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Old school tattoos are designed to be big and bold with heavy ink outlines in blue or black and are usually filled in with solid colors and all types of designs.
Designs include military symbols, birds, pinup girls, war designs, snakes, ships, anchors, daggers, hearts, guns, cherries, nautical stars, mermaids, dice, biker designs, roses, banners, and more.
What really stands out about old school tattoo designs is that in the old days when they were first being created, the ink was not as advanced as what tattoo artists use today.
Most of the people that designed the tattoos back in the early 1900s were prisoners and drunk sailors who were fortunate to be very talented with no formal design education.
The father of old school tattoo design is a man named Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins. He picked up tattoo design at a young age while in the United States Navy traveling through the Polynesian islands.
In these islands, tribal tattoos were common, and Sailor Jerry ended up opening a tattoo parlor in those places which led to his traditional tattoo designs traveling all over the world.
Ed Hardy was a protégée of Sailor Jerry and he carried on the old school tattoo tradition with “Ed Hardy” eventually becoming a famous fashion label with artistic designs on hats, T-shirts, and more items that have no connection to tattoos.
Old school tattoos are a perfect way for people to represent tradition and a love for the good old days. There are endless options and anyone with this type of tattoo will certainly be noticed and recognized.
