What is considered an American traditional tattoo?
A traditional tattoo, also known as an American, Western, or Old School tattoo, consists of clean black outlines, vivid colors, and minimal shading. A traditional tattoo style is defined by these fundamental features and is one of the most bold and iconic tattoo styles available today.
If you’re interested in getting a Traditional tattoo of your own, check out these American Traditional Tattoo ideas and designs.
Tattoos of the traditional style embody freedom and wanderlust. In the 1930s, when they first started appearing on people, they symbolized a rejection of the American dream and a way of life that was outside of mainstream society. This is still true today.
This iconic style of tattoo was pioneered by Norman Collins aka Sailor Jerry in Hawaii during World War II, which was a crossroads for millions of American men at that time. These tattoos carry the same concepts they were born with: a rejection of mainstream culture and a desire for a different existence.
Traditional tattoos, also called American, Western, or Old School, are characterized by their vivid colors, clean outlines, and minimal shading. Traditional tattoos are known for their bold style and are one of the most iconic tattoo styles there are. Women, daggers, roses, wolves, skulls, ships, and more are often depicted in traditional tattoos. A traditional tattoo is a bold and complex piece of artwork. Those tattoos represent a unique era in mankind’s connection to tattooing, while also paying respect to the tattoos from which they are descended.
Tattoos originated in ancient cultures of the east thousands of years ago. There have been discoveries of 3,000-year-old mummies with tattoos as well as ancient depictions of people and even figurines. Western culture didn’t begin participating in the art of tattooing until the 1700s.
Initially, those seeking to escape society’s constraints adopted the craft to seek something else. These people were sailors. Their experiences in the east inspired Captain Cook and his crew to tattoo each other to tell tales of their journey.
With time, tattoos became associated with a small segment of American culture: sailors, homeless, and circus freaks.
In a rare moment in American history, layers of American society came together during World War II to unite against opposing forces. Before, tattoos were only worn by the staunchest servicemen, but as men took shore leave in Hawaii they were exposed to body art. During the war, different classes of American men gathered in Honolulu near a tattoo parlor owned by Sailor Jerry, a heavily tattooed former Navy man.
In Honolulu, Sailor Jerry built his reputation on the arms, shoulders, and backs of servicemen on shore leave. A tattoo artist’s audacious iconography and vibrant colors changed the world of tattooing forever. A new form of tattooing was cultivated by Sailor Jerry out of pure creative ambition.
Interestingly, he tattooed the same culture on the men fighting in the war that led to the development of the new style. As one of the first Westerners to study with these great Japanese tattoo masters, he blended ancient Japanese tattoo techniques with the bravado of his American sensibilities. He refined his style into what we now call the Traditional style by simply mastering creative techniques.
With tattoos becoming more acceptable in American culture today, this style has evolved into other categories of body art. The Neo Traditional style pays homage to the original style by employing thick, black outlines and well saturated colors, with an expanded range of imagery and meanings.
A traditional tattoo represents a crucial point in the evolution of tattoos, and a key event that led to the integration of tattoos into American culture today.
