{"id":2741,"date":"2015-03-12T17:31:52","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T15:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2015-03-12T17:31:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T15:31:52","slug":"tattooed-ladies-when-women-with-tattoos-were-scandalous-sideshows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/tattooed-ladies-when-women-with-tattoos-were-scandalous-sideshows\/","title":{"rendered":"Tattooed Ladies: When Women with Tattoos were Scandalous Sideshows"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the early 19th century, circuses began to offer their visitors sideshow attractions in the form of tattooed men. The men would cover their bodies with tattoos and then present themselves to audiences for viewing. Many of these colorful performers would claim that they’d been kidnapped by savages and forcibly tattooed.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of the 19th century, tattooed ladies were introduced to the sideshow scene. They became an even bigger drawcard for audiences because of the scandalous and controversial nature of their acts. They would appear nearly nude in an age where most women covered their entire bodies, revealing only the skin of their hands and faces. Like the tattooed men, most of the tattooed ladies\u00a0told wild stories of being and forced into covering their bodies with tattoos by their fathers, husbands or by savage (but apparently quite artistic) tribesmen. Unlike the men, however, the tattooed ladies offered an element of feminine sensuality in their acts, often dancing while stripping off\u00a0items of clothing to reveal their tattoos.<\/p>\n
Being a tattooed lady required a high level of courage. There were many people in the late 19th century and early 20th century who frowned upon the tattooed ladies’ performances, so these women had to cover up when in public or simply stay within the safe confines of the circus group. Many tattooed ladies chose not to tattoo their necks and arms; the only skin that was acceptable for women of the time to show. Although there were some who disdained them, the tattooed ladies were so popular with the majority that when Groucho Marx released his song, Lydia the Tattooed Lady<\/em><\/a>, it\u00a0was a hit and is now his most famous song.<\/p>\n Some of the tattooed ladies rose to international fame and are still admired for their tattoo body suits a century later. Here are a few of these early divas of ink:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Born in 1909, Betty Broadbent was one of the few tattooed ladies who refused to claim that she’d been forced into being tattooed by savages. Instead she told her own story, that she’d been a nanny in New Jersey as a young teenager and later married a cowboy at the age of nineteen. She spent her days on the boardwalk and the beach where she met tattoo artist Jack Redcloud. By 1927, she was working on a full body tattoo suit with artists Redcloud,\u00a0Joe Van Hart, Charlie Wagner, Red Gibbons, and Tony Rhineagear. These artists were among the first to use electric tattoo machines instead of the traditional hand-poking method.<\/p>\n Betty performed as a tattooed lady for several different circuses for forty years. She travelled around North America, New Zealand and Australia, showing off her collection of over 350 tattoos to curious audiences. She eventually settled in San Francisco, where she worked as a tattoo artist. She died in 1983, two years after becoming the first person to be inducted into the Tattoo Hall of Fame.<\/p>\nBetty Broadbent: Tattooed Lady and Tattoo Artist<\/h2>\n