Rich Stremme

I like how Rich went into detail about different figures in the history of tattooing in the United States and how they were influenced by different stigmas surrounding the practice in the past. I found it interesting that people would tattoo on others, and those people would then show off their new tattoos as a form of advertisement. This was basically happening for years when people believed that tattoos were associated with prostitution and gang activity, which I think would have added to the whole “underground” vibe that Rich mentioned was really important to him. Rich really made it seem like tattooing was for the love of the craft rather than for money, which I think really connects to the material that we cover in this class.

I don’t really like the idea of getting tattoos on myself, but it was really interesting to hear about its history from Rich’s perspective. I already had some prior knowledge about the history of tattooing, but it wasn’t anything as specific as what Rich discussed.