Meeting of the Marked 2011 Seminars

Alan Gutchess Tattoo History Presentations

Alan Gutchess is the Director of the Fort Pitt Museum in Pittsburgh. He has spent the last 15 years researching the history of tattooing and other forms of body modification in America between the years 1700 and 1900 as practiced by Euro-Americans, Native Americans and African Americans. His presentation, Marked In Blue: Tattooing in Colonial America, will examine the mostly forgotten or overlooked history of tattooing among Euro-Americans during the 18th century. In spite of myths that tattooing was "reintroduced" to Europe and America after Capt. Cook's voyages to the Pacific during the 1770's, a thriving tattoo culture was already firmly in place in colonial America among Europeans while Cook was still a child. Marked in Blue will examine the evidence for this culture, and discuss the tattoo practices of our colonial American ancestors.

Alan's second presentation, Sex, Lies, & Ink: Martin Hildebrandt, Ned Thomas and the Founding of the Modern Tattoo Culture, will examine recently discovered information on two of the founding fathers of modern tattooing, Martin Hildebrandt, who is generally credited with founding the first modern tattoo parlor in New York City, and Ned Thomas, his nearly completely unknown rival in the trade. While much has been written about Hildebrandt in modern tattoo histories, most of this published information is based in myth. Sex, Lies, & Ink, will sort out the facts about Hildebrandt and his nemesis Thomas, and their roles in creating the modern culture of tattoo parlors and tattooist rivalries.

Marked In Blue: Tattooing in Colonial America
Saturday, October 29, 1-3PM (FREE)

Sex, Lies & Ink: Martin Hildebrandt, Ned Thomas and the Founding of the Modern Tattoo Culture
Sunday, October 30, 1-3PM (FREE)