The Libertys of Tattooing

As a collector of historic ta oo material, I love discovering vintage photographs of ta ooed performers, dog-eared business cards with patriotic graphics, and hand-painted “flash” art designs that once hung on the walls of smoke-filled shops. Each of these items contains valuable clues about the elusive art of ta ooing and the fiercely independent men and women who practiced it. For the past several years, I have dedicated my efforts to collecting works that document Boston’s pioneering ta oo artists. These bits of colorful ephemera and photographica, along with material I’ve discovered in other private collections, are the basis for Loud, Naked, & in Three Colors: The Liberty Boys & the History of Ta ooing in Boston, a new book I coauthored with Margaret Hodges.

From the 1910s until 1962, when Massachuse s banned ta ooing, Edward “Dad" Liberty and his sons Frank, Ted, and Harold held a near-monopoly on the Boston ta oo scene from their shops in Scollay Square, Boston’s gri y entertainment district. Fortunately for historians, a trove of printed ephemera documenting their various shops survives.

The walls of Frank’s shop were lined with stunning, hand-painted designs from which patrons could choose. The Liberty brothers learned the trade under the watchful eye of their father, who was known in the business as Dad. He began ta ooing in his hometown of Lowell, Massachuse s, purportedly a er an itinerant ta ooer abandoned his post—and his equipment—at the family’s shooting gallery. Dad was a natural. By 1919 he had taken his talents to Boston, where he quickly established himself as an exceptional mechanic and competent ta ooer. His heyday, considered the golden era by many ta oo artists, was World War II, when sailors packed into his shop night and day.

Ted Liberty was the family outcast. Between repeated run-ins with the police, constant bickering with his father and brother, and botched partnerships, he o en found himself unwelcome wherever he went. Ted ta ooed between Lowell, Portland, Maine, and Boston through the early 1950s, but a er a fire damaged his shop above the Rialto Theater in Scollay Square, he fled to Baltimore, Maryland. Ted didn’t last long there, however. In 1952 his new shop was shut down for weeks a er several servicemen contracted hepatitis due to his unhygienic practices. Ted eventually made his way to Canada, bouncing from shop to shop until se ling in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Demurring a career in the family trade, Harold initially worked in a Lowell scrapyard, breaking up engines and locomotives. In 1928 he moved to Tarrytown, New York, where he took a job manufacturing auto bodies for Fisher Body, a division of General Motors. Harold worked his way up through the ranks to company foreman, contributing new designs and manufacturing innovations.

In 1946, forty-year-old Harold returned home to work with his father. He adopted the nickname Le y and took over Frank’s old shop at 49 Scollay Square. This location, directly above The Tasty, a popular burger joint, was a landmark until 1962 when the Boston Redevelopment Authority razed Scollay Square to make way for Government Center. That same year, Massachuse s outlawed ta ooing. Harold, the last man standing in Boston’s beleaguered ta oo mecca, packed his equipment and moved to Salem, New Hampshire. He worried that his clients wouldn’t find him there, but they did; he was soon bringing in more money than he ever had in Boston.

The Libertys

of Tattooing

Derin Bray

Ted Liberty’s shop sign, painted by Eddie Levin, Baltimore, Maryland, c.1950. Oil-based enamel on board, 18 x 22 inches. Collection of Derin Bray.