Hey everybody, it is QCKND.
I am out here in North Philadephia, and I am going to get on a regional rail train to head to my grandparents house.
So today I'm hopeful that I'll be able to talk to my grandfather about his tattoos.
I know that he got a lot of them in the war, but that's really all I know so I'm eager to talk to him today all about that stuff.
Now, I haven't asked his permission yet, but I'm hoping that he'll be interested in it, and won't make too many cringey dad jokes.
But if he does, maybe I'll leave a couple of them in.
So join me today while we go out to talk to my grandfather about his tattoos.
So a big thanks to my Grandpop for being on the channel today.
I don't know how familiar you are with my youtube stuff, but I think that you have a really great perspective to offer for the channel, I'm so excited to hear your story because even in my whole life, I've never really asked you about your tattoos.
And that you have them, and I always just assumed that me having tattoos would bother you , but I'm really happy that you're on the channel today.
So, if you don't mind me asking a couple questions about your tattoos.
Sure.
So, if you just want to introduce yourself a little bit to the channel. I know I know, but where did you get most of your tattoos?
In the service.
So, when you say "the service", I mean I don't know, I should know what that means, but..
In the air force.
In the air force? So I was always under the impression that you got a lot of your tattoos in the Phillipines?
Yes.
So, and then you also have one tattoo that you got here?
Yes.
So where did you get all of your tattoos?
I got one, I got the knife one here, with my name on it, and it's dripping blood, and I got that in San Antonio, Texas.
And then all the other tattoos that you have, you got in the Philippines?
Yes.
That's so cool.
So what were the circumstances that you got tattooed under?
Well the first one, I just felt like getting a tattoo.
How old were you when you got your first tattoo?
Seventeen.
Same.
So, you went to a shop and you got that tattoo?
Yes
So.. could seventeen year olds get tattooed?
What year was this?
1954
So in 1954, could seventeen year olds get tattooed?
Did you have to...
Yeah I was in the service then
So..
Could a.. could a
Regular seventeen year old off the street
get tattooed too?
Or was there priority for people in the service
I.. uh.. I don't know, I don't know what the laws were
Were.. did.. so now, like if I were to go to a tattoo shop right now,
I have to show my ID, I have to sign paperwork, I have to do consent and all that stuff
Did you do any of that?
No, none
The tattoos that you have, so you got your first one in San Antonio, you were in the service
and, um
Did you have a design in mind
you knew what you wanted?
No
Just walked in and picked out one
And just cuz you wanted a tattoo
Yeah
Do you think that you wanted a tattoo
If you were not in the service would you have also wanted a tattoo or
do you think that that was a part of like that culture
I guess it was part of that, yeah
yeah
were... a lot of the people in the service also had tattoos?
I don't know
No? But your friend had one?
yeah
okay
so you and your friend both went to get tattooed?
yeah
did you get different things or the same things?
different ones
okay
and then you also- you got your name tattooed?
yes, inside of the knife
did a lot of people get their names tattoed?
yeah
I think now it's a little more taboo to get your name tattooed but back then like, you feel like
you're in the army, you're in the service
you have your name tattooed--did that help identify you or stand out or help you feel like you weren't just a uniform?
no
no it wasn't about that?
no
why did you get it?
just wanted it
that's so cool
talk to me a little bit more about the other tattoos that you have
well the next one I got was a horseshoe
okay
with a 13 in the center and that signified 13th airforce
Oh, really?
Yeah, and it turned out it was very crooked
crooked?
yeah, it was done with a crooked razor blade and berry ink from the jungles in the Philippines
So the rest of your tattoos you got very, like, DIY, like, DIY means do it yourself
um so very--I mean the razor blade and the berries, that's not the same experience you had getting the one in the tattoo shop
no, the one in the tattoo shop was electric needle
okay
it was DIY
When you were getting tattooed in the Philippines, what was the circumstances of that? Did you approach somebody who you knew, someone you were stationed with?
Or did you--you said you got it done in the jungle or jungle berried
well the berries came from the jungle but they had to--the artist was in town and had to
oh
and
Those tattoos had to occur, right?
It felt like being cut
So you have your horseshoe,
you got that one, but you said that one was crooked
it was crooked so I had it covered up with a snake
So my pops had a coverup tattoo--coverup tattoos are a big deal--so you had a coverup and you got it covered up with the snake
Yeah this one right here
So what does the snake mean?
the snake is a snake that I killed in the Philippine jungle
what kind of snake?
It's a water cobra
It was 23 ft long
and you were like "I'm gonna need a berry tattoo of this cobra ASAP
well I just had to have something to cover up the crooked horseshoe
I thought that would be a good thing
So you knew it was crooked and that you didn't like it. So you definitely care about, like, what your tattoos look like
they have to look good. You didn't just want tattoos, right?
right
Okay. That's cool
so
how much did your tattoos cost?
my one in San Antonio was $5
Did you tip your tattoo artist, do you remember? Did you give him like a buck?
I don't remember
and your other tattoos?
a carton of cigarettes
Every time you got a tattoo in the Philippines you brought a carton of cigarettes
Was that like, it was written that was the price, or did you exchange, like, goods, like did everyone pay a carton of cigarettes?
We kind of bartered
Bartering, that's really cool
"you give me this snake tattoo and-" so how much was a carton of cigarettes?
about 2 bucks
and a carton's like--how many cigarettes are in a carton?
ten packs
so in total
you probably paid $5, 6, 7, 8 9 10?
ten dollars?
yeah
I don't have a single tattoo on my body that cost ten dollars
and you have--you appear to be tattooed
like if someone asked if you had a full back tattoo you could be like "maybe" and I feel like you could get away with it
mhm
Now that you are older, you've lived your life and stuff,
Do you feel like having these tattoos, especially like ones you got in the service
Do you feel any regrets about them? Or, do you still enjoy having them?
I don't really think about them, I don't regret them
Do you, like, do you feel like growing up you were like super tough with them and you were happy to have them and you like got into the bar
and all that or was that not really a thing? Like, were most men tattooed?
no, I was pretty tough without the tattoos
In Philadelphia were there, did a lot of people have tattoos growing up?
I didn't grow up in Philadelphia, I grew up in Chester
oh, okay
so were you the badass of Chester?
one of them
You told me the meaning of your snake tattoo; it represents a huge snake that you killed
Do your other tattoos have meaning?
I have a bottle of Pilzner, that's a Philippine beer with 13.6 alcohol content
and it has the days, the years that I was in the Philippines
okay
and it was never finished
It's a bottle and PI 55 56 57 and it says *beer name*
but it was never colored in, it was supposed to have a brown color on it
like a bottle
but there was no berries that color?
No I just never had it finished
okay
the last couple years, you know, you've seen me get more and more tattoos
and since you have tattoos
Do you feel like it's different like I'm a woman getting tattooed, you said that it wasn't very common or maybe it was impossible you know, women didn't have tattoos when you were getting tattooed?
no
So, do you feel like you view me now and I'm getting tattooed, does that feel really weird to you?
no, just that I think that you have a lot of your body covered in tattoos
yeah, it is a lot, a lot of tattoos
yeah
I mean, I think I'll continue to get tattooed until I feel finished, so
what are your thoughts on that?
Well I'm just hoping that you don't get like your throat slit blood dripping down
Some people get the rope tattoo around their neck
no, my concern is the blood dripping down your neck
I don't like that
and, well, I have a couple tattoos that represent grandmom
do you feel good about those?
I don't really know about those
there was one, grandmom brought it up like the day I got it I came right here to show her
and you were here
I don't know if you were on the computer but I was really excited to show grandmom that tattoo
I don't know what it is
*laughing* oh man
You started getting tattooed when you were 17, got all your tattoos I guess in your 20s and now
have you ever had a desire to get any more tattoos?
no
never?
you got those and you were like, okay
yeah that was it
it just, it wasn't like, like me
like I'll get a tattoo and then a few weeks or a few months later I'll have a good idea and I'm like "okay, I'll get another tattoo"
you didn't go through anything like that?
no
Do you think you'll ever get tattooed again?
no
Really?
yeah
I'm jealous
I feel like I've never had a feeling of like "okay I'm done." Maybe early on I was like "okay no more tattoos" but now I don't feel that way
well maybe when you're 79 like me, you'll have that feeling
I can't wait to turn 79 so I can stop having the compulsion to get tattoos
so
what if you know someone was like "hey, I'll give you this free tattoo of whatever you want" you would say no?
I wouldn't have any desire
Oh my god, not anything?
maybe my dog, a picture
right here?
yeah
would you get a matching tattoo with me?
it depends on what it is
a dog, we'll get dog tattoos
okay, I'd get matching tattoos
so thank you so much for coming onto the show and sharing your experiences with me and my audience who you know
I wanted to ask you these questions my entire life and I always felt like it was a little taboo, because I've never really spoken to anybody who has service tattoos
and I actually didn't know that you got the dagger at a tattoo shop. I just thought that you just had jungle tattoos
so thank you so much for coming on here and sharing your experience
um, I welcome you guys to ask any questions in the comments and uh definitely share your experience too, do you know anybody who has tattoos like this?
I mean, just hearing that you got your tattoos done with a broken bottle and berries and paid $5 is something crazy to me, who is someone who has spent
thousands of dollars on my tattoos and
feels ike it's not enough
so thank you so much
You're welcome