Buccaneer

Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins is a known as a sailor, radio host, and of course a world famous tattoo artist. Sailor Jerry first began tattooing as a teenager, he would hand poke tattoo designs into brave individuals who would allow him to, this started off Sailor Jerry's new and soon-to-be hobby and talent. In the 1920's Jerry arrived to Chicago and met with his first teacher, Gib "Tatts" Thomas who introduced Jerry to the tattoo machine. The famous artist passed away June 12 1973 at the age of 62, but his legend still lives on and the name is still recognized by many.

Norman Collins (Sailor Jerry) was known for keeping a tidy work space and clean tattooing tools. Back in the day tattooing was more of an underground and private shop owned and so sterilization of needles and tools was not very common, Jerry decided this needed to change. Tattooing was big in the sailor scene, and so Jerry got more exposed to the art when he was in the Great Lakes Naval Academy. Sailing the China seas, Jerry developed a love for the Asian style tattooing and so he brought the style of art over to North America and began exposing it more on the tattoo culture. He took the art of tattooing to a different level that people back in the day weren't used to by adding vibrant colors, designs and his distinct ways of drawing his pieces. Sailor Jerry is also popular for his "classic" tattooing style which is colorful and simplistic images such as skulls, birds, daggers, and anchors. The meaning behind some of the popular designs can be seen here (Official Sailor Jerry web page). Other successes under the famous name include his own clothing brand (Sailor Jerry Clothing) which is popular within the tattooing community. The brands of his logo are things like anchors and ships representing his relations to the naval academy and the origination of tattoos in North America. Along with a clothing line, Sailor Jerry also has a very popular rum that you can find and buy locally at an LCBO!

Sailor Jerry's Rum Commercial