Check out some astounding vintage tattoos in this collection of history's coolest photographs of people displaying their ink.
Charlie Wagner in New York studio, 1940s.Bodies of Subversion/Powerhouse Books
Work by Jessie Knight, Britain's first female tattoo artist, circa 1939.Public Domain
Japan, 1870.Felice Beato/Library of Congress
Poster of woman wearing nun's habit revealing a tattoo of Che Guevara, 1965.Library of Congress
Private Burchall and L/Corp. Griffith displaying their tattoos in 1944.Public Domain
Tattoo at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Baltimore, 1935Margaret Bourke-White/Public Domain
Japanese man, 1890.New York Public Library
Mrs. M. Stevens Wagner, 1907.Library of Congress
German stowaway at Ellis Island, 1911.Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library
1955.Sherman Hulton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A model in the 1970s.Roy Kemp/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Butterfly leg tattoo by Jessie Knight, circa 1939.Public Domain
Betty Broadbent, 1930s.Vintage Images/Getty Images
Irma Senta, 1920s.Public Domain
Vintage pirate and veterans designs.Vintage Tattoo Flash
Because kimonos were usually reserved for royalty and the elite, Japanese lower classes rebelled with large body tattoos, circa 1940s.Public Domain
August, 1973.Roy Kemp/Getty Images
Al Schiefley and Les Skuse give woman "sweet" and "sour" tattoos in 1940s England.Public Domain
Doris Sherrel getting her social security number tattooed by Jack Julian, 1942.Public Domain
Bird tattoo by Jessie Knight. Virginia, circa 1939.Public Domain
A woman gets a permanent beauty mark tattoo in Copenhagen, 1956. John Firth/Getty Images
Janet “Rusty” Skuse, who held the Guinness World Record of Britain's most tattooed woman for more than 20 years.Amsterdam Tattoo Museum
Edith Burchet. London, 1920.Public Domain
Date unknown.Vintage Tattoo Flash
Les Skuse at work on champion tattoo lady Pam Nash in 1960. John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images
Wallona Aritta, date unknown.Public Domain
Vintage mermaid tattoo design.Vintage Flash Tattoo
Tattooed sailor in 1908.Huton Archive/Getty Images
Emma de Burgh's Last Supper tattoo, 1897.Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection
Cally d'Astra, 1860.Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Getty Images
Tattoo of a naked woman riding a bird in 1928.Fox Photos/Getty Images
Tattoo artist Stella Grassman in the 1930s.Pinterest
Back tattoo of man's face, 1936.William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images
Japanese man in the 1870s.Felice Beato/New York Public Library
Horse and jockey tattoo, 1930s.Public Doman
Young man with tattoos, date unknown.New York Public Library
Unidentified woman, 1897.Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection
Betty Broadbent, date unspecified.Public Domain
Butterfly garter belt tattoo, 1930s.Public Domain
Tattooed lady on the midway during the World's Fair, circa 1939 - 1940.New York Public Library
Bob Wicks' flash sheet number 36, circa 1930.New York Historical Society
India, 1880s.New York Public Library
Tattooed lady with sailor during the World's Fair, 1939-1940.New York Public Library
Snake tattoo, 1928.Public Domain
Eagle and shield, circa 1875–1905, by Samuel O'Reilly.New York Historical Society
Tattooist and goldsmith "Nerses the Goldsmith" tattooing a pilgrim, probably an Armenian woman, at his store underneath the Armenian Patriarchate, in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. Circa 1900-1911.Library of Congress
Alaskan indigenous Tlingit woman named Kaw-Claa wearing her potlatch dancing costume, Alaska, 1906. Frank H. Nowell/Alaska Digital Collection/Wikimedia Commons
Māori woman, Mrs. Rabone, in 1870. Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.Wikimedia Commons
Thom de Vita and client in his studio at 326 E. 4th Street in New York, 1976.John Wyatt/New York Historical Society
Ed Smith's self-portrait showing Rock of Ages back piece, circa 1920.New York Historical Society
Nora Hildebrandt, circa 1880.Charles Eisenmann/New York Historical Society
We know for a fact that humans have been tattooing themselves for at least 5,200 years (the discovery of Iceman Otzi and his 61 tattoos from 3250 BC proved as much).
Since then, body art has been used to denote faith, class, fashion, patriotism, and everything in between. The styles have changed with the decades -- as have the procedural methods, thank God -- but the most important thing about getting inked has remained constant: It looks really cool.
Above, you'll find 51 photos of vintage tattoos that help represent the world's most personal art form.
Intrigued by this look at vintage tattoos? Next, can you read these tattoo history facts without wanting to get inked? Then, check out these quirky traits about your favorite artists.
