If you have a tattoo, thank this man: Sailor Jerry.
Tattoos are a big passion of mine. I don't have many [ yet] but I'm always looking up great artists, check new cool tattoos on forums and Instagram and generally like to read about the history and cultural relevance of tattoos.
I want to talk about one of the most fascinating tattoo artists ever. Man might not even be the term for a guy of his statue, legend is what we must use. The tattoo industry and growth owes to this man more than any other figure in all the history of tattoos. He is known as Sailor Jerry but his real name was Norman Keith Collins.
Books have been written about him because he was a fascinating character in its own right. An old-school, hard sailor, he roamed the world looking for adventure until he set up his tattoo shop in Honolulu where he produced a body of work that redefined the tattoo craft, art and perception. Here's a few of the facts and legends about hims.
- He was born in 1911 in Hawaii, as Norman Collins but got nicknamed “Jerry” after the family’s stubborn mule. It proved prophetic, he was a just as stubborn as that mule.
He joined the navy in 1928, a decision that shaped his life and his tattoo art. In his travels through China, Japan he got exposed and interested in the Asian art. He brought it back with him and integrated in his tattoo style. He kept a correspondence with various Asian tattoo artist throughout his life.
He was what we'd call today a libertarian and after a disagreement with the IRS, he refused to work as a tattooer for over a decade. He worked in shipyards to provide for his families. He was married many times, but unknown exactly how many.Interestingly, there are stories of him tattooing in secret a the lucky few he had chosen.Customers were always waiting for him after work near the shipyard, hoping to convince him to give them a tattoo.
He was tall, grumpy and uninterested in anyone who did not agree with his view. His shop was his own country and no disobeying was permitted. Copycats were considered pariahs. He invented a few new tattoo techniques and went as far as giving bad instructions to his competitors, once he said that he had developed a color by mixing urine with ink, the competitors listened [ heh ].
He remained a sailor his entire life. Even during his career as a tattoo artist, he worked as licensed skipper. He loved the sailor culture and the brotherhood.
He mentored a lot of young tattoo artists, most famous being: Ed Hardy and Mike Malone. He believed in passing the knowledge further and nurtured talent. That's another reason his legacy runs so deep in the tattoo culture of today.
*His designs mirrored himself and his attitude. Eagles, American flags, battleships, monkeys, anchors, pin-up girls and phrases such as “Born Free, Live Free, Die Free". His patriotism and sailing influence can be seen everywhere.
*He tattooed until he had a heart attack in 1973. He fell from his motorcycle, awoke and then drove home. He died three days later. His instructions to his wife: Sell the shop to Hardy, Malone or Owen, and if they don’t want it, burn it to the ground.
I hope you now know more about tattoo and especially sailor Jerry!
[you can read more here or here ]
If you want to learn even more about how tattoo evolved after him, watch this:
It would have been all good.... but... that song at the end of the video... Like us on facebook! lol
Man, you have to contact these guys, to move over here and forget about facebook
=)
Cool stuff, i like tattoes too
haha. so true :D but you know..hard to convince people...
LOVE this one, Raz. Fantastic post - thanks for sharing it. ;)
Awesome! I'm an old salt myself. 3 Navy tattoos. Keep up the great work.
a photo, i'd love to see it!
Very nice article. I have one tattoo given to me as a childhood friend in the middle of the night in a beach tattoo shop in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. His friend owned the shop and opened it up for us. It was a present for my 19th birthday. He later joined the Hell's Angels. He later was allowed to leave :)
what a great story! you should write about this, you seemed to have lived some cool stuff. what's the tattoo like?
It's a rose. That bleeds LOL. To covered up a tattoo I did with some GF's when we were 14 that said "love <3" I have a lot of stories like that. I'll think about it thanks :)
Can't decide to get a tattoo, not because it's scary, because then it's hard to stop, i think :)
....i want to tell it's not but damn it, the feeling of being under the needle....amazing :D
Respect this man!
any tattoos yourself vera?!
Not enough! But yes, I have a few large ones :)
spoken like a true tattoo-head. i have a few small ones...my big one is probably soon a-coming. I guess I started wrong, someone said i should do the big ones first but i wanted to dip my toe in first :)
I am up to have a new one soon though so there's that!
I dont have tatoos myself but I could feel your admiration for this artist while I was reading. Nice one!
IT's cool to see in the video how much tattoo art evolved. They didn't have all the colors back in 1970 and the techniques were really primitive. I will get a sailor jerry type one day, pay my tribute...thanks!
Thanks for the info and nice tattoos @razvanelulmarin
Great stuffs ❤️
thanks a lot!!
Thanks bro!
how many do you have @razvanelulmarin ? :)
about 3 :D you?