Tattoo Ephemera Collection

The Providence Public Library’s Tattoo Ephemera Collection incorporates materials from various acquisitions and purchases related to the art, history, and culture of tattooing, as well as materials on the tattoo industry. The Tattoo Ephemera Collection includes materials created to advertise tattoo artists and studios, sell tattooing supplies, or instruct burgeoning tattoo artists on the nature of the craft, in addition to associated memorabilia, such as temporary tattoos and commemorative items. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in North America, it was common for tattoo artists to learn the trade from one another through apprenticeships as well as the circulation of handmade guides and pamphlets, and to purchase supplies to build their own tattoo machines through mail order catalogs. Items of this nature can be found here. Also featured in this collection are materials related to early tattoo removal techniques.

Percy Waters (1888-1952) was first exposed to tattooing in the late 19th century through the sideshows of the traveling circuses that would pass through his hometown of Anniston, Alabama. As a young man, he learned the foundry trade of molder and then, once he was able to acquire some rudimentary tattoo equipment, began tattooing people locally as a hobby. In the late 1910s, after a brief stopover in New York City, he settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he became very successful as both a tattoo artist and through his tattoo supply business. Famed for his skills, as well as his products, Waters worked on many show business and sideshow clients. During his twenty years in Detroit, Waters' supply business grew to be one of the biggest in the world. He advertised in many popular men's magazines of the time as well as the Police Gazette and Billboard. Waters designed and manufactured many styles of tattoo machines and in 1929 he received a US patent for his machine prototypes. In 1939 Waters finally left Detroit and returned to his home in Anniston, where he ran his supply business until his death in 1952.