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Charlie
Wagner (1875-1953)
Much
has been written
about this New
York City tattooist.
He seems to have
been the focal
point for the press
for his generation
of tattoo artists.
Wagner worked the
Bowery for over
50 years starting
in the1890s until
his death in 1953.
This fact alone
may explain the
amount of press
coverage that he
received. Wagner
was not undeserving
of this attention,
based on the quality
of his tattooing
alone. To his credit,
he tattooed some
of the major attractions
of that era, in
addition to other
claims to fame.
One of Wagner's more important
contributions was his tattoo machine
ideas that he patented in 1904.
This patent was the first tattoo
machine patented with coils in
a vertical position, that is, in
line with the tube assembly. This
was a major improvement on machine
design; in fact most machines built
today use this alignment. Another
of Charlie's endeavors that is
not well known today was his supply
business. The patenting of his
machine idea in 1904 may have been
the spark that set off his supply
business. We don't know if this
1904 tattoo machine was ever manufactured
in any numbers and to date, none
are known to exist.
With the expert help of Bill Jones,
Wagner should have been able to
sell many tattoo machines throughout
the years.  A
few years ago, the Archive came
across a Charles Wagner Tattoo
Supply pricelist! (as seen below)
It was mailed to Fred Marquand
in the 1920s. It resembled more
of a list of items and prices rather
than a catalog. Handwritten on
an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, it
was a mimeographed copy of an inventory
of items. There were no illustrations
and no photos. There were a few
flash samples enclosed but they
were poorly printed in gray ink
on thin paper. This is a bit of
a surprise coming from the man
who was billed as the "Michelangelo
of Tattooing".
Other suppliers of that era, like
Waters and Miller, sold their wares
through very fancy multi-paged
catalogs showing photographs of
their machines and pages of illustrations
of the flash that they offered.
In a 1925 letter, Wagner seemed
sure that he did not need the added
expense of the fancy catalog to
sell his items. This is a far cry
from what his competitors were
turning out. In this direct quote
from his letter, and note the spelling
and choppy sentences, Wagner said, "Eventually
you will buy frome (sic) me as
I am the only one having a U.S.
patent tattooing machine and electric
devices issued by the U.S. Patent
Office, no other supply house can
show you these machines, (they)
are the best, none better at any
price anywhere. This letter was
signed, "I remain Prof. Chas. Wagner,
208 Bowery, N.Y. City."
Albert Parry in his book Tattoo,
notes that there were four suppliers
who advertised during the Depression,
but Wagner was not among them.
The tattoo legend has it that Wagner
lost a small fortune in the Wall
Street Crash of 1929. In the years
after the crash, Wagner could be
seen at the front of his shop in
an effort to pull in potential
customers. By the 1940s these supplier
ads were back, along with Wagner's
good fortune.
In formulating this article, a
couple of questions came to mind.
Why does a simple mimeographed
price list seem out of place for
a tattooist who worked so hard
to cultivate an urban sophisticated
image? And why, if his supply business
was so successful, have so few
of his wares survived?
Charlie Wagner, one of America's
great tattoo legends is seen below
tattooing Andy Strutz in the early
1900s. Wagner tattooed in New York
City from the 1890s up until his
death in 1953. Working on the Bowery
in lower Manhattan, Wagner took
over the shop space at 11 Chatham
Square that Samuel O 'Reilly had
occupied for many years. As a matter
of fact, Charlie Wagner really
carried on where O'Reilly left
off in more ways than one. They
both patented a tattooing machine,
and both became very famous for
tattooing sideshow attractions.
Samuel O'Reilly patented the first
tattooing machine in 1891 (patent
#464,801). Wagner improved upon
that design and received his own
patent in 1904 (768,413).
Would-be sideshow attractions flocked
to O'Reilly after hearing about
his new tattooing device, believing
that it would be faster and less
painful to acquire the necessary
coverage for show business work.
The list of attractions tattooed
by O'Reilly reads like the who's
who of the turn of the century
sideshow: The Howard's, John Hayes,
The William's, The de Burgh's,
Calavan, and Melivan. The list
goes on and on.
After O'Reilly's death in 1908,
Charlie Wagner took over much of
this attraction business and went
on to establish himself as one
of the major forces in the tattoo
world. Charlie Wagner is said to
have tattooed 50  attractions
during his career, including Betty
Broadbent, Clara Clark, Mildred
Hull, Charles Craddock and Joseph
Cook, to name but a few. It is
unknown how old Andy Sturtz was
when this photo was taken, but
he went on to become a well-known
fleet tattooist on both coasts.
New York City Tattoo: The Oral
History of An Urban Art, written
by Michael McCabe and published
by Hardy Marks Publications is
a wonderful book on Wagner and
other New York City tattooists.
Be sure and get yourself a copy!
Tattoo Archive © 1997
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