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Al
Schiefley (1911-1973)
According
to one of his business
cards, Al Schiefley
settled into the
small Lake Erie
town of Sandusky,
Ohio in 1928 where
he remained for
over a quarter
of a century. Sandusky
is located at the
head of Sandusky
Bay, at the south
end of Lake Erie.
Schiefley's shop was located in
his home at 1513 Pearl Street.
Having his tattoo business at the
same location for all those years,
together with the fresh water sailors
passing through Sandusky wanting
to get inked, helped build his
good business.
Schiefley was a well-traveled tattooist;
photos in the Archive's collection
show him visiting tattoo shops
around the world. He corresponded
with and visited Spaulding & Rogers
when they were in Jacksonville,
North Carolina and of course got
some of the great Coleman style
tattooing. As a matter of fact,
Huck Spaulding did Schiefley's
back piece.
In 1957 Al Schiefley and his wife,
along with his old time friend
Milton Zeis and his wife, traveled
to Bristol, England and were the
guests of honor at the Bristol
Tattoo Club's annual convention.
While in Bristol Schiefley was
tattooed by Les Skuse the President
of the Bristol Tattoo Club, and
Rich Mingins, a well respected
London tattooist of that era.
In addition to the Bristol Tattoo
Club, there were at least two other
major tattoo clubs active during
the 1950s. One was the International
Tattoo Club founded by Milton Zeis,
and the other was the Sandusky
Tattoo Club, founded by Al Schiefley.
It is no coincidence that these
clubs arrived on the scene at the
same time. When you look at the
promotional fliers for these clubs
you can see the similarity, many
of the same phrases and words are
used throughout. Maybe 3 savvy
tattooists formed these clubs to
promote tattoo public relations.
As with most tattooists of that
era, Schiefley was also a supplier.
The Archive has no information
about whether Schiefley built his
own machines or whether he acted
as the middleman selling machines
built by Zeis or Spaulding & Rogers.
The only photos in the Archive
collection showing Schiefley working
are the Kobel photos #670,671,
and 672. These show him working
with a plated squareback "Jonesy" with
connector cords, circa 1940s.
Al Schiefley died from a heart
attack in 1973. Many paper collectibles
from the era of Al Schiefley and
the Sandusky Tattoo Club are in
circulation today and are much
sought after by collectors.
Tattoo Archive © 1988
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