Back in my day... you didn't see a lot of tattoos. They were mostly worn by outsiders - carnies, sailors, prostitutes, prisoners. They had a rather unsavory reputation in "polite" society. That has changed considerably in the last few decades. They are seen as a means of expression and a form of folk art. They are also used for identification of animals and people.
Tattooing goes back thousands of years in various cultures. Southeast Asian and Pacific Islanders were innovators, and by the late 18th century European and America sailors started adopting the practice. In 1936, Sailor Jerry opened his shop in Hawaii, and had a great impact on modern tattooing, with strong lines and a variety of colors. In the sixties, Lyle Tuttle was a San Francisco tattoo artist who also stepped up the game and became popular with musicians and others in the counterculture. In 1975 there were only about 40 professional tattoo artists in the U. S., today, they number some 5,000 (and most are not of quite the caliber of Jerry and Lyle).
At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I'm not crazy about the proliferation of tattoos. I'm fine with people decorating their bodies, but I'm not seeing a lot of artistry or a well thought out placement. A few incidents in my childhood also affected my view.
- I had an uncle who got them during the war when he was in the Navy. Over the years, the tattoos started to spread out a bit like they were out of focus. Some of the hip kids today are going to have a big surprise when they get older.
- When my grandfather dies his wish was to be buried in a Catholic cemetery. But he had a small tattoo. If discovered by the priest, he would have been denied burial in sacred ground. Many conservative sects believe that your body should exit life in the same condition it was when it entered.
- When I was ten and visited an amusement park, I saw an older woman with a strange tattoo, a string of numbers. I asked my grandmother about it and she explained to me about the Nazi death camps, quite horrifying. I still have that association in my mind.
Just the same, there are some really creative artists out there doing beautiful work. I just people make a good choice before they dive into a lifelong fashion statement.
One more thing... what's with getting sentences (or long) as a tattoo? Difficult to read, will be the first to fade, and bizarre to use words and letters in what should be a purely graphic medium. Looks pretty dull-witted to these old eyes.