When you look around today, you will find many decorated arms and legs. Tattoos were once seen in the United States, as a counter culture movement. Those with office jobs, or jobs in the business and other professional worlds, would find it necessary to make sure their tattoos were covered up. That is still the case in some situations, but these days tattoos are becoming the norm.
For some people it is a means of expression, for other people the tattoos are a symbol of protection. So where then, did this begin, the art of permanently painting on one’s skin? It is a widely held belief that the professional practice of tattooing began about six thousand years ago in Egypt. Sailors throughout history, the merchant seamen and explorers had been giving themselves tattoo for ages.
In Egypt, the tattoos were not originally for decoration. Women were tattooed on their legs as a protective measure against the dangers of giving birth. From their the traditions spread throughout Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa, again through the sailors and the world travelers. Archaeologists have found evidence of tattoos on a mummy, called the Iceman, which date back to 3300 BC. Tattoos have also been found on Nubian mummies and those from Egypt dating back to those times as well.
It has been happening throughout the history of the human race, and takes place in every culture. In some cultures it was only proper for the men to be tattooed, while in many others both men and women were allowed this form of protection, of expressing spirituality and of the recording of history on one’s own body. Tattooing has been popular in the Japanese society for thousands of years, for ornamental and spiritual purposes. But just as the “A” was used in the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, the Japanese also tattooed criminals.
The first electric tattoo gun was invented in 1876, by of course…Thomas Edison. His original use for the machine was not for tattooing the skin, but for use in engraving. Years later, Samuel O’Reilly took Edison’s design and modified it, changing the process of tattooing for ever.