Friday The 13th Is Day Of Tattoos Rather Than Bad Luck
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It's supposed to be the unluckiest of days. But Friday the 13th has come to mean more than horror movies and superstition in the tattoo community. It's a day tattoo parlors everywhere now embrace, thanks to an idea one local business owner had 25 years ago.
At Elm St. Tattoo in Deep Ellum, it's their Black Friday -- with $20 tattoos enticing 800 to 900 customers to get inked during a 24-hour marathon.
"It's a cool way to bring a lot of people together for something fun," said customer Ruby Shivadasi. "Everyone's scared of Friday the 13th, right? Nah!"
Owner Oliver Peck connected tattoos and Friday the 13th back in 1993. The origin: a little-known slice of Americana in which sailors tattooed 13's on themselves to ward off bad luck.
"I've tattooed people today already that I've tattooed 20 years ago that are coming back to get another 13, and I've tattooed people today that this is the first tattoo they ever got," said Peck.
"I figured it'd be a good experience, and it's 20 bucks for a tattoo at a really well-known shop, so why not?," said customer Conner Wilkinson.
Abby Eddins brought her parents and two sisters for moral support.
"I was like, 'wanna make it a family affair? Let's all go together.' And so they agreed, and we're all together here, waiting," said Eddins.
It's now a Friday the 13th tradition that Peck never dreamed would grow this big.
"When you just try something for the first time, you never imagine that 24 years later it's going to be a national or worldwide phenomenon, but it's pretty cool," he said.
The tattoo marathon goes from 12 a.m. Friday until 12 a.m. Saturday. Late in the evening, the line can be up to 8 hours long.