Lot 219

Archive of Early Tattoo Ephemera, Trade Catalogs, and Association Newsletters [subculture - punk] (America, 1960-1990)

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Archive of Early Tattoo Ephemera, Trade Catalogs, and Association Newsletters [subculture - punk] (America, 1960-1990)

Estimate: $300 - $500

Current Bid: $1,700

(16 Bids)

by Bray & Co. Auctions
July 26, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
33 Jewell Court
Portsmouth, NH, US 03801

Archive of Early Tattoo Ephemera, Trade Catalogs, and Association Newsletters [subculture - punk]
(America, 1960-1990)
A large archive of rare and richly illustrated tattoo ephemera documenting the emergence of modern tattoo culture from the 1960s through the 1980s. The collection contains scarce periodicals, artist and supplier catalogs, association newsletters, convention material, and other underground publications associated with many of the most influential figures and organizations in twentieth-century tattooing.

The group includes nine typescript issues of Tattoo News of the Tattoo Club of America (1964-1966), containing worldwide news on tattoo artists, shops, and developments within the tattoo trade during a formative period. Also included is Tattoo Club of America, issue no. 2, published by Spider Webb (1974); four issues of Tattoo magazine: No. 1 (1972), No. 2 (1973), No. 3 (1973), and No. 4 (1974), the latter issued "In Memoriam Sailor Jerry and Les Skuse;" Tattoo News (May 1977) and Tattoo International, published by the Tattoo Club of Great Britain (1988). Additional periodicals include two issues of Tattoo News Newspaper, Vol. 6, Nos. 33 and 34 (1980); Needlepoint, newsletter of the North American Tattoo Club (December 1980 and February 1981); Tattoo Buzz, ETAA Newsletter (1990); and nine issues of The Tattoo Life magazine published in Winchester, Virginia (1980-1987).

Convention and association material includes programs for the National Tattoo Club of the World (1979, 1980, and 1982); the Fourth World Convention of Tattoo Artists & Fans (1979); seven National Tattoo Association convention programs and newsletters (1984-1988); the program for the First Annual Meeting of the Marked, Pittsburgh, 1994; a 1979 Denver Tattoo Convention poster; a Tattoo Club of the Confederacy certificate issued to Joe Bailey; and a December 1985 issue of the Tattoo Club of the Confederacy publication.

Trade and supply material includes catalogs from S&W Tattoo Supplies (East Northport, New York, ca. 1980); Spaulding & Rogers Tattoo Supplies catalogs (1977 and 1985); Guideline Tattoo Supplies with cover artwork by Jack Rudy (1981); Papillon Studio Supply & Manufacturing (1992); Cindy Ray Tattoo Supplies with related ephemera; and three signed typescript letters from the C.M. & F. Davis Tattoo Supply Company dated 1975. Also included is a rare catalog for Flash, an underground publication for body piercing, tattooing, and countercultural videos and printed matter. The archive further includes Carol Nightingale's The Tattoo Baron: A Novella of Tragedy and Comedy (1979).

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000