>> Deborah: ONE OF OUR FAVORITE PLACES TO VISIT WHEN WE'RE IN
WINSTON-SALEM IS A SHOP AND MUSEUM CALLED
THE TATTOO ARCHIVE.
OWNER CHECK ELDRIDGE IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING
SCHOLARS OF TATTOOS.
AND THE ARCHIVE IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN ABOUT
THIS FASCINATING CULTURE.
>> THE REASON PEOPLE GET TATTOOED ARE VARIED.
GROUP IDENTIFICATION.
RELIGIOUS REASONS.
HEALTH REASONS.
SIMPLY BODY DECORATION.
I MEAN, TATTOOING IS ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT OF ART FORMS.
>> DATING BACK -- >> TO THE CAVEMEN.
>> Reporter: OF THAT HISTORY, AT LEAST THE LAST 150 YEARS IS
NOW DISPLAYED IN DOWNTOWN WINSTON THANKS TO THE OWNERS OF
THE TATTOO ARCHIVE, C.W.
ELDRIDGE AND HARRIET COHEN.
>> WE HAD A SMALL VERSION OF THIS IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA,
BUT WHEN WE MOVED HERE IN 2007, WE GOT A BIG SPACE SO WE WERE
ABLE TO EXHIBIT A LOT OF HIS COLLECTION HERE.
>> Reporter: C.W. IS A NATIVE OF ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA.
HE JOINED THE NAVY AND ENDED UP IN CALIFORNIA.
HE BEGAN COLLECTING TATTOO MEMORABILIA THERE IN 1985,
MARRIED HARRIET, MOVED BACK TO WINSTON, AND OPENED
THE TATTOO ARCHIVE.
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I JOKINGLY DESCRIBE IT AS THE THREE-RING
CIRCUS OF TATTOOING.
THE BOOKSTORE, THE MUSEUM, AND THE TATTOO SHOP.
>> YOU'RE GOING TO FIND EVERYTHING FROM ADVERTISEMENTS
THAT WERE USING TATTOOS, FLASH ART THAT WAS DRAWN BY PEOPLE AT
THE TURN OF THE CENTURY ALL THE WAY UP TO THE PRESENT DAY.
WE HAVE SOME TATTOO MACHINES.
THERE'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING TO SHOW HOW TATTOOING
IS IN OUR CULTURE.
>> AT THE MOMENT, WE HAVE ONE ON FEMALE TATTOO ATTRACTIONS, WHICH
WERE A BIG DRAW BACK IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE CIRCUS
AND THE SIDE SHOW.
>> I MEAN, WOMEN SHOWS IN THE 1920s AND 1930s, THE FARM GIRLS
OR WHOEVER THEY WERE, UP, THAT WAS A JOB, TO GET THEIR COMPLETE
BODY TATTOOED AND JOIN THE SIDE SHOW.
>> THE FEMALE ATTRACTIONS ACTUALLY WOULD BE EVEN PAID MORE
BECAUSE THEY WERE A BIGGER DRAW.
YOU CAN IMAGINE SOME OF THESE WOMEN IN THE 1800s WITH THEIR
KIND OF SCANTY COSTUMES WAS QUITE A SENSATION.
>> I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WAS CONSIDERED A CLASSY WAY TO EARN
A LIVING, BUT THAT'S WHAT WOMEN DID.
>> Reporter: IN ADDITION TO THEIR EXHIBITS, THE TATTOO
ARCHIVE HAS BOTH ONLINE AND ON-SITE BOOKSTORES WHERE YOU CAN
LEARN THINGS LIKE THOMAS EDISON'S INVOLVEMENT IN
TATTOOING BY CREATING A PERFORATING PEN OR THAT THE
MOUTHS OF SOME SINGLE JAPANESE WOMEN WERE TATTOOED WITH BROAD
BLUE BANDS, SIMILAR TO A MUSTACHE, AS PART OF
AN ANCIENT CUSTOM.
AND DOGS WERE TATTOOED RIGHT ALONG WITH THEIR TWO-LEGGED
FRIENDS, OR THAT OKLAHOMA, THE STATE WITH THE LONGEST HISTORY
OF BODY DECORATION AND TATTOOING, WAS THE LAST STATE TO
LEGALIZE THE ART FORM IN 2006.
>> ALL THE BOOKS ARE ABOUT TATTOOS, TATTOO HISTORY.
A LOT OF THEM ARE DESIGN BOOKS THAT ARTISTS WOULD BUY
TO SELL TATTOOS.
CHUCK WRITES A LOT OF BOOKS ON TATTOO HISTORY
FROM HIS COLLECTION.
BOTH BOOKS OF DESIGNS, WHAT WE CALL LINE DRAWINGS THAT
TATTOOERS COULD USE ALL FROM DEAD TATTOOERS, YOU KNOW,
ALL FROM HISTORICAL FIGURES.
AND HE WRITES A LITTLE BIT OF THE HISTORY OF THEIR LIVES.
>> AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
I MEAN, I -- THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT TATTOOERS THAT HAVE
PASSED, AND MY IDEA IS TO TRY TO KEEP THOSE PEOPLE'S NAMES ALIVE.
>> Reporter: C.W. AND HARRIET ARE JUST AS RESPECTFUL TO
PATRONS WHO ENTER THEIR STORE FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO
ENJOY THEIR DISPLAYS.
>> IT'S ART.
YOU KNOW, WE SAY TO PEOPLE WHO COME IN HERE, AND THEY'LL SAY --
THE FIRST THING THEY'LL SAY IS, WELL, WE DON'T WANT A TATTOO.
AND WE'LL SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WANT TO OWN A
PICASSO TO WANT TO LOOK AT ONE.
YOU CAN ENJOY -- WE LIKE TO MAKE THIS PLACE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE
WHO DON'T WANT A TATTOO.
THEY DON'T -- NOT EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE TATTOOED.
>> Reporter: AND THAT'S WHAT SETS THE TATTOO ARCHIVE APART
FROM OTHER FACILITIES.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT SELLING TATTOOS.
IT'S ABOUT EDUCATION.
>> A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK TATTOOING STARTED IN THE FIRST
WORLD WAR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
THEY DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF TATTOO.
AND SO I THINK THAT WE CAN KIND OF ENLIGHTEN THEM
A BIT MORE THAT WAY.