Comments on: Pens and Needles: History’s Strangest (and most useful?!) Tattoos

By: Megan

Megan — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:16:07 +0000

Me and my husband both have several tattoos. My brother is an artist and did every one of mine. All of mine are dear to me..and so are his. my MIL is a minister..so she flipped out..but she’ll get over it lol Semper Fi John…Chris your a smart man..and as far as mom’s freaking out about tattoos go..my mom took me to get my first one when i turned 18…

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:47:09 +0000

I had the old staple of my blood group tattooed on my wrist. During the Falklands campaign, I took some nasty shrapnel and my dog tags were ripped off in the blast. At the field medical station, having lost a hell of a lot of blood, the medics were panicking about typing my blood for transfusion. I managed to hold up the inked arm and bingo! I’m here today to tell the story. Best 10 pounds I ever spent.

By: the creature

the creature — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:11:17 +0000

i got my tattoos for personal reasons. they are things that i’ve given a lot of thought or worked hard over and want to stay with me until my death. they are the few possessions that will be with me until i decay and return to the earth.
that, and i try to get one in each state that i’ve lived in or spent a lot of time in…kind of a permanant stamp…

By: Jared Probst

Jared Probst — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:54:12 +0000

Nah, Mike Tyson got “Maori” and “Mayan” mixed up. Can’t blame him, i’m sure by this point his brain has the consistency of a strawberry milkshake.

As for reasons to get tattooed, i have a bunch of ink. I was never once drunk. However, I was young(er). While being young i still never regret my decision. Some people call it a cultural thing, i call it an aesthetic thing. Aside from that it feels really good, the endorphins pumping, the sweat. It is better than sex and you don’t even have to be a masochist to enjoy it (i’m not).

By: Curtis

Curtis — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:58:56 +0000

I think Tyson was talking about Maoris, the indigenous Polynesian peoples of New Zealand, and to their language, not Mayans.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:16:14 +0000

I believe that use #1 (Greek slaves) is incorrect. As I recall, Greeks in Western Turkey were under the thumb of Persians expanding their empire Westward. This was the end of the 6th Century BC, before the Persian Wars.

A Greek sea captain, named Skulax (literally, “puppy”) tattoed a map onto his shaved head, let his hair grow back and sailed for free Greece to get help. Why he needed a map, I don’t know.

It’s in Herodotus somewhere…

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:50:16 +0000

Oops. Not “Ensign” but “Marine”.

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:22:25 +0000

I believe the reason early sailors had for getting Jesus tatooed across the back was because the hardest Ensign in the world isn’t going to cut the image of the Lord with a whip.

By: Leah Harris

Leah Harris — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:26:09 +0000

Hmmm…once I took a look at the full “majuscles” (thanks, A.J. Jacobs) in John Brown’s entry, I just knew he had to be a Marine.

I got a tattoo in Tokyo. I’m not especially supersitious, but there’s something reassuring to having an extra pair of eyes on my back.

Semper Fi, John.

By: Carla Hopkins

Carla Hopkins — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 08:00:30 +0000

Professional tattooing does not allow for any intoxication during the process. It makes anyone getting tattooed incabable of giving consent, making the application illegal. They also bleed excessively, squirm(ruining the tattoo) and are generally unpleasant to be around during a process that can take an hour or more.

During the world wars, the affluent would have their social security numebrs tattooed on them in case they died in an explosion.

Tribes in the pacific rim are tattooed with symbols of family status and personal achievement. sort of like a resume.