nautical tattoos

Written and researched by Owen Burke, Brian Lam of The Scuttlefish:

Hold written on one set of knuckles and Fast written on the other was meant to give a sailor good grip in the rigging.

A Rope tattooed around the wrist meant that a seaman is a deckhand.

A tattoo of an Anchor told that a sailor had crossed the Atlantic, or was part of the Merchant Marines.

Crossed Anchors on the webbing between the thumb and index fingers marked a bos’n's (or boatswain’s) mate.

A Nautical Star or Compass Rose was given so that a sailor could always find her way home.

A Harpoon marked a member of the fishing fleet.

A Full-Rigged Ship displayed that a sailor has been around Cape Horn.

A Dragon signified that a sailor has served in China.  A Golden Dragon was given when a sailor crossed the International Date Line.

A Shellback Turtle or King Neptune was earned when a sailor made it across the Equator.

Guns or Crossed Cannons signified military naval service.

A Sparrow or a Swallow tattoo would go to a sailor for every 5,000 nautical miles they traveled–a swallow because it can always find its way home.

Royal Navy sailors during WWII who took part in Mediterranean cruises were tattooed with a Palm Tree, as were U.S. sailors who spent time in Hawaii.

A Dagger Through A Rose meant a sailor was loyal, and willing to fight anything, even something as sweet as a rose.

During WWII, a tattoo of a Pig and a Rooster was worn to prevent a sailor from drowning. When pigs and roosters were boarded on boats they were put in crates that floated and subsequently, often ended up the only survivors of wrecks. Crosses on the Soles of one’s feet warded off hungry sharks.

Thanks, Brian and Owen of Scuttlefish!

think before you tattoo

Elizabeth, of Green My Bodega, loves the Hudson River: “I thought of getting a tattoo of the Hudson River that ran along the length of my leg. But then I realized it would look like a giant varicose vein.”

Join her and many others at the Festival of Ideas for the New City,  May 4 – 8, at happenings around the city. Green My Bodega and Foodshed Market‘s Mapping Present and Imagined Food Systems will be at the StreetFest on Saturday, May 7th from 11:00am – 7:00pm.  It is “A presentation of posters, maps, and illustrations visualizing aspects of our present and imagining the potential regional food system.” Here are two designs that were submitted:

tea towel calendars

Nautical Tattoo Tea Towel Calendars: for the meanings of the symbols, look here at the post written by Owen Burke, Brian Lam of The Scuttlefish.

2013 Ships of NYHarbor Tea Towel Calendar also available. Both designs have unhemmed, raw, pinked edges (zigzagged.)

Printed in North Carolina by Spoonflower. They started making decals, and I have many decals of some of my ship doodles printed on polyester and coated with a non-PVC plastic coating. Peel and stick up. The verdict: excellent quality! more on the decals to come!

Apologies to friends’ NYHarbor ships I have yet to draw! Lilac, J.J.Harvey (and all the beautiful old fireboats), DEP vessels, Swivel, Taurus…I’m getting to you, promise!

What is a tea towel? well, i’d be honored to see one of mine in an engine room.  If you work on a vessel pictured, you get 25% off. Thank you!