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The Tattooed Lady: A History by Amelia Klem Osterud
My first job at the age of 14 was as a junior librarian. I went on to work in books on and off for the next 10 years, and as I became a Tattooed Lady myself, I utilized my access to educational material in the shelves of countless libraries and book stores to research the history of tattooed women.
Sadly, the history of tattooed women is not only skewed due to gender bias pre women's lib in the 1960's, but because of said gender bias not much record was kept of who these women were and how they came to be Tattooed Ladies on the circuit. Most - I'd say 95% - of books on shelves today that feature photos of tattooed ladies from the 1890's-1960's don't have any mention of their names. Only the phrase "tattooed woman c. date" is next to these photos.
During my senior thesis in Art School I did a lot of research on the side show, both on stage and in real life circa 1900-1950. I focused a portion of my research on Tattooed Ladies, and came up almost entirely empty handed, lacking even the names of the women I featured in my work.
Miss Osterud did the most thorough, anal retentive and complete research of the ENTIRE history of the beginnings of tattooed women in western culture. She traced OUR ancestry back to it's very roots.
If only this book had been published when I was doing my research. Now I have their names, their life stories, their histories, the full picture of all the women i have admired in all these books for so many years. The women I consider my true ancestors.
THANK YOU AMELIA KLEM OSTERUD!
Check her site here: http://tattooedladyhistory.vox.com/
The Tattooed Lady: A History by Amelia Klem Osterud
My first job at the age of 14 was as a junior librarian. I went on to work in books on and off for the next 10 years, and as I became a Tattooed Lady myself, I utilized my access to educational material in the shelves of countless libraries and book stores to research the history of tattooed women.
Sadly, the history of tattooed women is not only skewed due to gender bias pre women's lib in the 1960's, but because of said gender bias not much record was kept of who these women were and how they came to be Tattooed Ladies on the circuit. Most - I'd say 95% - of books on shelves today that feature photos of tattooed ladies from the 1890's-1960's don't have any mention of their names. Only the phrase "tattooed woman c. date" is next to these photos.
During my senior thesis in Art School I did a lot of research on the side show, both on stage and in real life circa 1900-1950. I focused a portion of my research on Tattooed Ladies, and came up almost entirely empty handed, lacking even the names of the women I featured in my work.
Miss Osterud did the most thorough, anal retentive and complete research of the ENTIRE history of the beginnings of tattooed women in western culture. She traced OUR ancestry back to it's very roots.
If only this book had been published when I was doing my research. Now I have their names, their life stories, their histories, the full picture of all the women i have admired in all these books for so many years. The women I consider my true ancestors.
THANK YOU AMELIA KLEM OSTERUD!
Check her site here: http://tattooedladyhistory.vox.com/
visigoth:
Looks cool. I love a properly notated book.