Imerge Magazine - Oct2013 | Page 12

Love them, or hate them, tattoos are a form of art that has been around for over 5000 years, the tattoos themselves are as diverse as the people who wear them, and the number of people getting tattooed is growing, in fact 24% of people between 18-50 years old in the United States are tattooed. The tattoo industry is earning over 2.3 billion dollars a year in this country alone, but tattoos are everywhere. Throughout history they are found in Japan, China, Egypt, Polynesia, New Zealand, every continent and country you can think of has a history with tattoos. The actual word tattoo has only been used since around 1769, and its definition is very literal, it comes from the Polynesian word ”ta” which means to strike something, and “tatau” which means to mark. This is appropriate since originally tattoos were made by dipping a sharp stick into a pigment and then tapping the point of the stick into the skin