My Tattoo Journey and The History of Tattoos

Did you know as of the start of 2021, an estimated 30% of people in the United States have at least one tattoo. That’s around 99 million people. That sounds a little crazy right? In a similar survey from 2012, only 21% of people in the US had a tattoo, which is around 45 million people. Why the big jump?

Most of the 30% is people under the age of 35 or millennials are the ones with at least one tattoo. The supposed and most likely true reasoning behind that is because of the popularity of getting a tattoo and then showing it off on social media. The older generations also have them but are known not to flaunt them as much because for a long time they were taboo.

An article from 2017 by Time Magazine said “New York City is considered the birthplace of modern tattoos because it’s where the first professional tattoo artist Martin Hildebrandt set up shop in the mid-19th century to tattoo Civil War soldiers for identification purposes, and it’s where the first electric rotary tattoo machine was invented in 1891, inspired by Thomas Edison‘s electric pen.” But tattoos have been around way longer than that. They date as far back as 3370 BC.

Some people love getting tattoos. People do it for all types of reasons. Some people don’t even have a reason for it, they just throw a random one on there.

I personally know a lot of people who consider getting a tattoo a type of therapy. “Ink Therapy” is what they call it, and I was interested in why they say that. Pain is a big part of getting a tattoo. You’re having a needle pierce your skin and inject ink right under it, so why do people think of it like therapy? There are many reasons, and some still aren’t known, but a few of them are: it distracts you from other pain, you can sometimes talk to the tattoo artists and get things off your chest, it gives people a sense of identity, and a tattoo could mean something important - a special person an event, a spirit animal.

Two Sundays ago I got my first tattoo in White Salmon with artist and tattoo artist Ethan Radcliffe. I’ve wanted one since I was about 16 years old. But of course, I had to wait until I was 18, but unfortunately, I turned 18 right before COVID started, so I wasn’t able to schedule an appointment. Then things got a little better and shops were opening up and I finally got an appointment at the end of June. After doing my research on local tattoo artists in the Gorge, I felt like Ethan was the one for me. Not saying the others in the Gorge are bad because there are some phenomenal tattoo artists all over the Gorge.

I got an outline of a Weiner dog because of my Daschund. For most people, their dogs hold a special place in their hearts, and it’s no different for me. My dog’s name is Bobo, and he is 9 years old. He was a rescue that had a foster parent and our family decided to adopt him 5 years ago. 

The tattoo only hurt a little bit in certain areas, but otherwise, it was a nice easy process that I can’t wait to do again. It only took about 15 minutes to finish mine since it was so small and it came out fantastic!

The picture that inspired the tattoo.

My tattoo design.

The finished tattoo.

I have sat on this tattoo idea for a year now, and while it’s small and just my first tattoo I’m quite excited about it. I think every first tattoo is great and exciting no matter what it is. Unless of course, it’s hateful. I do suggest sitting on your tattoo idea for at least 6 months to a year. Things could change so fast and you may never want that tattoo and tattoo removals hurt way more than getting the tattoo. So if you’re thinking about getting a tattoo I say go and get it. It’s a fun little journey and is exciting and can be something new!