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The walls are also adorned with photographs
of famous tattoo artists like Charles Wagner, and posters of
people covered in tattoos. There is even a tattooed Barbie doll in a glass box
alongside a HotWheels children's tattoo kit.
The museum's staff
consists of a handful of people, including Stevenson and fellow co-owner
Chris Keaton,
and artists David Sobel
and Dobson. All boast prominent tattoos on
their arms and legs.
They say tattoo art history goes back
further than most people realize ---perhaps thousands of years. Tattoos were reportedly found on the Iceman,
a mummified human dating back to about 3300 B.C. Tattoos are also
mentioned in the Old Testament.
Historians trace the word "tattoo" from the Tahitian word "tattau" meaning "to
mark."
Many of the older tattoos --like
those today --were whimsical.
"People have always gotten nutty tattoos," Dobson says, pointing to an old
photograph of a woman getting a stocking tattooed on her leg.
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Photos and text by Fanen Chiahemen
Published
Friday, May
9, 2003
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