While some men set up comfortable homes in the suburbs and saved for better washing machines and lawn mowers, others set out to see the world through the hopped-up, wild eyes of shore leave. When they got back on the ship they had some stories to tell and some permanent artwork to boot. Back then, the prime tattoo site wasn't an ankle, it was a beefy forearm that informed all casual observers that you'd done things and been places that set you apart from the gray flannel world.
If you really want a true classic, you'll have to go back in time and cross the ocean (unless yon live in Honolulu). That's where you'd find a guy with a white tee shirt, an oily grey pompadour and heavily tattooed arms, once known to seamen and still known to tattoo aficionados as "Sailor Jerry." He's the man many see as the father of the deftly crafted, boldly lined, balls-forward Old School Tattoo. The kind fueled by the devil-may-care appetites of men far away from home.
Sailor Jerry was tagged with the name Norman Collins at birth, but he began to distance himself from normalcy/ normancy when he was 19 (that's why he became a sailor). He traveled around the world, not only getting his first tattoos, but also gaining exposure to the art and imagery of Southeast Asia. This later became a crucial influence when he opened his first tattoo shop in Honolulu's Chinatown, ground zero for swaggering sailors, drunken soldiers and whoever else wasn't afraid to hang around volatile levels of testosterone.
The Honolulu Tattoo district was designed to accommodate a time in men's lives when they drank heavily, paid for women, and imprinted their biceps with pictures solid and resonant enough to last a lifetime. Back then, Chinatown was the only place on the island where a man could get a tattoo, creating fierce competition among the many tattoo parlors.
Roving sailors weren't looking at the nuances of shading and color, they were seeking pictures worth showing off to their buddies back home. Sailor Jerry built his business with bold designs that artfully expressed the mind set of his clientele. When you look at Sailor Jerry's "flash", it's immediately apparent why he spawned the kind of following that made it necessary to begin printing "The Original Sailor Jerry" on all his business cards.
"Flash" is the term for the sheets of paper that depict the work of tattoo artists and line their parlors like wallpaper. Because of his reputation and his meticulousness, Sailor Jerry painted his flash on nearly archive -quality 701b. 100% rag paper.
As with the work of any great artist, every one of Sailor Jerry's designs reflects an extra level of depth, some detail that communicates more than the content would indicate. In one surprisingly beautiful design, a sailing ship crosses ocean over the word "HOMEWARD"- the shading is meticulous, the lines are perfect, but it's a burst of bright red coming from behind the boat that makes it extraordinary, depicting the romance and optimism necessary to sustain a life at sea.
The biggest thing missing from such a life, of course, is breasts- and the individuals behind them. Buxom maidens are a centerpiece of old-school tattooing, and they were Sailor Jerry's specialty. Jerry's girls are not waifs, they are zoftig creations, with luscious thighs, shapely calves and highly pert boobs. Yet its their eyes that stand out above everything- eyes that are playful, knowing and aware. Even when they're shut, you can feel the presence behind them. It's easy to see how they can get under a man's skin. They're alluring enough to look at everyday, until death do you part, leaving them behind to spark lively conversations at your wake. "That was the last one old Joe got before he settled down. Word is she still lives on the islands, raised two kids. She's a sweetie, she is."
One masterpiece has a woman standing with legs spread, holding a large cobra. The snake's head arches over her shoulder its midsection wraps around her waist. It's tail is in her hand and she's holding it a hair's breath below her crotch, as though she's been assigned to push a man to the edge of temptation his whole life long.
Another seductress is a kind of honkey tonk Eve, staring naked for behind a pint bottle with her right hand gesturing toward a cherry. Below in Sailor Jerry's signature all-caps style, it read "MY RUIN". Other women are subtler, seductively shielding themselves with peacock feathers or, in some cases, the peacocks themselves.
Where there are women, there's disappointment. The Sailor Jerry oeuvre also includes hearts broken in two, the words "BUSTED!" printed in the gap between the jagged halves. Another heart is gashed through with a torpedo. There are whole hearts as well, with banners customized for girlfriends, mothers, and fathers. Even these have something that makes them stand out. A banner "in memory of my father" is centers around a cross set in two hearts. The shading on the cross and the lines around it make it shimmer, conveying a sense of honor that could only exist between a father and a son.
This is man stuff. Filled with the grit, romance and heartbreak that drives some men to do what most would not. There's a tension about port cities filled with men who consider themselves on a mission to have a good time and return with evidence of such. And it's drawn into all of Sailor Jerry's tattoos. Keep your eyes out for his work, not in galleries, but in bars and on the street. If you find yourself strangely captivated by the girl on an old man's arm, we suggest you go ahead and offer to buy the guy a drink of Sailor Jerry Navy Rum. Hopefully, he'll be so impressed with your taste in rum, he won't punch you out and maybe he'll tell you some stories.
