There are numerous stories about men having their wills tattooed on their backs, but in this newspaper report the husband’s will is tattooed on his wife’s back so that it would not get lost.
Tattooed a Will on a Woman’s Back
Source: The Washington Times. September 29, 1907.
Crazes among the nobility and fashionable society of London usually fade out of existence as sudden as they came, but not so with the tattooing fad which was started many years ago by Lady Randolph Churchill, and recently made such insidious and incessant progress as to gather in centenarians and babes in arms. The craze for artistic decoration of the human flesh has spread like prairie fire, though the smart set and West End London now has its own special tattooist, who devotes his time exclusively to emblazoning fanciful designs in many colors on the limbs and bodies of society women. The majority of his clients, however, have the initials or full name of their husband or fiancé tattooed on their arms.
Tattooist South, for it is he alone who is favored with the patronage of the nobility and fashionable set, and incidentally it is South alone who is making a mint of money out of the disfigurement craze, not only operates upon the cream of London’s smart set, but has clients from other countries who would not take chances with other needle wielders. From Vienna, Paris, Budapest, Berlin, and the other larger continental cities his patrons, mostly women, come to have their skins pierced with ink-soaked needles. Many of them have original ideas of their own which they have executed on their skins. Others simply know they want to be tattooed because it is the fad, and select the pattern from a book handed them by the artist.
Writhing serpents entwining themselves around the limbs or waists of the subjects, have been most popular this season, although many fiery dragons and speckled sea monsters have also been indelibly dug into the flesh of the society women.
Crests and coats of arms innumerable have been tattooed on the fair skins of the society folk, while one woman had the distorted taste of having a reproduction of the crucifixion on Calvary’s Hill pricked into her flesh in three colors.
Has Will Tattooed on Back
Another woman, fearing the last will and testament of her husband, by which she was to inherit all his lands, tenements and other property, might be lost or destroyed by enemies, arranged with the decorative artist to reproduce the document on her back. The matter was placed in the hands of one of London’s foremost practitioners and the will was borrowed and loaned to the tattooist, in order that he might copy the chyrography as well as the words of the testator. The document contained 500 words and several signatures and legal phrases showing it had been properly filed.
This was one of the most difficult tasks of the artist, and likewise the most painful ordeal through which any of his clients ever passed. It required a week for the document to be reproduced, and the woman was in great pain at the completion of the tattooist’s task, but now that the needle pricks have healed, the will can never be lost as long as the woman lives.
Babies Tattooed
Babies have been carried to the West Side tattooist to have their tender pink flesh pricked with their initials or full names. Mothers say this is the surest way of identification in case of kidnapping or loss of their children in any other way.The older persons who go under the artist’s needle are proud of the artistic disfigurement they carry away with them, but to the children the torturous ordeal is simply meaningless pain.
Long Lasting Fad
Artist South, who has a sumptuously appointed studio in Southampton row, declares the tattooing craze is on the increase, and he has to work both night and day to accommodate those who travel long distances to have him exercise his skill on them.
“The fad will not die out for years,” said the artist, “because I am booked up to next spring and probably will have more orders for intricate and artistic designs by that time. Tattooing has its uses and is everlastingly artistic. The colors never lose their luster when once pricked in, and tattooing entails an expense nowadays which insures its exclusiveness.
“Women of title are very fond now of having their signatures, coats-of-arms, and crests emblazoned on their skins, and the effect is very pretty. There is also now a craze for dragons and serpents, and I have just finished a four and one-half dragon winding its way around one of the limbs of a well known actress.
“One of the strangest tasks I have been engaged on lately was to tattoo a will on a woman’s back. It was a copy of the document drawn up in the usual way by a solicitor. It contained nearly 500 words, and I had carefully to reproduce all the signatures.
Helps Irishman’s Rheumatism
“Some of the most extraordinary reasons for wishing to be tattooed are given by some of the clients. An Irish major comes to me for treatment whenever he gets an attack of rheumatism, and he assures me that nothing does his complaint so much good as tattooing. Then, again, a man who is just past eighty years is another constant visitor. He says the operation makes him feel years younger.
“Tattooing has an irresistible fascination for many medical men, and more than 1,000 well known practitioners, many from Harley Street and the neighborhood, bear samples of my handiwork on their bodies.
Princess Decorated With Anchor
“Among well known society women who are tattooed I may mention a royal princess who was ornamented with an anchor while on a visit to a naval port, but, of course, I am not at liberty to give the names of my clients.
“The principal reason for the great boom in tattooing,” said the artist, “is that the new designs are almost first class and the colors used are delicate shades of blue, black, red, yellow, green, and brown. Many persons also recognize the necessity of being tattooed with some distinctive device so that if some sudden accident befall them they could be easily identified. Parents are beginning to recognize this, and I have tattooed more than 500 children recently.”
