NOTORIOUS ED TATTOO PHOTOS TATTOO PHOTOS An interview with Ed by Texas Dartment of Health An interview with Ed by Texas Dartment of Health http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/news/ac022202.htm Originally opened in 1995 at 713 E. 6th Street, Notorious Ed's was Carnival Productions Inc.'s first venture on Austin's famous Nite Club Strip. Named for Master Tattooist Notorious Ed, the name made reference to Ed's "Underground" background, and the fact that it was located "Six Feet Under Sixth Street" in the basement. Sixth Street is Austin's answer to New Orleans's famous Bourbon Street. Six blocks of Nite Clubs, head shops, and Tattoo Sh ops. Young people of all descriptions, as well as Rockers, Punkers, Bikers, to and freaks of all kinds desend on 6th Street to party, celebrate, and shock the public every night! On the weekends, 6th Street is closed off to vehicular traffic, and turned into a pedestrian mall. Marde Gras every night! A carnival midway that never moves away. The perfect place for an old time Carnie Tattoo Man like Notorious Ed! Notorious Ed's was the launching pad for such rising stars of the tattoo world as "Digger Don" Carter, Evan McMichaels, Jeremy "Peeper" Hilton, Garrett "G-Man" Meyers, "Bad Brad" Sclanke, and "Cream". World Class Piercers such as Wendy Nyles, featured on the Ricci Lake Show, and the one, and only "Weezey", featured on the Jerry Springer Show plied their trade "Six feet under Sixth Street." Notorious Ed's Underground Tattoos has been featured in magazines such as Penthouse, Oui, Skin Art, Tattoo Revue, In the Flesh, and Tattoo Savage. Rock bands such as Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, the Henry Rollins Band, Bio-Hazard, Dangerous Toys, and Pantera got tattooed, and pierced at Notorious Ed's Underground Tattoos and Exotic Piercing. Notorious Ed's Underground Tattoos is moving to a new surprise underground location on Sixth Street. It is presently undergoing a complete build-out, and will feature a unique intimate setting. So, stay tuned for the opening announcement. http://www.carnival-productions.com designed by Carnivore.net designed by Carnivore.net NOTORIOUS ED'S TATTOO tattoo school Appreticeship I came from a Military Family. My Pop did 52 years in the U. S. Air Force, and served in every Theater of Operations during W. W. II, including China-Burma, the Philippines, North Africa, and Natale. He was personally acquainted with some of the AVG (Flying Tigers), and the "Doolittle Raiders" that bombed Tokyo, as well as Merrill's Marauders, and others too numerous to mention here. They used to come by our quarters to get drunk, swap war stories, and tell lies. The guys with the most interesting stories always seemed to have Tattoos. I found them fascinating! When I'd ask them about a particular one, they always had a story to tell about when they got it. They'd tell me all about where they were, and who had been with them when they'd done it, and why they'd gotten that particular design. It wasn't always what you'd think. Each one of them was a piece of History. Each one was little "Time Capsule" that they wore on their hides. I had an uncle, Pete, who ran off to join the Navy right after Pearl Harbor, when he was just 16. He was a scrappy little S.O.B., who always reminded me of Popeye the Sailor. He always squinted when he was lookin' at you, and talked out of the side of his mouth. He had one Tattoo on his left forearm , a "Fouled Anchor", with "Minnie" in a scroll wrapped around it. It was very faded from the sun and salt air, but I thought it was baddass! I'll never forget the first time I asked him about it. "I was drunk when I got it. It hurt like Hell! I'd get rid of it today, except that a lot of good men went to Davey Jones over it. You don't ever want to get one of these, son". Uncle Pete had been aboard the USS Minneapolis during the Battle of the Coral Sea when she took two torpedoes to the boilers while he was standing watch in the "crow's nest". Half the crew was lost in the explosion. The survivors all went on a binge, and threw a "Sailor's Wake" when they got back to Pearl. That's when he got the Tattoo. "You don't ever want to get one of these, son". BULLSHIT! I couldn't wait until I was old enough to get one, and had done some deed of daring-do to deserve it. Notorious Ed's Start as as Tattooist Notorious Ed's Start as as Tattooist When I was a kid, my Pop took me to the circus. They had the Great Omi in the Side Show, along with George Burchette, who did the Tattoos. Omi was billed as the "Zebra Man". Part of the act was Omi telling the story of his life, and answering questions from the marks. My Pop had met him in South Africa, so I got to go around behind the Show to talk to him in the moose, (the living quarters of the performers on the road), where he told of how he had been "Di s-Owned" by his family, who were professional Colonial Administrators for the Crown. He figured that if he were to be shunned by "Proper Society", he would make a " Right bleedin' Spectacle of himself", and make his living off them. I also got to meet the great Geo. Burchette, who had tattooed Kings and Queens, and many great names in history. To have been able to get so close to history had to be the greatest thrill I could think of. "Great work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try!" or so the song goes, but it ain't that easy! Tattooing has always been a "Closed Profession", cloaked in secrecy, and somewhat shunned by ordinary society. They guarded their trade secrets like Houdini. They barely tolerated each other, let alone some wannabe from the outside. You could get hurt asking the wrong questions at a Tattoo Joint. Tattooists are like whores, they don't like it when some new trollop shows up on their street, so they'll do anything they can to dissuade you from trying your hand at it. Even though I grew up for the most part in San Antonio, Texas, where there were four Air Force Bases, and Ft. Sam Houston, there hadn't been any Tattoo Shops in San Antonio after the City ran Five Star Jack out of town in the early 50's. If you wanted a tattoo, you had to go to Houston, Corpus Christie, or Killeen to get one, or go to prison, or do it yourself. I started fooling around with "hand-poke" tattooing in 1964. I wrapped blanket thread to hold the ink around a small modeling brush with a couple of needles tied on it. "Fooling around" is the right word for it! If I thought I knew what I was doin', I was just foolin' myself. I inherited a pair of old, brass Percy Waters machines, along with an old Lionel Train transformer to run them, and three jars of pigment, (green, red, yellow), when a Biker Brother was murdered by an off-duty Deputy Constable on Pearl Harbor Day, 1967. Now I had "the SHIT"! "Great God Almighty/Jesus H. "Tap- dancing'", I was in the "Big Time" now! The fact that I didn't know Jack Shit about what I was doin' not withstanding, I was determined to make his acquaintance. Being a motorcycle Patch Holder, as well as a Carnie, I had a veritable Wall of Human Flesh to work on. However, any real knowledge of the Craft was virtually non-existent. As I said, ask a leading question at another slinger's joint, and he'd let it be known that if something unfortunate were to happen to you, that it would make his day, and would be grateful to whoever might be responsible. As to becoming an Apprentice, now "Such a Deal we got for You!" It was easier to Prospect for an MC Patch. First, you had to "hang-out" around the shop, and befriend the guys that worked there, be a "Go-Fer", draw designs when everybody else was busy, or just didn't feel like doin' it themselves. If the guy liked you, and you had a little talent, after 6-8 months, he might ask you if you'd ever thought about being an Apprentice. If you said, "Yes", then he'd hit you with the Price of your Education, usually $5000-$10,000, in advance, and that was a lot of Jack in those days! If you could come to terms with the man, then you got a couple of more years of the same old shit, only now it was your Job, and if you didn't do it to his satisfaction, the it was your Ass! You also got to clean, and service the needle bars, (when, and if, he did change them), make needle bars to replace the ones that ripped up more skin than they put in ink. If you were a good Boy, after a year, or so, you got to tattoo on Mr. Potatoes Head. And, while all this shit was goin' down, you also had a Quota of Design Sheets, Flash, to deliver to his Massa, unsigned, of course, which he would go through and steal for himself. He got all he could out of you, before he gave you anything you could use to compete with him. You might get to tattoo for money in 5- 10 years. "Such a Deal!" I used to feel the same way. I spilled my blood for it, paid my dues, and came up the hard way. "Thas' the way it's S'posed to be, ain't it?" That was then, this is now, and now is the age of the "Information Highway", and "Instant Gratification". Nobody's gonna wait years for the chance. They want it Now! And if someone doesn't teach 'em, then they'll just get on the Net, read Huck's Book, go to a Tattoo Convention, subscribe to Tattoo Magazines, and "Scratch that itch". I could stand in the middle of the Information Freeway, and get run over by the bus, or get on the Bandwagon, and Drive the Bus! I decided to "Drive the Bus".
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