONAL TATTOO DAY ACTIVITIES
- NATIONAL TATTOO DAY is a perfect day to take the plunge if you’ve been thinking about getting body art. Just make sure you do your research to find a good shop and a good artist, and be well-rested the day of.
- f you’re a visual artist the kind that doesn’t do a lot of erasing and you’ve been mulling over investing in a tattoo machine and using a few friends as Guinea Pigs, National Tattoo Day is the ideal time to start. Just make sure you’ve completed your apprenticeship first.
- Some tattoos are just plain breathtaking. Others, like misspelled messages, can be quite humorous. On National Tattoo Day, surf around to see what you can find in terms of body art. Use the hashtag #NationalTattooDay to share what you find!
FACTS ABOUT TATTOO TYPES
- Tattoo artists using black ink achieve lighter tones for shading their images by diluting the ink with distilled water.
- Advances in technology have given tat artists the ability to use super-slim lines, aiding especially in the creation of portrait tattoos.
- Watercolor tats, so named because they replicate the splashes of color and shade gradations of the brush-and-paper kind, often fade because of the relatively small amounts of ink used to make them.
- The growing trendiness of new-school tattoos which are inspired by cartoons and anime and are not ‘modern’ per se is a resurgence of their popularity during the ’80s and ’90s.
- The meaning behind a red Koi tattoo is love and energy, while a black Koi represents the bearer’s having overcome a major challenge.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL TATTOO DAY
- A few artists in any medium can achieve the sublime, but body art is especially beautiful when the image and the ‘human canvas’ achieve a certain synergy. Tattoos that approach perfection like that are the ones we can’t stop looking at.
- It’s inevitable: at some point in time, you will contemplate what image you would choose if you were to get inked. It’s easy to while away hours, imagining what design you would want. Favorite comic? Religious icon? Celtic knot? The possibilities are limitless.
- Considering how deep and rich the history of tattooing is, there’s always more to learn. A simple web search could lead to a captivating and enriching bit of reading and viewing. We believe in keeping sharp like that!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
