Here's Frank, the latest installment of our Old Guys and Their Tattoos series.

In 1955 Frank was 19 years old and stationed and in the Navy. Stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes.

He wanted a tattoo.

So one day he boarded a trolley. Stone sober and alone. He didn't want anything or anybody to influence his tattoo.

He took the trolley to Waukegan Illinois to meet  “Dietzel” .

What this 19 year old kid didn't know was that he was about to get a piece of history tattooed on his arm.

Here's the usual low down for this Friday with all the same rules and suggestions to make everything run smoothly and to get as many of you through the door as possible so everyone gets something fun to take home and show the folks. Keep in mind that it might be very cold out this time around so DRESS WARM! The wait is long but we try to make things as easy as possible for everyone so you're not standing around the whole time.

 

• Daredevil will only be doing Friday the 13th tattoos. FunCity is open for business as usual.
• One tattoo per customer!  We want to tattoo as many people as we can for the day.
• Bring valid state ID (drivers license, passport) You MUST be at least 18 years old. No ID, no tattoo. NO exceptions.
• Do not block any of our neighbors doors or store fronts. Don't sit in the doorways and try not to get in anyones way. We don't want to ever have to stop this tradition so don't give anyone reason to complain about all the nice tattooed people hanging around.
• We start around 12 noon. If the doors open a little late don't freak out, we're just trying to get everything together before we let you in.
• Bring your cell phone. To keep the crowds at a minimum we will take names and phone numbers so there does not have to be a huge line down the street. Keep your cell phone in hand and don't wander too far. Feel free to check in to see where you are on the list. If you miss the call we will move on to the next person. YOU CANNOT PUT YOUR FRIENDS NAME ON THE LIST. One body= One name.
• The tattoo cost $13 + a lucky $7 tip. Bring cash and a few extra bucks. Please shop for refreshments from our neighbors while you are waiting, they appreciate the business.
• We are drawing up a sheet for the day. What you see on the sheet is what you get. No changes, no art directing and NO YOU CANNOT SEE THE SHEET BEFORE FRIDAY. It's not even done yet, relax.
• On Friday the 13th NO HANDS, NECKS, BELLIES, LOWER BACKS, CHEST, SIDES, or FEET. These places take longer to tattoo or are difficult to heal. It's a long day of tattooing for us; we try to keep it as easy on the artists as possible. Don't whine and complain about this rule! We have our reasons, trust me.
• Sometimes we decide we hate a design or are sick of doing the same one all day that people keep picking. That design might not be an option later in the day at some point. So yes we can "sell out" of certain designs. Don't be a cry baby, deal with it. There's lots of other cool tattoos to pick from.
• Expect a couple hours wait to get tattooed.
• Finally, we always appreciate nice reviews online. This day is a huge ordeal and the shop does not make money off of it so any shout outs via Yelp or other sites makes us very happy. Spread the love.

 

This is a very long day for us, when we say we're done, we're done.  We want to have fun and we want everyone getting tattooed to have fun. But at the same time this is the worst possible day to come in to the shop and get tattooed! Especially if you don't like crowds, don't like chaos and are picky.  It's a crazy day, enter and get tattooed at your own risk. We have a big crew working on Firday so we're really going to try and tattoo everyone who shows up.

Needles and Sins posted about the DRAKE tattoo last week and I've been chewing over this for a few days and following some of the dialog online. The artist did an interview with Vice Magazine that's taken a lot of heat. He mentioned "she was on a good one" which he later clarified did not mean she was messed up; it's just an expression he likes (?).

I liked the response from Drake himself; such a well spoken young man. With any luck it will dissuade the next psychopath who thinks this is a good idea. He didn't even want to look at the picture of the tattoo, obviously freaked out by it. WetPaint reports, "the rapper didn't mince words when discussing the tattoo "artist," Kevin Campbell, who did the inking: "The guy who tatted that is a f***ing a**hole, though, I will tell you that," he said. "I don't f**k with that guy. F**k you to that tat artist by the way, 'cause you an a**hole, for real. And you should lose your job and should never do tattoos again and I don't f**k with you. And if I ever see you, I'm a f**k you up."

Kevin wrote a response to Marisa that I've included at the end of this post. Kevin says the only lesson he learned is to keep his mouth shut. I think there is a larger lesson here. Kevin could have avoided all of this attention by using just the least tiny bit of good judgement. This stuff is going to be showing up more and more often for us in the post media tattoo era we are in. The taboos aren't as strong as they used to be and it's up to the artists to draw the line. I know it's hard to let a couple bucks walk out the door especially when you know there's some asshole somewhere that will take the money but is it worth it to be that asshole? There are certain other situations I think of in relation to this story. Doctor Conrad Murray got paid a lot of money to go agaist his better judgement. I hope the doctor that stuck 8 babies inside the Octomom is out of business. If there are no laws against that abberation there should be. With enough of these types of stories in the news who knows what sort of laws will pop up for us; which is probably not a bad thing.

Tattoo artists are professionals and while tattoos don't carry the weight they used to what with lasers and their downright respectability it's still a significant decision in someones life. There are not many lines these days people won't cross but I think the forehead is a good one to adhere to, unless they have no other room left of course.

One last thing. It was mentioned that this girl is the heir to the Downy fortune. What an interesting twist. More food for thought.

Happy New Years all! 

Read more to get Kevin's response to Marisa.

The clock is ticking but there's still time to make it by the shop for that last minute tattoo gift certificate. There's also time for that last minute tattoo to show off to the family, always a big hit at the holidays! OutspokenNYC.com has it right with their wish list.

Shop local, make sure you check out the collection at our friends from FatherPanik.  There's some great new books available from Marisa at NeedlesandSins.com 

I'm avoiding Amazon this year. Their new app that rewards shoppers for stopping in to local stores to price check for them goes way too far as far as I'm concerned. As a small business owner I know I would resent a corprate giant sending their shoppers in to my space that I pay rent, utilities and sales tax on to use as their showcase and price check point.

The Santa sheet is by Timmy Tatts who we hope to see soon at Daredevil this spring. We'll keep you posted.