Rockabilly is one of the first rock’n’roll music genres. It originated in the US in the 1950’s and has its roots in blues, blue grass and country music. Plenty can be said about the uniqueness of this genre and specific fashion culture associated with it. Women dress in well known 50’s pin up girl style. Whereas men follow the style of Elvis – King of the rock’n’roll and wear quiff hairstyle and often decorate their body with artwork. Back in the 50’s tattoos were not as socially acceptable as they are now. It was the way of rebelling against the norms. Most of the modern fans of rockabilly are big enthusiasts of tattoos.
One of the prominent tattoo artists of the rockabilly culture was Sailor Jerry. He marked his place in the tattoo history for his vividly coloured and iconographic tattooing style.
This famous Hawaii artist mainly created tattoos on sailors and the main motifs were:
- Bottles of booze
- Snakes
- Wildcats
- The infamous “Aloha” monkey
- Eagles, falcons and other birds of prey
- Swallows
- Nautical stars
- Classically styled scroll banners
- Knives, guns and other weapons
- Dice
- Anchors
- Pin-up girls
