American History Norman Keith Collins - 2119 Words

The word â€Å"tattoo† is actually the combination of words from two different cultures. The Polynesian word to strike something, â€Å"ta†, and the Tahitian word meaning to mark something, â€Å"tatau† (Designboom, 2010). The form of body art known as tattooing has developed artistically, improved technically, and changed stylistically throughout the past two centuries. Not only has the public perception changed over the years, but the methods and machinery used to create these wonderful pieces of art has also changed drastically. Once viewed as only acceptable for sailors, criminals, and circus performers; tattoos, have taken a giant leap from their humble roots. However, they couldn’t have become as popular as they have without the inspirational†¦show more content†¦During the twenty years that Hildebrandt worked at his New York tattoo shop, he tattooed some of the very first completely covered circus attractions (Eldridge, 2013a). One of those â€Å"circus attractions† was his very own daughter, Nora Hildebrandt. You would be hard pressed to find many women with tattoos during the 19th and 20th centuries, but one women pushed through the skepticism and public views to become America’s â€Å"first tattooed lady.† Nora Hildebrandt was the daughter of the first professional tattoo artist in America, Martin Hildebrant, so it figures that she would eventually follow in her father’s footsteps and develop a fascination with tattoos. Nora began showing off her tattoos in 1882 at the age of 32. Her primary mode of displaying the 365 tattoos that covered her body from neck to toe was to go on tour with Barnum Bailey Circus (Pednaud, 2014). She toured with the well-known circus throughout the 1890’s, until she was eventually out done by another tattooed woman and consequently faded into time. While Nora might have made tattooed women a grand attraction at circuses, she was just the beg inning. In 1842, Barnum Bailey Circus displayed James F. O’Connell as the first tattooed man in the United States. As part of his performance, O’Connell would tell the audience of the savages on the island of Ponape, part of the Caroline Islands, and how