'Loud, Naked, & In Three Colors' exhibit shows history of tattooing in Boston
MILTON -- Inside the Eustis Estate in Milton is an exhibit of expression. The "Loud, Naked, & In Three Colors" exhibit shows the history of tattooing in Boston.
"The very, very early tattoos were pretty much just black and possibly some red, but once they got into electric tattooing, color became very important," said co-curator Margaret Hodges.
The history of tattooing in Boston can be traced back to the Liberty Family.
"[Edward Liberty] was known as 'Dad Liberty' in Boston and all over the country. The guys were well known, and he started tattooing at the end of World War I and he brings his three sons into the business," said co-curator Derin Bray.
But there was more. Spectacles or the circus would come to town and seeing Frank Howard tattooed from head to toe always drew a crowd and changed how we started to see things.
"How that then shifted to how we know it today where it's a storefront, you're a customer, you come in and there is a tattoo artist," said Hodges.
Tattooing in Massachusetts took a hit in the early 1960s, and it lasted until the year 2000.
"In 1962, tattooing was a banned statewide in Massachusetts, and they sighted sanitary reasons. The reality is that they were trying to clean up the city and it was part of urban renewal," Bray said.
But now, it's thriving and those coming to see the exhibit need to take in the loud, naked, and three colors.
