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.