North
American tattoos were still considered to be in its adolescent stage compared
to the rest of the world before the turn of the 19th century. A few major
renovations to tattooing hardware was the kick start tattooing needed to make
its first steps out into a marketable America. Tattooing went from being an
artist’s trade to a full blown industry overnight; (Tattoo Archive) the change from unreliable
hand tattooing to a balanced machine, it took the guess work out of the profession.
Earlier
accounts of tattooing were found few and far in between in North America, it
was mostly seen on suppressed minorities. Tattoos were thought of as foreign and
most of all unfashionable in high society. Before Samuel O’Reilly’s adaptation in
1891 to Thomas Edison’s electric engraving pen, an American’s “atelier”
kit
may have been nothing more than a few needles and some pigment. A tattooist
would have secured needles to a handle made from wood. Then they dip their
homemade tattooing device into pigment. Pigment was prepared from what was
available such as charcoal, ink, or powdered dyes mixed with oil or water. The
tattooist would have to manually puncture the skin, rapidly but lightly tapping
the back of their handle delivering the pigment into the first few layers of skin.
This process of tattooing was slow and painful. Because everything was done by
the artist’s own control, it made preforming consistent needle depth and accurate
pulsing delivery difficult even for the most experienced. This would leave the
tattoo looking uneven in color and line thickness. In fact most tattoos were
improved upon by the next artist who may have had better technique or materials.
Samuel
O’Reilly had been tattooing for a number of years by hand in his tiny studio located
in New York before he decided to improve upon someone’s electric creation. Thanks to Thomas Edison’s invention of the electric pen which was initially
used for engraving and stenciling, O’Reilly was able to make a few modifications
to the pen to create a new contraption called a "Tattoo Machine". He added
needles and a tube to the original design, this holds and delivers pigment to
the needles and into the skin effortlessly. Samuel O’Reilly’s tattoo business
took off like a rocket with the help of his invention. He ended up packaging it
in a kit that included his electric device, colors, designs, and supplies.
O’Reilly was able to make a small fortune from his design. And in this way
Samuel O’Reilly assisted in transformed the trade of tattooing and pushed it to
become part of industrialized America.
Tattoos were on the rise in popularity by the
early 1900’s. Samuel O’Reilly modified Edison’s electric pen so that the
current would be sent through the device making the needles move smoothly up
and down at a consistent rate on its own, much like a hand held sewing machine. (Vanishing Tattoo)
Lines and color were even and accomplished relativity quickly. O’Reilly’s
invention allowed an artist to tattoo as fast as they could draw, in return
tattoos became more of an art form. O’Reilly’s machine was easy to operate,
tattoo parlors were popping up all around New York. (Vanishing Tattoo) This of course drove
tattoos further from high class citizens from accepting tattoo however, the
general public began showing interest in tattooing.
Samuel
O’Reilly made the advancements to tattoo hardware and as a result in the 19th
century making tattooing became a profitable art form and notable industry. (Tattoo Archive) Dissimilar
from the earlier handmade manual tattoo device, the new machine made it easy to
give tattoos. Unsteady and uneven tattoos gave way to precision tattooing. Because
of Samuel O’Reilly’s new electric tattoo machine, tattooing which lead to a
ground breaking industry.
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