With her pearl necklace, clothing that harkens to the early 1900s, and the flowers that adorn her, the tattoos Maud Wagner sports seem a bit anachronistic. This colorized photo does justice to the colorful beauty of her tattoos though, in a way that the original photo cannot. Eventually, nearly every inch of Maud was decorated with illustrations of monkeys, birds, tigers, butterflies, horses, plants, women, and some patriotic tattoos. The artwork on her body was typical of the time period. She also had her name tattooed on her left arm. All of her body work was completed by “The Original Gus Wagner,” the man who became her husband.
Image of Maud Wagner colorized by Sanna Dullaway, sannadullaway.com
Maud Wagner, the daughter of David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee, was born in 1877 in Lyon County Kansas. Nothing is really known about her reasons for running off to join the circus, but during this time, it provided opportunity and freedom. Wagner did her early work as an acrobat, contortionist, and aerialist in several traveling circuses. She met Gus Wagner at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. Gus was a tattoo artist himself, with 800 tattoos, leading him to describe himself as "the most artistically marked up man in America." In a bit of a nontraditional trade-off, he gave her a tattoo lesson and she repaid him with a date. The exchange must have been satisfactory, as the two married a few years later, and she became a tattoo artist, after working with him as his apprentice.
The Rise And Fall Of The Tattoo's Popularity
Maud and Gus with their daughter. Source: (Click Americana).
In 1891, tattooing was transformed when Samuel O’Reily got a patent pending for an early design of a tattoo machine, which caused the practice of tattooing to blossom. These new tattooing machines sped up the process of creating a tattoo, and most artists started to use the technology instead of the old poke and stick method, and tattoos enjoyed a brief surge in popularity. There were some members of the upper class who had tattoos, and even Winston Churchill’s mother had a tattoo, of a snake eating its tail. Tattoos were expensive, and Victorian women who could afford it, would have a small tattoo hidden by their clothing. The brief surge in popularity began to fade in the early twentieth century, as newspapers began to warn that customers could contract venereal diseases by getting tattoos. By 1936, only 6% of people had a tattoo according to Life magazine, showing a decline from earlier. Finding a respectable tattoo artist was challenging, and the industry was not regulated. There were no tattoo shops, and tattoo suppliers were not publicly advertised. To get a tattoo, you had to be introduced to the artist.
A Profitable Business
Gus Wagner tattooing his future wife. Source: (medium).
However, being a completely tattooed individual was profitable, as they were able to make $200 weekly (the equivalent of $2000 today). Tattooed women, usually younger, and of course, barely clad, were a sought-after spectacle and were regulars in sideshows throughout the first half of the twentieth century. This seemed to have its origins in 1858, when Olive Oatman, who had been captured by Yavapis Indians and tattooed by the Mohave returned to white society, she became a national celebrity. In the circus and sideshow, tattoos were common, but they were still associated with being a delinquent or being a member of a gang, and tattoos were definitely considered low class (despite their expense). The tattooed woman was a symbol of rebellion, although there was also a stigma attached. Maud and Gus were two of the last tattoo artists to refuse to use the new machines to create tattoos. Instead, they used the stick and poke technique. In this method, the artist uses a tattoo needle dipped in ink. The artist pushes the needle into the skin, and the process takes a long time, as it takes hours to create a small tattoo. According to Gus Wagner, you need to know how to use pigments so that they don’t irritate the skin, how to use needles, and how to not go too deep. Gus Wagner first sketched the designs on canvas, then sketched them on the body.
They Took Their Show On The Road
Eventually, Maud and Gus left the circus, and traveled as both artist and attraction, working in vaudeville houses, county fairs, and amusement arcades. Maud and Gus appeared with a snake charmer, Madame Brew, an 8-legged horse, and dogs and ponies “of almost human intelligence” along with the main event, the Wild West show. In a 1907 show in Fresno California, Gus announced a show with a tattooed man and woman, a baby mermaid, and the relics of his travels. He also advertised that he performed antiseptic tattoos in ten different colors. Apparently, Gus traveled around the world three times and collected artifacts from his travels which became part of his show. Gus Wagner’s tattoos, which told multiple stories, were performed by various people around the world, including one that was created in Samoa, with a hammer and a needle made of bone. Throughout his career, he tattooed thousands of people. While there is no indication of how many people Maud tattooed, she was credited with being the first female tattoo artist in America, and she and her husband are credited with bringing tattoos from the coast to more inland locations. Unfortunately, it does not seem that there are any examples of Maud’s handiwork.
Her Legacy
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Maud and Gus’ daughter, Lovetta, began to create tattoos herself at the age of nine, and followed in her parents’ footsteps. Maud refused to allow Gus to tattoo their daughter however, and since her father was not allowed to tattoo her, Lovetta was never inked herself. Lovetta became one of the only tattoo artists who was never inked herself. She completed her final tattoo using the stick and poke method her parents taught her on Ed Hardy, a tattooist and collector.
Gus died in 1941, when he was struck by lightning, while Maud died twenty years later, in 1961. Today, women with tattoos outnumber the men.
The image at the top of this post was colorized by Sanna Dullaway, who colorizes and restores antique photos. You can see more of her work at her official site and on her Facebook page.
