PRINTCrazy ink love
The curse of the name tattoo
Sait Serkan Gurbuz
Scotty Lammers, manager of Tattoo You, has his ex-wife's name tattooed on his chest. When they split, he chose to make a statement and stamp her out.
February 14, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Her name was Jenny Rankin. Upon Dan Hull’s wishes and with the help of a friend, her initials were slowly and crudely hand-poked into Hull’s shoulder when he was 13.
Two years later, the relationship was over, and Hull couldn’t afford to cover up the remnants of the tattoo, let alone remove it. So he saved his pennies, and at 21, he strode into Trader Bob’s tattoo parlor in St. Louis to get his first professional piece. Hull, now 46, is a tattoo artist at Tattoo You, and his shoulder bears a skeleton’s hand cupping a black ball and chain. The hidden initials J.R. lie somewhere beneath.
Nick Carter & Paris Hilton:
During their comically brief romance, Carter tattooed the name of his favorite French city onto his wrist. Right.
Tom Arnold & Roseanne Barr: She was “Property of Tom Arnold,” and he had a tattoo of her face. Maybe she got tired of looking at herself.
Tommy Lee & Pamela Anderson: She had his name tattooed across her ring finger, and he reportedly had her name permanently poked into, er, another appendage. After their divorce, she changed her tat to “mommy.” No reports on his switcheroo.
Johnny Depp & Winona Ryder: Shortly after tattooing “Winona Forever” onto his chest, Depp changed his mind. He dropped the “na” from her name, thus proclaiming a life committment to alcohol. Wino forever? That’s better than dating a shoplifter.
Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob Thornton: When the blood-wearin’ couple split, Thornton had her name covered, and Jolie replaced “Billy Bob” with the map coordinates of her children’s birthplaces. Hope she doesn’t change her mind about them, too.
Scotty Lammers tattooes Abby C. Rowe's left leg. Rowe is a student of sociology and ...
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Charlene Porter, 45, came to Tattoo You to have a tattoo modified. The tattoo on ...
Was their love sabotaged by their youth, the tattoo or both? To some body art enthusiasts, Hull is proof of the notorious curse that follows name tattoos. According to legend, it is responsible for spoiling relationships and leaving newly single victims stuck with lasting reminders of their short-lived loves.
Although an exchange of initials might sound sweet, the result can cause more pain than a pin prick. For artists, it’s a question of whether to tattoo names at all.
Hull doesn’t believe in the curse, despite his failed fling. When clients ask for names, he asks for cash.
On the other hand, Jon Bush, a tattoo artist for Dream Catcher Studios on Ninth Street, will be the first to point name-seeking couples to the door. All too often, couples implore him, but he won’t budge.
“They’ll keep twisting my arm,” he says. “They get offended.”
Bush disagrees with name stains for two reasons: they’re permanent and they lack creativity. “I like to find something that you know what they’re all about,” Bush says. “And there are other ways to tell a person that you love them.”
Bob Baxter, editor-in-chief of Skin & Ink Magazine, based in Portland, Ore., has his wife’s name in his own dermatological photo album, but he doesn’t recommend names to others.
“Most tattoo artists will tell you not to do it,” Baxter says. “I break my own rules. Kids in their 20s, they’re gonna have to get another tattoo to cover it over.”
One kid in her twenties, Ashley Jackson, 22, stares the curse in the face. Jackson, a piercer at Tattoo You, has her wrist adorned with Derek, the name of her fiance. Jackson insists the problem with name tattoos is the new couples who get them. “It’s usually people who’ve only been dating for a few months; they come in, get each other’s name, and they decide to break up,” she says.
Tattoo You artist and manager Scotty Lammers has Teresa, the name of his ex-wife, tattooed across his chest. But when Scotty met Suzy, it was love, and Teresa had to go — kind of. Her name is still decipherable beneath a bold black void stamp tattoo. Now Suzy’s name claims his neck and right forearm.
“I don’t think there’s anything to this curse,” he says. “To me it’s kinda tradition. People have been putting names on people since the beginning of tattoo shops.”
— Kelly Corrigan
