Sailor tattoos are traditions of tattooing among sailors, including images with symbolic meanings. These practices date back to at least the 16th century among European sailors, and since colonial times among American sailors.

Aug 2, 2014 · Based on period evidence and the article that in my large first response to the original question - the idea that the Pacific Islanders caused sailors to pick up the practice of tattoos is actually a case of "ignoring a common cause" fallacy.

from 1796 through 1818 that provide detailed descriptions of the tattoos that they wore: The Philadelphia Seamen's Protection Certificate Appli-cations in the U.S. National Archives, which extend across the entire 1796-1818 period and beyond, and the General Entry Books of American Prisoners of War, which cover 1812-1815, located in the Public ...

In the surviving Philadelphia SPC-A records from 1796 to 1818, 979 out of the 9,772 men serving on U.S. vessels were marked with 2,354 tattoos (Dye 527). None of these reported tattoos are of Polynesian design or style.

In a rapidly changing world, American sailors in maritime communities from 1860 to 1945, found their identity through a unique tattoo culture. 1860: Humble Beginnings in a Mobile Industry .

Aug 20, 2021 · For the more seasoned sailor, initials, names, words, and letters seemed to be the most common and sought after tattoos with 38% of all reported from 1796-1818 falling into this category. Second most common was the 21% of sailors who reported some type of sea-themed tattoo from simple anchors and compasses to more complex ships, mermaids, and ...

Aug 16, 2017 · What Wafer was trying to do was surgically remove a “gunpowder spot,” as tattoos were then known in English. The term came into use via the process: prick holes in the skin and rub finely crushed gunpowder in to make a permanent mark.

The best source for early American tattoos is the protection papers issued following a 1796 congressional act to safeguard American seamen from impressment. These proto-passports catalogued tattoos alongside birthmarks, scars, race, and height.

Even now archeologists are discovering older and older preserved bodies that feature the distinctive black marks of charcoal ink punched into the skin with early tattooing tools.

Jan 1, 2024 · Breaking with stereotypical ideas of sailors’ tattoos, this analysis will focus on the social and cultural practices of this body modification or European seafarers from the sixteenth century onwards.