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Since my teens I have thought about getting one. For one reason or another, I either thought twice about it or, as they used to say when I was young, “chickened out.” When I was a teenager it was the ultimate defiant act. Especially if neither one of your parents had one. Even then, the chances were that if they did have one, they got it while serving in the military, which in my youth was the only socially acceptable way to own one.
I am, of course, referring to tattoos. Tattoos have been around since the beginning of mans’ existence in one form or another. My fascination with them probably began after reading Ray Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man” in High School, or after reading about people who had gone to the extremes of having full body tattoos done in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Comics. I always wondered how or why somebody would do that to themselves. Because, to be brutally honest, most tattoos in the past, even at their best, were not very good.
I think that is one of the reasons I never went for it. I always thought “Why would I put something permanently on my body that I wouldn’t hang on my wall?’ I would look at what was considered the most cutting art style of tattoos being done and I always had reservations. Because what I saw was what I viewed as serious lapses in judgment on the recipient’s part. Most looked like crude jailhouse or biker tattoos, always done in black and with little to no artistic flair. Many having names of ex-wives and girlfriends that later would require having what is called “cover-ups” done should they get remarried or break-up. I wasn’t into having someone experiment on my skin, especially from what I had heard about the pain factor involved.
My best friend since kindergarten, Tom Viotti, was the first person I witnessed getting a tattoo. We were 17 years old at the time and we went to this seedy little tattoo parlor at 5th & Main in L.A. It wasn’t what I would call the most sanitary of environments and considering the time of day, about 2 a.m., definitely not the safest.
Tom had decided to have his name put on his right bicep. To be brutally honest, it looked pretty cheesy. But since he was my best friend I was not about to tell him that. The only words I could muster were “that’s cool.” After all, he had done what none of his peers would have done, and that was “cool” at least in our teenage minds. Besides, if I had said anything negative, he probably would have kicked my ass. Did I mention that Tom has always been into weightlifting and has always been what you would call “buff”? Enough said.
Through the years Tom got more tattoos, which seems to be a trait most people who jump on the tattoo bandwagon share. Like eating Lay’s potato chips. You can’t get just one. Unfortunately, none of his subsequent tattoos were any better than the first. Soon he had a collection of, well, bad tattoos. At least he had the smarts to have them placed in spots that could be covered with a normal t-shirt.
As technology progressed the option of having a tattoo removed by laser became available, but it was very pricey. Fortunately, for someone like Tom, the art of tattooing had reached new heights and had become far more socially acceptable. Tattoo artists had finally become just that, artists. The new generation of these artists had become in high demand by celebrities and the mass populi as well. Their works were not only worthy of someone’s wall but also worthy of someone’s body for life.
Along with the artistic advances there has been a genesis in the way that the tattoo industry functions. Gone are the days of walking into a parlor at 2 a.m. and having one slapped on in an impulsive moment. Nowadays most tattoo parlors require an appointment, the conditions are sanitary, and monitored.
Many tattoo artists have become celebrities and are in huge demand commanding high fees for their talents. One of the most prolific of these artists is right here in the San Gabriel Valley and is the magician who transformed Tom’s mediocre tattoos into an amazing mural of art fit to be hung in a museum.
His name is Tom Tilden. His parlor, Rube’s Tattoo’s, is located at 4163 Live Oak Avenue in Arcadia. This master of ink has done a fabulous job in taking, for lack of a better description, Tom V’s damaged canvas and turning it into a sprawling work of art complete with serpents, clouds, dragons, skulls, and spider webs. Granted, this type of artwork is not for everybody, but it works for Tom V.
Mr. Tilden, like most artists in the tattoo field, has worked at many different places on his journey to opening up his own establishment. In the past he has worked at Inflictions in Covina and at one of the most popular celebrity hang outs, Shamrock Tattoos in Hollywood. During his career he has “inked” many a celebrity, most notably a tattoo that most of us basketball fans here in Los Angeles are familiar with, the Superman “S” sported by Shaq, probably the most highly visible tattoo in all of sports. If you live in this area and are looking to get “inked” you are in luck because we have one of the best artists in the State right here in our own backyard.
I know it is much more socially acceptable nowadays to have a tattoo. The fact that soccer moms have little tattoos on their ankles says to me that long gone are the days of only bikers and sailors being the ones with ink. It has even come to the point where there is not just one but two TV shows on the air about the inner workings of the tattoo world, “Inked” and “Miami Ink.” If you can have TV shows about hair salons and kitchens why not tattoo parlors.
Getting tattooed is a very personal thing. There is usually a reason behind taking such a drastic step in body decoration. It’s not like getting your ears pierced where, if you grow tired of it, you simply take them out and the holes close up. Like I mentioned earlier, your only option for having a tattoo removed is having it done by laser surgery. So, if you are going to do it, it is a commitment for life.
What I don’t really comprehend is the tattoos that people have done on their backs. In these days of low-rise jeans I have seen so many women that have a tattoo on the low of their backs. Tom and another friend of mine, Steve, have large ones that cover a majority of their backs. If I was to go through the pain and expense of getting one I would want it some place that I could see it.
I have often thought about what I would get should I ever decide to make the leap. During different phases of my life I have toyed with many ideas. The Tasmanian Devil, the Yin and Yang symbol, skull & cross bones, and poodles. OK, I was just kidding about the poodles. There is only one that has remained in the back of my mind for all of these years and is the only remaining contestant in the tattoo derby, but I can’t tell you what it is because that is personal. Oh all right, it is the comedy/tragedy masks, which exemplifies my undying love of acting and the theatre.
So here I sit, firmly in the middle of the fence. Trying to decide if, at the halfway point of my life, to do something that most people do when they are much younger. Is it a taste of mid life crisis? I doubt it. I still feel as young as I did thirty years ago. Maybe I was just waiting long enough so that if I ended up not liking the tattoo, I would have to spend less time with it.
Maybe they can outfit me with a temporary poodle tattoo to see if I like it or not before making the commitment.
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