No that this guy needs any attention, but I feel the need to point everyone's attention to this "fine" article/column:

http://www.mcall.com/all-b1_5skin.6461430jun18,0,1633439.column

I see that he went out of his way to research his column, especially this gem:

Nonetheless, I've said a lot about both prostitution and tattoos, which, come to think of it, always seem to go together.

No one can deny that the heaviest concentrations of tattoos occur in the lowest segments of society -- prostitutes, pimps, pugs, prison inmates, Ku Klux Klansmen and the members of street and motorcycle gangs.

Now, according to this week's story, 36 percent of young people have decided to emulate such lowlifes.

Wow. Just wow. I think perhaps the only writing about tattoos he's seen lately are Albert Parry's ridiculous book Tattoo, Secrets of a Strange Art as Practised by the Natives of the United States, originally published in 1933, and republished in the 1970s, which among other things, claims that rape is excusable if the woman has a tattoo, since that signifies her "availability." Or perhaps he's been reading Cesare Lombroso's fine late 19th century works, which "study" the relationship between criminals and tattooing. Problem with Lombroso, however, is that the only people he studied were criminals.

Perhaps Mr. Carpenter should stick to writing about something he actually knows about, since tattooing, tattoo history, and tattoo culture are not among them.

Last week I had the honor of participating in photographer Lynn Allen's Milwaukee tattooed ladies project- Women in Ink. Allen was interviewed by OnMilwaukee.com about her project. Her website is http://necropolisphotography.com and she's a very talented lady.
But- she also made me look lovely! There's two more on her site.

Amelia

From jsonline.com:

Circus Parade could return in 2009

Rainbow wagons, camels and clowns may once again rule the streets of Milwaukee as organizers of The Great Circus Parade announced today "plans are going forward" to bring the parade back here in 2009.

A contract has been drafted between The Circus World Museum in Baraboo and The Great Circus Parade, said William Fox, Great Circus Parade co-chairman.

"For the last six or seven months, (parade co-chairman) Jack McKeithan and I have been exploring and encouraging the return of the Circus Parade to the streets of Milwaukee," Fox said. "We've had a series of meetings with the parade board and The Circus World Museum and within the last 60 days we've received a contract to stage the parade."

Fox warned that "many contract details" still have to be worked out and the board must raise the $1.5 million to stage the parade. Fox said The Great Circus Parade Inc. already had "close to a million dollars available against this budget."

Earlier today, Mayor Tom Barrett advocated the return of the parade in his "state of the city" address, citing the tourism value to Milwaukee.

But the parade won't necessarily become an annual event again, Barrett said in an interview after the speech. It could be held every two years or every four years, depending on funding.

Barrett called for private donations to help bring back the parade. He said he would personally raise the $12,000 to $15,000 needed to pay city permit fees, and would work with other officials to clear the way for the parade's return.

Organizers envision a parade as big and brassy as the last one staged here in 2003, featuring more than 104 units. The new parade would also spotlight more than 50 antique circus wagons from the Circus World Museum.
"We don't want to diminish our wonderful memories. We want a grand parade of the quality and character that will make the city proud," said Fox.

Barrett said 2009 would be the ideal year for the next parade, because that would be the 50th anniversary of the museum, as well as the 40th time the parade is held and the 30th time it is held in Milwaukee. Other parade sites have included Baraboo and Chicago. No parade was held in 2006 or 2007.

It's official- I have a book contract!

Seriously.

Speck Press- check them out!

Now comes months of hard work.

Thanks again to the Waukegan, IL AAUW Chapter (that's the American Association of University Women for those of you not in the know) for inviting me to talk to their members on Saturday (Feb. 9th) about tattooed ladies!

Great audience, great questions, I had a wonderful time, as I always do, talking about tattooed ladies, but I think everyone in the audience enjoyed it as well.

A very nice woman came up to me afterwards and shared a great (and illuminating!) story with me- she was a retired registered nurse who had done her nursing training in the 1940s. She was assigned to give a women a sponge bath- the lady had just had gallbladder surgery. She was shocked to see that the woman was covered in tattoos, including two names on each of her butt cheeks with a question mark at the base of her spine! The tattoos were all older (the patient was in her 40s) and she had her husband Steve's name and her daughter Rosie's name tattooed on one of her arms, and all the woman's tattoos were coverable- private tattoos. Anyway, the woman I was talking to told her nursing supervisor about the patient's tattoos, and the supervisor immediately put the patient in isolation. because of the tattoos. She was evidently afraid of infection and disease, even though their was no threat. Just a reminder how little people knew about tattooing and disease.

Which also reminds me of this article a coworker passed on to me:
Tattoos, Body Piercing, and Nursing: A Photo Essay, by Jason P. Smith
AJN, American Journal of Nursing
April 2007- Vol. 107, no. 4, pg. 54-55.

A great article about health and safety in tattooing and body piercing, and two nurses who started their own tattoo and piercing studio.

Things have gotten busy for me, so I've been negligent on my blog... but I just wanted to thank everyone who came to hear my talk in Sheboygan in Sept.! It was great fun for me, and nice to see that people are interested.

I'm still waiting to hear from Speck Press, where I submitted my chapters and book proposal. They say their review process takes a few months, so I'll try and be patient. In the mean time, I really need to find a few more publishers to try.

I was watching an auction for an Irene Woodward pamphlet on ebay recently (you may have to be logged in to ebay for the link to work, since it's a completed auction)... it's the same pamphlet that Syracuse Special Collections has a copy of, so it is available to researchers.

I figured it would be pricey, but the ending price was $710.00. Wow. Just Wow.

I'll be giving a talk about tattooed ladies (of course!) at the Mead Public Library in Sheboygan, Wis., on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 at 10am.

here's the info from their website (http://www.sheboygan.lib.wi.us/#):

Saturday, Sept. 22: Mead Public Library will present a free program, "American Tattooed Ladies, 1882-1995" at 10 a.m. Historian and librarian Amelia Osterud will discuss her research on the history of tattooed ladies of the circus, sideshow, dime museum and carnival. Call 459-3400, ext. 3437, for more information.

And, a nice piece in the Sheboygan Press!