All About Old School Tattoo Designs

When the majority of people think about old school tattoo designs they think of Sailor Jerry. Sailor Jerry is considered to be the grandfather of old school tattoos and Jerry himself was considered to be a classic. He was an ex-sailor who was as salty as his tattoo style and he had a dagger sharp intellect that could size up a person or a situation in a split-second. He also created a style of old school tattoo that is still being copied to this day.

After Jerry ended his career in the 1920s, he decided to settle on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Island Chain. This was a good decision for him because once World War II started there were millions of sailors and marines stomping around the island. And all this military personal served as the fodder for his newly establish tattoo parlor.

Over the next four decades, Sailor Jerry created old school tattoos on countless marines and sailors, all the while perfecting his craft. His old school tattoo style used bold lines that had serious sensibilities about color and shading. These tattoos would become the standard for the old school tattoos of modern tattooing. Sailor Jerry’s legacy lives on even to this day.

Old School Tattoo Designs

Old school tattoos are the tattoos which are traced back to the early days of Western tattooing. There are many designs which fall under this category. These tattoo designs became very popular during the first and the second World Wars, when men in the military went off to the war front. A number of them came back with a souvenir of their military service in the form of a old school tattoo design. This type of tattoo style was popularized by Tattoo Jerry, a famous flash tattoo artist. We will now see the designs, that make up the old school tattoos.

Cherry Tattoos

Cherry fruits have strong fertility symbolism with their deep red, ripe juicy fruits. They also represent chastity and purity, when the fruit ripens on the tree. However, once a cherry is plucked stands for loss of innocence and virtue. Cherries are also said to resemble a lover’s lips, hence have had a strong erotic connection. In both Japan and China, cherry has a strong cultural symbolism. A cherry surrounded in flames stands for unquenchable desire, passion and not to forget lust.

Nautical Star Tattoos

Nautical star tattoo designs are one of the most masculine design among the star tattoos. They have been very popular among the sailors, who got them made as a talisman for guidance and protection. A nautical star is a five pointed star, where the points are split in half and are filled with an alternating color, normally in black-red or black-white combination.

In Ireland nautical star tattoos are also a symbol of good health. It is one of the old Pagan symbol, which is found in some of the Irish hospitals. They have also become very popular among the gay and lesbian community. A number of gay and lesbian people get nautical star tattooed on their wrist as a mark of their disposition. It is also one of the popular punk rock tattoo design.

Pin Up Girl Tattoos

Pin up girl tattoos is a tattoo design of a woman, whose physical attractiveness would entice a person. Normally they were images of celebrities, who were considered sex symbols. One of the earliest popular pin-up girl was Betty Grable. There were other artwork, which were actually idealized versions of what some thought as particularly beautiful or attractive a woman should look like.

Heart Tattoos

Small heart tattoos have been very popular with tattoo lovers, who want to express their love in a symbolic way. There is a huge variety of heart tattoo designs, from which you can choose from. The most common ones include Celtic heart tattoos, broken heart tattoos, pierced heart tattoos, locked heart tattoos, flaming heart tattoo, and not to forget the sacred heart tattoos. There is a wide range of emotions, that can be depicted with the heart tattoo designs, which includes faith, love, sadness, etc.

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