Wittenberg University Journals

Mazur, Kelsey

English

Intertwined Secular and Ecclesiastic Kings: Abbot Suger and His Connection to the French Royal Family as seen through the Artwork of Saint-Denis.

Cooper, Michael

Muhammad Ali: And the Vietnam Resistance Movement

Byrne, Steve

Vol. XXXV, Spring 2006 • 5
A Dash Through the Canyons:
Gen. John Wesley Powell's First Expedition
on the Colorado
Steve Byrne
On May 10, 1869 workers drove in the final spike into the Union Pacific Railroad
at Promontory, Utah, connecting both coasts of the United States. The historic
moment not only paved the way for the country's future economic expansion, but
it signaled the final days of the frontier. With increased westward migration, the
frontier quickly disappeared into settled, charted land. Yet even though the coasts
were now connected, one large swath of the American West still lay blank on maps
and unexplored by white men. The region was known as the Plateau Province, and
those crossing the West tried to avoid it at all costs.1 Composed of high deserts, deep
canyons and occasional mountain ranges the area remained off limits and unchallenged
by westward settlers. While westward fortune seekers on the railroad avoided this
uncharted part of the country, one man, Gen. John Wesley Powei1, dared to explore
and chart the Plateau Province. Because the land was too arid and expansive to walk,
the only method of exploration was by boat on the Colorado River.
Maimed at the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War and left with only his
left hand, Powell ignored the difficulties that his injury might present and set out
determined to explore the last American frontier. Born in the frontier Midwest, as
a child, Powell's preacher father moved his family between small country towns in
Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. Raised far from civilization, early on PoweI1 developed
an intense appreciation for nature. After his days at war and expeditions of eastern
rivers, exploring the most remote comer of the U.S. proved an illusive attraction for
Powell and during the spring of 1869, he set out for Green River Crossing, Wyoming.
The Green River is a high tributary of the Colorado crossed by the Union
Pacific Railroad. Because of its easy access to the railway and river, Poweli chose the
small town of Green River Crossing as the starting point for his journey. Traveling
westward, Powell recruited nine other men to join in his expedition. Some of the
men, like his brother Waiter, he knew. Others, frontiersmen looking for adventure, he
recruited along way to Wyoming. While preparing his gear at Green River Crossing,
Poweli noticed a young man rowing on the Green River. The eighteen year old, Andy
Hall, displayed skills that caught Powell's attention. Thinking that the boy would
be useful on his voyage, Powei1 quickly recruited him for the trip. By May 24, 1869,
the eclectic group of ten adventurers set out down the Green River, bound for the
unknown in four wooden dories: the Maid of the Canyon, the Kitty CIyde's Sister, the
Emma Dean, and the No Name? "Onlookers of the departure must have thought they
would never see the 10 men again."
6 • The Wittenberg History Journal
The first few miles down the Green River presented no great difficulties. Swift
but unchallenging waters met the expedition affording time to hone their paddling and
navigation skills. Despite the easy start, Powell and his crew knew that before them
lay treacherous waters. As the crew entered Flaming Gorge, a river canyon carved
out of red sandstone that glowed in the sun, they encountered their first major rapids.
Upon scouting the boiling waters, the team decided to shoot the rapids rather than
portage, risking themselves and months of provisions. The river smashed the boat on
sharp, underwater rocks, sending its crew and supplies floating down river. No men
were lost, but the decision cost the expedition the No Name and month's worth of
supplies.
As the expedition wore on, the river's volume grew. The water, murider with
the characteristic red silt of the Colorado and angrier as the canyon walls reached
higher and higher, trapped the expedition in what seemed like a never-ending hell.
Between the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado four thousand feet of
drop awaited Powell and his men. The rapids that had destroyed the No Name were
just the beginning of the long voyage ahead. With the surrounding canyon terrain
growing every more severe, the possibility of portage, and in many cases scouting,
withered away. Day after day the expedition faced unrelenting waters and risks that
threatened to end the expedition. The grueling monotony of deadly rapids took their
toll on the crew. On August 27 the expedition arrived at a rapid impossible to portage
and difficult to scout. George Bradley described the scene as "a hell of foam".4 The
next morning O.G. Howland, his brother Seneca and Bill Dunn decided that they
had had enough, and abandoned the group claiming "how surely we will all die if we
continue this journey"? As the rest of the expedition took their chances on the rapid
before them, the three men climbed out of the canyon in search of civilization. Instead
of finding a way out, a group of Shivwit Indians slaughtered the three not far from the
canyon rim. Only three days later, the rest of the expedition reached their takeout at
the mouth of the Virgin River, what is present day Lake Mead2
Even though he too felt overwhelmed with the enormity of the landscape, and
the inexorable monotony of the voyage, Powell never stopped focusing on the flora,
fauna and geography surrounding the river. For PoweiI, the mission was not to simply
pass through the Colorado River and Plateau Province, but to record and chart this
enigma of the American wilderness.
The same spirit that propelled Powell into the unknown on his first Colorado
River expedition, later led him down the Colorado and other rivers throughout the
West. Powell's never ending desire to explore and chart the U.S. led him into politics
and to be the father of the US Geological Survey, Bureau of American Ethnology and
of the Reclamation Service of the countryr. To this day, the agency carries on the
spirit of Powell: the never-ending pursuit to understand our country and the natural
environment in which we live so that there are no uncharted, unknown areas of our
country's wilderness.
Voi. XXXV, Spring 2006 • 7
Works Cited
Hobbes, Dr. William Herbert. "John Wesley Poweli: 1834-1902." The Scientific Monthly vol. 39,
no. 6 (1934): 519-529.
Reisner, Marc. CadillacDesert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. New York: Penguin
Books, 1993.
Unknown. "John Wesley Powell." Available from http://www.powellmuseum, org/MajorPowell.htm;
Internet; accessed 09 February 2006.
End Notes
Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (New York:
Penguin Books, 1993), 24.
2 Reisner, 26.
3 Unknown "Ma or John Wesley Poweli." Available from http://www.powellmuseum, org/
MajorPowell.htmt; Internet; accessed 9 February 2006.
4 Reisner, 26.
Unknown "Maior John Wesley Powell." Avaiiable from hnp://www.powellmuseum, org/
MajorPowelI.htmt; Intemet; acce'ssed 9 February 2006.
6 Unknown, "Major John Wesley Poweli." Available from hnp://www.powellmuseum, org/
MajorPowell. htmt; Intemet; accessed 9 February 2006.
7 Dr. William Herbert Hobbs, "John Wesley Powell: 1834-1902," The Scientific Monthly voi. 39,
no. 6 (1934): 519-529.


A Dash Through the Canyons: Gen. John Wesley Powell\u27s First Expedition on the Colorado

Journal, Wittenberg

Mission Statement

Miller, Kristen

The Story of the Havasupai: A Look at their Claim to the Grand Canyon National Park

Mooney-Melvin, Grace

The Robie House: An Inspirational Design
Grace Mooney-Melvin
"His home environment may face forward, may portray his character, tastes
and ideas, if he has any, and every man here has some somewhere about him." This
quote of Frank Lloyd Wright discusses the American homeowner and suggests a direct
relationship between the homeowner and the nature of the house. This sentiment
directly captures the house of Frederick C. Robie. An architectural genius, Wright put
all his effort into every house he designed, from bottom to top, from floor to ceilings,
from flowers to furniture. Wright's design of the Robie house, one of his premier
Prairie houses, reflects not only Wright's notion of the appropriate house but Robie's
interests as well.
Born in 1876, Frederick C. Robie was driven by his passion for bicycles and
automobiles. He attended the Yale School in Chicago and the Chicago Manual
Training School. Robie journeyed to Lafayette, indiana to continue his studies at
Purdue University, where he received an engineering degree. His father owned the
Excelsior Supply Company, which specialized in the manufacturing of bicycles as
well as, eventually, making automobile supplies. Robie began working for his father's
company and became the president of the company in 1910.2 Automobiles and
mechanical elements fascinated Robie and this interest became the link between Frank
Lloyd Wright and Robie's dream house.
As his success grew, Robie wanted to build a house for his family that reflected
his position. He chose a plot of land in the Hyde Park community of Chicago,
Illinois and on May 19, 1908, he bought the sixty by eighty feet piece of land for
13,500 dollars) Robie needed an architect and found his way to Frank Lloyd Wright.
According to Robie, "I contacted him, and from the first we had a definite community
of thought. When I talked in mechanical terms, he talked and thought in architectural
terms. I thought, well, he was in my world".4 The mechanical engineer and the
architect both thought in terms of lines, angles, and space.
The price of the land represented, as it turned out, the more inexpensive part of
the project. Wright ultimately required a budget of 35,000 dollars to create Robie's
house. This budget was seven to ten times the amount necessary for the construction
of a 'modest' house? However, a modest amount would not have resulted in a
masterpiece. This generous budget allowed Wright to design the structure with
freedom and create a distinctive character for the house.
Situated at the c°rner of 58 Street and Woodlawn Avenue, the Robie house
stands very close to the University of Chicago. The Gothic Revival architecture
adopted by the University of Chicago, which projected a strict and "sentimental"
environment, was directly at odds with the structure envisioned by Wright and
Robie.s "Radical and masculine the Robie house would be built in a part of Chicago
characteristically stern and urbane."
5 * The Wittenberg History Journal
Large brick houses and the streets book-ended the site and accentuated its
horizontality and the physical constraints represented an influence on the shape the
house would ultimately take. Important as well were the ideas Wright drew from his
interest in German culture. During this period, he defined many things by the ideal
of "the comprehensive and unified work of art, the Gesamtkunstwerk") 
"Discipline,
unslackening vigor, power in place of prettiness: those were the German preferences
that would inform the house."9 The combination of the narrow nature of site and
the German influence resulted in a structure that mimicked "a great steamship at
anchor."1° "Everything about the site suggested a long, low, streamlined, shiplike
house: the prairie, the nearby lake, the new sense of speed, the still unshaken faith
in the machine, and the shape of the lot, three times as long as itwas wide." The
house, aIthough considered, "the distilled essence of Wright's Prairie School style and
the culmination of his search for a new architecture," Wright himself acknowledged
this German influence on his work. He claimed that the house became known as
Dampfer in Germany, which was steamship architecture.13
By March of 1909 Wright had finished the drawings for the house and
construction for this masterpiece began. Harrison Bernard Barnard was the builder
for the Robie house and he worked on the proiect from the spring of 1909 until its
conclusion in the spring of 1910. At the time of the construction of the house, Wright
faced distractions from his home life. Ultimately, he turned over the final bit of
construction to his assistants and turned his back on his Oak Park practice. He and his
new love and mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, left for Europe)4
The materials used for the house were brick, cut stone, reinforced concrete,
wood, tile, and stee!. The brick was for the walls and the cut stone was for the
copings and sills. The wood-trimmed floors and the balconies were constructed of
reinforced concrete while the beams were made of steel?5
During the construction important innovations to the house emerged. For
example, Wright introduced a new type of indirect heating into this structure. The
radiators lined the doorways and windows, hidden from the eye, and the pipes laid
beneath the floors, allowing the homeowners to never have to step foot on a cold
floor.16 There were other modern innovations placed in the house during construction
such as electric lighting, telephone equipment and even the installation of a burglar
and fire alarm system)'
Despite the German influences which had an impact on the Robie house
design, the structure was built during a time when Wright was building prairie style
houses. It resembles greatly the Tomek House of 1907 built by Wright in Riverside,
Illinois. Anchored by a large chimney, the house has "two parallel, rectangular two-
story masses," with "a smaller, square third story." Like all of the prairie-style
houses designed by Wright, "the exterior formulation of base, wall, and cornice...
is repeated in every part of the elevations." 9 The house is very horizontal because
of the extended cantilevering roofs and the thin Roman bricks Wright used to accent
the elevations. Along with this sense of horizontality, both the roofs and wails of
the house seem as if they are floating. The roofs and walls gained a certain level of
independence because of the hidden support and exaggerated roofs. The support piers
are built nearer to the house and the cantilever beams hold the weight.2° The roofs
appear even closer to the ground due to the absence of an attic.2 Wright's ideas of
"asymmetric balance" are clearly articulated in the Robie House?2
The bold and modern lines and spatial arrangement suggested in Wright's design
certainly capture Robie's mechanical and engineering interests. The Robie house
appeared as a bold structural statement for a man who wanted a modem house.
Wright's incorporation of the homeowner's interests exist in other ways as well. The
tall wall and larger iron gates to the drive surrounded the courtyard area in which
Robie's children could play, reflecting Robie's fear of kidnappers and burglars.23 Robie's
desire for privacy resulted in the placement of the main entrance to the house in the
rear of the structure:
"It]he intentions of the house, however, have nothing to do with the
supplication of the gods of sun or rain, the steps express instead the stages
of privacy, for the house exists to be lived in".24 Reflecting Robie's passion
for automobiles, Wright did not construct stables. Instead, Wright had
garage ports built and they became "the first attached three car garage in
the world."2s
The strong and massive exterior of the house belies the fluidity of the interior.
On the ground floor, the billiard room, playroom, kitchen, living room, and dining
room all connect with and flow into one another. "Each leads to the next, and one is
allowed to detract from the harmony of the whole, the Gesamtkunstwerk."26 In keeping
with the idea of bringing nature into the house, the rooms flow into balconies, into
terraces, and the large playroom on the first floor opened to a "wailed playground."27
As well as fluidity, Wright incorporated the sense of family into the house by dividing
the rooms into both living and dining areas centered around the hearthY Inspired
by Wright's travels to Japan, Wright incorporated eight oak screens in to the house's
designY The ceiling was separated into panels that held two different types of electric
light. Glass globes hung on the sides of the main area and there covered bulbs hid
behind the wooden grilles in the lower spaces at the edges of the panels, reflecting
Wright's desire to combine decorative elements with structural necessities?°
Unfortunately, the excitement this new house generated turned sour due to the
death of Robie's father and the need to pay off business debts. Domestic troubles
further destroyed Robie's world when his wife, Lora, left him in April of 1911, taking
the children with her, and she divorced him on March 1, 1912. Robie was forced to
abandon his dream house in December 1911. He sold it to David Lee Taylor, the head
of the Taylor-Critchfield Co., an advertising firm2 Following Taylor's residency, other
owners occupied the house and today it has been preserved and is a museum.
The Robie House still stands today on the campus of the University of Chicago
and is one of Wright's most famous structures. Built on a constricting plot of land,
Wright designed an imposing house that dominated the streetscape. While drawing
on German influences as well as Wright's prairie design elements, it's a house that
showcased, however briefly, the essence of the modern that Frederick Robie, with
his mechanical bent and passion for automobiles, desired. It suggests the dynamic
combination of the desire and character of a homeowner and the vision of the
architect.
7 o The Wittenberg History Journal
Works Cited
Connors, Joseph. The Robie House of Frank Lloyd Wright. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1984.
Davies, Colin. Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations. New
York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2006.
Gill, Brendan. Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright. New York: Da Capo Press, 1987.
Hoffman, Donald. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story. of an Architectural
Masterpiece. NewYork: Dover Publications, 1984.
Kruty, Paul. "Frederick C. Robie House," InAJA Guide to Chicago, ed. Alice Sinkevitch,
433-34. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.
Endnotes
1 Donald Hoffman, Frm*k Moyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an ArchitecturaIMasterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984) 35.
2 seph nn rs TheP`bieIq use fFran LloydWright( hicag :University Chicag Press 1984) 5.
a Donald Hoffman, Fratk Lloyd Wright's Rokie House: The lllustrated Story of an ArchitecturalMasterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 6.
4 Joseph Cormors, The Robie House of Frank Lloyd Wright (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 6.
5 D na dH man FrankLl ydWrightsR bieH use:TheIllustratedStry fanArchitecturalMasterpiece(NewYrk:D ver
Publications, 1984), 14.
6 Ibid., 15.
• Ibid., 13.
8 Ibid., 14.
9 Ibid., 14.
a0 Paul Kruty, "Frederick C. Robie House," in Alice Sinkevitch, ed. AIA Guide to Chicago (San Diego: Harcourt
Brace & Company, 1993) 433.
11 Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 17.
1 Paul Kruty, ' Frederick C. Robie House," in Alice 8inkevitch, ed. AIA Guide to Chicago (San Diego: Harcourt
Brace & Company, 1993) 433.
la Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 14.
14 Joseph Cormors, The Robie House of Frank Lloyd Wright (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 59-60.
as Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an ArchitecturaI Masterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 32.
Vol. XXXVII, Spring 2008 * 8
16 Ibid., 32.
17 Brendan Gill, Many Masks: A Life of Prank Lloyd Wright (New York: Da Caps Press, 1987) 194.
18 Paul Kruty, "Frederick C. Robie House," in Alice Sinkevitch, ed. AIA Guide to Chicago (San Diego: Harcourt
Brace & Company, 1993) 433.
19 Ibid., 433.
o Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 40.
2 Ibid., 42.
22 Ibid., 21.
23 Ibid., 57.
24 Ibid., 38.
25 Ibid., 57.
2s Ibid., 47.
7 Brendan Gill, Many Masks: A Life of Prank Lloyd Wright (New York: Da Caps Press, 1987) 194.
28 Colin Davies, Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations (New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 2006) 32.
2 Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie Elouse: The Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 49.
3o Colin Davies Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations (New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 2006) 32.
31 Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an ArchiteauraIMasterpiece (New York: Dover
Publications, 1984), 89.


The Robie House: An Inspirational Design

Bitter, Seth

19 • The Wittenberg History Journal
Tattooing in the Fin de SiScle
Seth Bitter
The art of tattooing is by no means a recent invention; tattoos and tattooing
equipment have been recorded from as early as 10,000 BC. It has been said that
"[tattooing] may well have been one of [man's] first conscious acts which distinguished
him from the rest of the animal kingdom." However, in spite of its extensive history
it was not until the end of the nineteenth-century that tattooing really hit English and
American cultures in full force. Originally perceived to be the indulgence of sailors
and criminals, the tattoo evolved to become a trendy accessory of England's most
elite socialites and America's most daring citizens. The American and English sailors
bringing tattoos home, the invention of the electric tattoo machine, the artistry of early
tattooists, and the adventurous and perhaps haphazard attitude of the fin de si cle all
attributed to the wildfire nature of tattooing at the end of the nineteenth-century.
Throughout history some of the most distinctive cultures have practiced the
art of tattooing. The earliest known example of tattooing comes in the form of a five
thousand year old corpse known as "The Iceman." The Iceman's body is adorned
with various small crosses and lines which are believed to indicate where body aches
and ailments were located. The position of the tattoo marks indicate that they were
applied for medicinal purposes.2 Similarly, Amunet is an Egyptian tattooed mummy
who sports parallel lines on her arms and thighs and an elliptical pattern below her
navel. There are also many other Egyptian wall paintings and statues that seem
to represent the art of tattooing? In parts of Europe tattooing equipment has been
found that dates back to the Upper Paleolithic period (10,000 BC to 38,000 BC) which
includes "a disk made of clay and red ochre together with sharp bone needles that are
inserted into holes in the top of the disk." It is believed the disk served as a pigment
reservoir and the needles were used to prick the ink into designs on the skin.4
Several Greek and Roman writers such as Plato, Plutarch, and Galen wrote
about tattooing as well, though "respectable Greeks and Romans did not indulge in
decorative tattooing, which they associated with barbarians." Tattooing was viewed
by the Romans as a form of punishment and was used to mark slaves, criminals,
and soldiers so they could not escape or desert. The Romans also provide the oldest
recorded description of the tattoo process, written by a physician named Aetius; the
process invoIves mixing an ink using elements such as bark, corroded bronze, and gall,
then pricking the design into the skin with pointed needles until blood is drawn, and
then rubbing ink into the wound. Aetius also recorded the first ever tattoo-removal
process which essentially called for a "corrosive preparation that causes infection" that
would remove superficial layers of skin and obscure the tattoo marks to some extent.6
Interestingly enough the Greek and Roman historians even observed Britons in the
third century AD with tattoos as Herod of Antioch wrote: "The Britons incise on their
bodies colored pictures of animals, of which they are very proud."7
Vol. XXXVII, Spring 2008 • 20
With the vast history of tattooing in cultures all over the world including third-
century Britain, it seems odd that tattooing would not reach its peak in Europe and
America, until the nineteenth century. Religious taboo could have played a large role
in tattooings slow beginnings; in 787 AD Pope Hadrian I "forbade tattooing of any
kind" and the popes who came after Hadrian followed suit. 8 In 1888, A.W. Buckland
wrote an article in an anthropological journal in which he reasoned:
Falling under the head of ornament, it seems probable that this very painful
mode of personal adornment was adopted at a very early period of human
history, and was at one time almost universal, falling into destetude with the
advance of civilization when clothing became general, and ornaments were
chosen which would not entail pain, and could be varied according to the
caprice of the wearer?
This is an interesting theory because it argues that humans have been interested in
some manner of self-decoration since a very early age. Advancements in clothing
meant that painless, alterable self-adornment was possible. This ruling by the Catholic
Church and the advancement of textiles are the reason tattooing in the Christian world
was unheard of before the nineteenth century.
It was through Captain James Cook of the British Navy and Joseph Banks,
the ship's historian, that modern society "...came into contact with tattooing on a
scale never before seen by Western eyes."1° Cook's ship, the Endeavour, and its crew
embarked in 1769 on a journey to explore the South Pacific. It was on this voyage that
Cook and Banks encountered the facial and full-body tattoos indicative of the native
people of Tahiti and New Zealand. Banks recorded the process the Tahitian people
used to tattoo as well as the design and placement of the tattoos.H Banks' journals
as well as his tendency to entertain partygoers with tales of "...stormy seas, exotic
islands, and tattooed cannibals" would plant the seeds for the tattoo craze to come.1
It was not long before the strange art of the South Pacific became standard
procedure for servicemen in Britain's Navy:
During the nineteenth century tattooing flourished in England as nowhere
else in Europe. This was due in a large part to the tradition of tattooing in
the British Navy, which began with the first voyage of Captain Cook in 1769.
During the decades that followed, many British seamen returned home bearing
souvenirs of their travels in the form of exotic tattoos. Sailors learned the
art, and by the middle of the 18 century most British ports had at least one
professional tattoo artist in residence.1
Tattooing began in England as being 'mainly prevalent among soldiers, sailors,
and a certain class of civilians associated with both classes." 4 Sailors were ideal
candidates for getting tattooed as "the very mobility of the sailor provided the impetus
required for habit and tradition to form...,,15 One sailor, when asked why he got
tattooed, was quoted as saying, "See...we are like sheep, and when one of us does
anything we all imitate him at once, even if we risk doing ourselves harm." 6 One
serviceman would get tattooed, show his fellow crewmates, and then they, in turn,
24 o The Wittenberg History Journal
i;
I
would get tattooed and so on and so forth. It seemed that tattooing among British
Royal Forces was even encouraged as Field Marshall Earl Roberts (bearing a tattoo
himself) proclaimed that "every officer in the British Army should be tattooed with
his regimental crest. Not only does this encourage espirit de corps but also assists in the
identification of casualities."17
The growing popularity of tattooing in Britain came with the first known English
professional tattoo artist, David Purdy, who opened the first professional tattoo shop
in North London in 1870. 8 Purdy commented, "I believe [tattooing] to be a common
thing among soldiers and sailors."19 The opening of Purdy's shop meant that sailors
no longer had to rely on the amateur tattoo skills of their shipmates and could instead
visit a true tattoo artist. Purdy published a booklet entitled Tattooing: How to Tattoo in
which he instructed amateurs how to sketch a design on the body ("...a good deal of
rubbing out to do before you get the figure drawn correctly"2°), avoid tattooing on top
of large veins, shave the area to be tattooed, and draw in fine lines so as the fine tattoo
needles will have a good design to work from? Little about Purdy's career is known
past his booklet.
The transition of the tattoo in England from a sailor's whimsy to an aristocratic
trend came in 1862 when the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) had a Jerusalem
cross tattooed upon him while visiting the Holy Land. Edward VII had his sons, the
Duke of Clarence and Duke of York, tattooed in Japan by master tattooist Hori Chiyo
as well as in Jerusalem by the same artists who had done his tattoo twenty years
prior. 2 This marking of royalty sent the British aristocracy into a frenzy and soon
fashionable society was overrun by a "tattoo craze."23 Historian James Bradley sums
up the aristocratic interest in the permanent art, "For the beautiful people, of whatever
gender, obtaining a tattoo was tantamount to buying a new frock. And unlike its rude
counterpart, the operation took place in the comfortable environs of the 'studio,' the
place of artists and photographers."24
However, not everyone was sold on rushing out to get tattooed. Ward
McAllister, a British socialite at the time, expressed his sentiments to the press:
It is certainly the most vulgar and barbarous habit the eccentric mind of
fashion ever invented. It may do for illiterate seamen, but hardly for an
aristocrat. Society men in England were the victims of circumstance when
the Prince of Wales had his body tattooed. Like a flock of sheep driven by
their master they had to follow suit." s
Other opponents of tattooing are evidenced in periodicals of the time that range
from the tame to the grossly libelous. An 1899 article from the London News screams
"Tattooed to Death" and tells the story of a man passing away of blood poisoning a
week after a ten-hour tattoo session. The article says the man died of blood poisoning
but it does admit that "there was no evidence to show that it was caused by tattooing"
and that the tattoo artist was not put on trial? It is interesting then that the title of the
article becomes nothing more than an attention-grabber as the actual content is about
a man's death who happened to be tattooed and not a man who was tattooed to death.
An even more sensational article ran in an 1884 issue of the New York Times
that claimed a baby had been born with marks identical to the tattoos of its mother.
Vol. XXXVII, Spring 2008 • 22
The article claims "the baby is remarkable because his sldn bears the same marks or
tattooed figures as the mother. Not only are these figures reproduced identically on the
child's epidermis, but they are in the same colors as the marks on the mother's body."27
Obviously is it impossible for an unborn child to be tattooed simultaneously with its
mother but the fact that such a tabloid article ran in a legitimate news source such as
the New York Times represents a certain aura of distrust and mystery that surrounded
tattooing at the time.
The skepticism surrounding tattooing along with its increasing popularity in
England brought the desire to legitimize tattooing as an art. For example, Sutherland
Macdonald was a flourishing and talented tattoo artist in late nineteenth-century
London who understood the benefits in transforming tattooing from a vice of sailors
to an indulgence of the aristocracy. Macdonald's studio was opened in 1890 in
London's trendy West End so that his elite clientele "...need not remove themselves
from their social milieu."28 In addition to fine tattoos, Macdonald made sure his
decadent customers were surrounded in their element and insured that a luxurious
cushion, cigarette, or cool drink was never out of handy Macdonald was also the man
responsible for the popularization of the term "tattooist" in lieu of 
"tattooer" 
claiming
"that 'ist' sounded like 'artist' whereas 'er' sounded like 'plumber.''3° Macdonald's
ability to skillfully tattoo as well as his acute business sense earned him celebrity and
publications of the time hailed him as "the Michelangelo of tattooing" saying that his
work was "the very finest tattooing the world has ever seen."31
Tattooing in the United States followed very similar patterns to those in England.
Martin Hildebrandt was a German immigrant who started tattooing in America in
1846, and in 1870, he opened the first American tattoo studio in New York City. As
in England, the first Americans to get tattooed were sailors, and many of the first
accounts of tattooing are found in their diaries? Early American tattoos consisted
mostly of patriotic and nautical themes that were meant to serve as good luck charms
for the sailors and soldiers who sported them?3 In a 1901 New York Times article one
tattooist displayed an album of "ordinary work, sailors' art [that consisted of] United
States shields, full-rigged ships, ladies that might represent any one of a hundred,
cannons, and anchors. This is the common sort of stuff which the ordinary seafaring
man wants-- the more ink and the blacker, the more he thinks he is getting for his
money."34
Hildebrandt soon had a worthy competitor by the name of Samuel O'Reilly.
O'Reilly opened his New York City tattoo studio in 187575 Up until this point all
tattoos were done by the method of hand-poking which could be as painful as it was
slow. A tattoo artist would use a series of sticks with needles attached to the ends.
Sticks with single-needles were used for details and fine lines whereas sticks with rows
of needles attached to them would be used for washing in large areas of color. These
needles were dipped in ink and then rhythmically tapped into the patron's skin until
the desired tattoo was created. A skilled artist could tap the needles into the skin at a
rate of two to three times per second?6
O'Reiliy, who in addition to being a tattoo artist was also a mechanic, reasoned
that if he could invent a machine to automatically move the needles up and down then
an artist could tattoo on skin as simply as he could draw on paper?7 Using Thomas
Edison's autographic printer as a template, O'Reilly modified the design to create the
23 o The Wittenberg History Journal
I
first electric tattoo machine. After some refinement, O'Reilly patented his creation
in 1891 and changed the face of tattooing forever. "The electric tattoo machine...
not only quickened the process and decreased the pain involved, but facilitated
greater detail and subtlety in colouration and shading. With the increased technical
proficiency in tattooing itself, the quality of the drawings and paintings on which they
were based also improved."3
O'Reilly's career skyrocketed overnight, and he would spend the next two
decades of his life traveling to major U.S. cities where he tattooed prominent, upper-
class citizens.39 Around the turn of the century however O'Reilly would become
wrapped up in multiple, frivolous lawsuits as he sought to defend his patent rights
against other tattooists releasing similar machines. In 1900 the New York Times ran
an article enititled "Tattoo Artists at War: Dispute in the Courts as to the Rights of an
Instrument," where O'Reilly brought another tattooist, Elmer E. Getchell, to court over
who owned the patent to the tattoo machine. Getchei1 argued that "...the main part
of the device was patented by Edison, and that neither man could get out a patent."4°
These successive lawsuits consumed O'Reilly's time and money.
In England the invention of the tattoo machine brought about an interesting
result. Since the tattoo machine made the process less painful and seemingly less
intrusive than the previous hand-poked method, tattooing became "not entirely
unsuited for daring 'ladies.'41" The Tatter, a British society magazine, wrote that
"tattooing was a 'gentle art,' the height of fashionability."42 Alfred South, a tattooist,
was quoted in the TatIer as claiming that out of 15,000 clients, 900 of them had been
women. This client-base of nearly seventeen percent female is impressive and quite
indicative of the "New Woman" sentiments being advocated at the time.
As tattooing in the United States became more popular it also became more
acceptable for the upper classes of society. Affluent members of society began to
accumulate tattoos based on fashion and artistic merit. A visiting Japanese tattooist at
the time commented:
Next to the people of my own country, Americans take more interest in the
subject of artistic tattooing than any other civilized people...I have traveled
much all over the world, each time returning to my own country, but
nowhere do the people understand as they do here the beauties of art...,
for no matter where you go you will find the ordinary sailor tattooed. But
the difference between tattooing and artistic tattooing is the same as that
between a chromo which you hang on the wall of your stable and the
fine oil painting which you hang in the parlors of your homes. It is this
understanding which the Americans have.43
Clearly the tattoo in the United States had shifted from ink scratches on sailors to a
legitimate art form.
The writings of Joseph Banks on the tattoos of island people and the daring
nature of sailors provided the long-awaited flame that would spark the tattoo
revolution in the Christian world. Modern tattooing owes itself to the commitment to
artistry of early tattoo artists, O'Reilly's invention of the first electric tattoo machine,
and the daring nature that characterized the end of the nineteenth century. The start
Vol. XXXVII, Spring 2008 • 24
of the twentieth century marked a new beginning in tattooing. Up and coming artists
improved upon O'Reilly's machine and created tattoo designs that would eventually
become the "traditional American" Style.44 Artists like Sutherland Macdonald who
innovated the tattoo as art in a Christian world would pass on their skills to trained
apprentices who would continue their businesses for generations to come.
Bibliography
Bradley, James. "Body Commodification: Class and Tattoos in Victorian Britain," in Written
on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History, ed. Jane Caplan. New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 2000, 136-155.
Buckland, A.W. "On Tattooing." The JournaI of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland, Vol. 17 (1888) 318-328. http://www.proquest.com/(accessed October 17, 2007).
Gilbert, Steve. Tanoo History: A Source Book. New York: Juno Books, 2000.
Govenar, Alan. "The Changing Image of Tattooing in American Culture, 1846-1966," in Written
on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History, ed. Jane Caplan. New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 2000, 212-233.
Scutt, 1LW.B., and Christopher Gotch. Art, Sex and Symbol:The Mystery of Tattooing. New York:
Cornwall Books, 1986.
Endnotes
1 R.W.B Scutt, and Christopher Gotch, An, Sex, and Symbol: The Mystery of Tattooing (New York: Cornwall Books,
1986), 21.
2 Steve Gilbert, Tattoo History: a Source Book. (New York: Juno Books, 2000), 11.
3 Ibid.
4 Gilbert, 11.
5 Ibid., 15
Ibid.
z Ibid., 16.
8 Gilbert, 17.
9 A.W. Buckland, "On Tattooing," The Journ!! o f the AnthropologicalInstitute of Great Britain andIreland, 17 (1888): 319.
0 Scutt and Gotch, 28.
11 Gilbert, 35-37.
12 Ibid., 36.
13 Ibid., 103.
4 James Bradley, 'Body Commodificatlon? Class and Tattoos in Victorian Britain," in Written on the Body, ed. Jane
Caplan (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000), 141.
12 Scutt and Gotch, 51.
25 * The Wittenberg History Journai
16 ' Origin of Tattooing," New York Times (April 19, 1896), 30.
17 Gilbert 103 184.
i 8cutt and Gotch, 52.
19 Bradley, 141.
0 Gilbert, 103.
21 Ibid.
Ibid.
3 Bradley, 146.
24 Ibid., 148.
5 Gilbert, 103.
6 "Tattooed to Death," London News, May 13, 1899.
27 "A Baby's BirthMarks,' New York Times (March 1, 1884), 5.
28 Bradley, 152.
29 Ibid.
30 Gilbert, 104.
31 ibid.
32 Ibid., 125-126.
a3 Gilbert, 129.
34 "The Gentle Art of Tattooing," New York Times, (July 21, 1901.) 8M3.
35 Alan Govenar, "The Changing Image of Tattooing in American Culture, 1846-1966," in Written on the Body, ed. Jane
Caplan (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000), 214.
3s Gilbert, 126.
a7 Ibid.
a8 Govenar, 215.
39 Gilbert, 127.
40 "Tattoo Artists at War," New York Times, (January 1, 1900), 4.
41 Bradley, 148.
4 Bradley, 148.
"The Gentle Art of Tattooing."
44 Gilbert, 130.


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