Traditional American Old School Tattoos

Old school or traditional refers to a Western tattoo style and before tattoos became popular in the west, the only people who used to have contacts with tattooed people were sailors. That is exactly why old school tattoos are often of a nautical theme like anchors, sailors, mermaids, nautical stars, boats, water, daggers, swallows, dices and beautiful women.

The most famous traditional tattoo artist is Sailor Jerry, he was a sailor for his entire life and he almost only tattooed sailors. He opened a tattoo shop in Hawaii and that's where all the old school tattoo style started spreading from.