The art of tattooing has been around for thousands of years. Tattoos have been used in the hope they would bring protection to ward off sicknesses and assorted diseases, by putting the tattoos around the fingers and on the wrist. Tattoos have also been used as a sign of a clan or society. Tattoos have also been used to symbolize a persons skill in the clan, and this has been seen practiced by the woman of Borneo. Many times tattoos have been involved with ritualistic behavior and traditions of great importance.

Tattoos have served different purposes in different societies throughout history. Some research has indicated that tattoos originated in ancient Egypt,around the time of the pyramids,and at this time slaves and peasants were tattooed so show there position in society, but there are some who believe tattoos originated at a much earlier time in human history. Around the time of 2000 BC tattooing was found to have gone over to china and then to Greece, where the Greeks started using tattooing to communicate there intentions among spies.

Next tattooing found its way to Japan, the Japanese started using tattoos in there religions and assorted ceremonies. At this point in history, Borneo woman were the artists.

Tattoos were used to show the persons inclusion in certain tribes, as well as the situation the person was in at that time in life. Infections were quite common at this point as well as tattooing being popular. At this time tattoos were still a long way off from the perfection we see these days, and the primitiveness of the practice can be seen in the way the way they were done.

A person named William Dampher, who was an ex-explorer was the first to bring and re-introduce tattooing to the western world. At first the tattoos brought to western areas were not accepted very well. In the year 1961 Dampher brought a heavily tattooed prince to the area, and held his tattoos for viewing in certain exhibitions. These exhibitions did increase the popularity of tattooing, in the London area and he made quite a lot of money out of it. Since this point it had been around 600 years since tattoos had been seen in the area.

Located in new york city, Chatnam square, was the first place to exhibit American type tattoos. For those with money, Chatnam square was a place of attraction, and at the turn of the century, many came to Chatnam square from all over the united states. The first man to use an electric tattoo gun was a fellow by the name of Samuel O-Reily, and he set up shop in Chatnam square. The tattoo gun that had now caught on to popularity was based on Thomas Edison's electric pin that used a needle point for the process of putting punctures into the paper.

Today's tattoo guns feature the components of moving coils, needle bar and tube. A great price was one of the the points that contributed to the popularity of the electric machine. The tattooing industry was revolutionized by these guns and also allowed the tattoo artist to give someone a tattoo at a far quicker speed. Seeing the superiority of this new system it caught on in a big way as the best way to give tattoos.

It was during that late 1960's that tattoos really started to get popular. People started talking about tattooing all the time, tattoos were on television and in all the magazines. These days tattoos have pretty much exploded, half the population can be found to be sporting a tattoo, with bikers and clans, they are still commonly used to symbolize who is a member of what. There are an enormous amount of designs for tattoos out there, with many different combination's and all this has made tattoos the phenomenon they are today.