We all know that the art of tattooing is as old as your granny’s granny’s gran, but how have the different needles from around the world developed and influenced the modern style of tattoo needles we supply here at Body Shock.
The traditional Thai style of needle was originally made from bamboo and fashioned into a quill shaped tool. The bamboo would have been split in two and razor sharp, ranging from 6 to 12 inches in length!
The Maori method was to hack straight into the flesh using one of these interesting-looking tools! This was usually made from bone. After the lines were cut into the flesh, the chisel would then be dipped into ink and then tapped into the freshly made open wound.
Back in the good ole’ days Japanese tattoo artists used these needles and created a motion similar to that of a modern tattoo machine to embed the tattoos. Pretty cool, huh?
So, when would an electric pen be of any use? Tattooing, of course! It was Edison’s rotary coil pen invention, which never really took off as a pen, that we base the modern tattoo machine off. Samuel O’ Reilly saw the potential of it for tattooing, added needles with an ink reservoir and created the tattoo machine we know today!
So there you have it, we can now thank the Japanese, the Egyptians and everybody else that has contributed to the tattoo needles today, and, as tattoo artists, I think we owe them a pat on the back! Body Shock stock a wide range of tattoo needles including our own signature range to the revolutionary Cheyenne-style ones. So contact us now on 01922 744 088 for the UK and 608-313-3090 for the USA today for the best deals online!
