Often derided or dismissed as the product of a drunken night, sometimes seen as detrimental to work itself, few realise that tattoos actually play a crucial role in the history of the feminist movement. Often overlooked, tattoos of the Victorian and Edwardian age for women came in a time when they were fighting hard for the right to vote and the right for equal pay. Tattoos in the midst of this gave women a visible symbol of rebellion, self-determination and empowerment. In that day and age, a tattoo for a woman showed the world that a woman’s right to do what she wanted with her body was her choice and her choice alone, something so permanent it could not be taken away from them. Even today, tattoos remain a hugely important symbol of female empowerment. In 2012, for the first time ever, more women on Earth were tattooed than men. But there once was a time when it was considered so taboo, so secretive and so shameful for a woman to do such, that for any female fan of tattoos to cover her entire body in them, to make a stand and a career out of such, was damn near suicidal. But, in 1900, Maud Wagner became one such bold and brave pioneer. She chose to break down the barriers that confined women and became responsible for a new movement. This is the story of a hero, the tattooed wonder…
Prologue
It’s 1877. We’re in Lyon County, Kansas. Born to David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee was one Maud Wagner. And by most counts, her early life was nothing out of the ordinary. A normal child with a normal life but the time she was living in was anything but ordinary. As the 20th century dawned, travelling circuses around the world wowed audiences with their fantastic spectacles and their ‘freak’ shows. From highly trained animals to elaborate trapeze artists, the entertainment on offer was incredible and varied. But for most, like Maud, what drew them to the big tent were the sideshow performers. Maud knew from such a young age that she wanted to be among them. To travel America with her very own circus. Imagine that. Little Maud wanted to be a star.
She trained, working ever so hard to be just like the circus stars she admired so very much. As she became an adult, she began her career in the arts as a performer, working as an aerialist, acrobat and a contortionist, all in the old carnival circuits of America. She had become what she had admired as a child. Travelling across America, Maud was a circus star. Did she stand out from the crowd? Perhaps not yet. But she loved every minute of it. What a career to have! Circus acts and sideshows, wowing audiences wherever she went.
Eventually, Maud graduated to working with travelling circuses, the big names of her day. And all of this led her to one famous meeting in 1904….
The Louisiana Purchase
It’s 1904. We’re in Louisiana, specifically, the Purchase Exposition better known as the St. Louis World’s Fair. It served as the international hub for the world’s very best inventors and, most importantly for Maud, performers. She was 27 and in her element, right at the heart of the greatest show on Earth. And amongst them was a man she loved. Gus Wagner. He was a young tattoo artist but a famous one, so famous queues of people lined for as far as the eye could see to be inked by a man known as, The Tattooed Globetrotter. No wonder Maud was smitten. He was exactly her type of guy…
Maud was working at the World’s Fair in her usual capacity as an acrobat but she really wanted to meet Gus. He wasn’t just a famous tattoo artist, no, Gus was one of the last to work by hand, no machines involved. He used what’s known as the stick and poke method. But how he and Maud met is still the subject of some speculation. One story goes that, in the ways of the old romantic tales, the two locked eyes across the way and it was love at first sight. Maud loved Gus’s tattoos and so he offered to teach her the art of tattooing in exchange for one date with this woman, the star of the circus. Why not? She was beautiful. And he got his date.
Others say that Maud was asked on a date and she asked for lessons in return, but in truth, we don’t really know. But Gus obliged as the love blossomed between the two. And so he taught her in the old ways of hand poked or stick and poke method of tattooing, which required a sharp needle, some ink and a bloody good eye for detail. Oh, and patience. He also taught her how to tattoo her own body and throughout all this, neither really gave a great deal of thought to how rebellious this was, how unusual it was for a woman not just to be tattooed and tattooed so much, but to do so, so openly. There are photos of this. Maud wanted the world to see. Not really realising she was cementing her place in the history of great female pioneers. She just wanted tattoos. All over. Everywhere!
And that’s just what happened. Gus started to tattoo Maud and she started to tattoo herself. Gradually, her body filled up with more and more tattoos. This, for this young couple, was a work of art and to be celebrated. Before long, Maud had tattoos on every inch of her skin from the tips of her toes right up to her neck. These blackwork designs made her stand out. Her performances were noticed because she had become the tattooed lady. In doing this, she soon became a circus attraction, which might sound ridiculous nowadays, but back then? Maud had, well and truly, shattered the glass ceiling.
Maud’s tattoos were typical of the period. She wore patriotic tattoos, tattoos of monkeys, butterflies, lions, horses, snakes, trees, women, and had her own name tattooed on her left arm.
– Margo DeMello.
Maud had arrived.
The New Ink
Now covered in tattoos, Maud was in high-demand. Everyone wanted to see her, this most unusual of women. She tattooed her co-workers and the audience members who flocked to see her. She wanted to show herself off. Tattooed women were a regular occurrence in the circus of the western world, but Maud had gone not just one step farther, but several, covering her entire body and walking around scantily clad. That in and of itself was a spectacle. Her reputation as America’s first tattooed woman led to a lifetime of fame for her. Soon, her tattoos were joined by sprawling, intricate floral designs as well, not to mention the fact she was a rather talented tattoo artist. Wherever she went, people were eager to have their photo taken alongside the famed Maud Wagner. She was a celebrity. And rightly so.
The love between Maud and Gus bloomed and soon, he proposed. After the two were wed, they moved from circuses to smaller vaudeville houses, credited with bringing the tattoo industry into the heart of America from the coastal towns where it had often been a seaside attraction and little more. The towns and cities of America from coast to coast were soon falling in love with the art of the tattoo and why? Look no further than Maud and Gus. It was all down to them. Their fame had sparked a fire of imagination in the hearts of every American. Now, just about everyone wanted a tattoo. This new movement of tattoo culture enabled the skills needed to be shared freely, causing the industry to explode in popularity.
Tattoo machines were becoming common, but Maud stubbornly refused to use them, sticking to the stick and poke method, which made her even more of a celebrity. And you can see why because that is one hell of a skill to master especially to the extremely high quality Maud was capable of achieving. She was proud of what she was a part of. She always said that the tattoo of her name on her left arm was a ‘proud declaration of self-love’ and in 1900? That was a radical view to hold for a woman, it really was. And as for her haters? She ignored them. She was her own woman. That’s all that mattered to her.
Maud was keen to pass down her skills to her daughter, Lovetta, but, interestingly, Maud refused to allow Lovetta to be inked herself, making Lovetta one of the very few tattoo artists to have never been inked. Lovetta became a very highly respected tattoo artist and, indeed, today many people are skill walking this Earth with her tattoos, which is a remarkable legacy. It’s said that Maud wouldn’t let Gus tattoo their daughter and that Lovetta refused to be tattooed by anyone else, therefore, she was never tattooed. She was a loyal apprentice. Her final work of art, a rose, can still be seen on the skin of legendary artist Don Ed Hardy, who she tattooed shortly before her death in 1983.
But what of her mother?
Epilogue
For the rest of her life, Maud continued to amaze and tattoo, a renowned artist who stepped out of Gus’ shadow to become one of the best tattoo artists in American history, leaving behind a legacy as the earliest of the tattooed women. She died on January 30th, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma. She was 84 and yes, she kept tattooing right to the very end. She is still recognised today for the milestone she built not just in the history of the art of tattooing but in the history of the emancipation of women.
For decades, she was one of the only female tattoo artists in America and even when she died, there were only a handful. And she was the first. She faced unique hardships for this life that she chose, living in a world dominated by men and sexist attitudes toward women who chose to be inked. Never mind the fact she did it without machines but with stick and poke. Of her generation, there are few more revered. She was a vanguard of tattoo artistry, yes, she paved the way for the 13% of women in America today who have tattoos, compared to 15% for men. But more importantly, what Maud did was a middle finger to the establishment. It was a strong and powerful message, a symbol of empowerment and self-expression. She defied what was expected and rebelled against the norm.
Her uniqueness and her tenacity will never be forgotten, her entrepreneurial spirit flourishing in a man’s world. She never cared what other people thought of her and sent out a message to everyone that as long as you love yourself, as she did as demonstrated by that tattoo of her own name, then what everyone else thinks doesn’t matter in the slightest. Her fearless irreverence in regards to conforming to what society demanded of her was brilliantly timed, coming right at the tipping point when women were starting to rise up and demand to be heard. Her protest was her expression of her free spirit that she permanently displayed on her own body through the creative use of art, a brave and courageous source of inspiration even to this very day.
Tattoos appeal to contemporary women both as emblems of empowerment in an era of feminist gains and as badges of self-determination at a time when controversies about abortion rights, date rape and sexual harassment have made them think hard about who control their bodies – and why.
– Margot Mifflin.
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