At risk of alienating, well...14% of the entire US population, I confess to being indifferent about tattoos. It is a beautiful art to be sure, a friend has the most spectacular collection of antique tattoo flash you could imagine, and I mean a world-class big time serious collection of ART in a big font art. My favorite body modification is the pair of perfect tooth-shaped dog bites I have on my right elbow, the dog who gave them to me is a four-legged miracle. I was thinking about ink because Valentine's day is approaching and I was wondering if the heart is the most popular image. I gave up trying to verify it, but I can tell you one website offers (for $19.95 that is) access to over 10,000 heart images from which you may pick your favorite. I once saw a woman with a thong string and pouch tattooed on her lower back and found it pretty striking. In January 2008, a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive estimated that 14% of all adults in the United States have a tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (25%) and people living in the West (20%). Among age groups, 9% of those ages 18-24, 32% of those 25-29, 25% of those 30-39 and 12% of those 40-49 have tattoos, as do 8% of those 50-64. Men are just slightly more likely to have a tattoo than women (15% versus 13%
"Hello Priscilla" linen Post Card c. 1950 collection Jim Linderman
