A ‘tattoo-filled’ Friday the 13th
>> NEW YORK: Friday the 13th is the patron day of black cat crossings, devious witches, shattered mirrors, suspicious ladders — and cheap tattoos.
Tattoo veterans and virgins lined up outside tattoo parlours to partake in the tradition of Friday the 13th tattoos when shops release a “flash sheet” of pre-designed tattoos, many of which incorporate the number 13 and most of which cost just US$13 (432 baht). The day offers enthusiasts the chance to get a professional tattoo for very little money, and it offers shops the chance to promote their work and meet new clients.
“It’s turned into a tattoo holiday,” Michaelle Fiore, a tattoo artist at the Armageddon Ink Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said as she applied a purple stencil of an eye with an X above it to the upper arm of an 18-year-old. The flash sheets, taped to the front desk, featured designs by the staff at Armageddon: skulls, black cats, flaming hearts with swords piercing them, spiders, roses, jellyfish, an upside-down bat and a unicorn smoking a cigar. The same tattoos could cost up to $150 on a typical day.
Sara Korniewicz, 21, and Marwan Ramadan, also 21, were waiting in line outside to get their first tattoos together. They had dated for two years and were planning to get matching tattoos. There was just one hitch: Ramadan did not want his parents to know about the tattoo since they are devout Muslims and had told him repeatedly not to get one.
He wasn’t particularly nervous about the needle or having the tattoo for the rest of his life, but he was not looking forward to “the stress of hiding it for the next year or so”, he said.
Ms Korniewicz had not yet chosen which tattoo she would be getting — the shop had only revealed the full set of options that morning.
“I’m a very noncommittal person,” she said.
But she was, after all, in line to get a permanent tattoo with her boyfriend.
“We’re pretty confident in our relationship,” she said.
Further down the line, Lauren Pugh, 19, stood in the sun next to a purple suitcase. She was visiting the city from England for three weeks and had decided to get a Friday the 13th tattoo to remember the trip.
The tradition traces back to Oliver Peck, co-owner of Elm Street Tattoo in Dallas and a judge on the reality TV show Ink Master. Mr Peck was included in the Guinness World Records for drawing the most tattoos in a 24-hour period, after he tattooed the number “13” on 415 people on a Friday the 13th in June 2008 (his ex-wife held the previous record). He held the first Friday the 13th tattoo event back in 1996, and since then, the tradition has spread all over the world.
“PARTY TIME !!! 1st shift is ready to rock !!!” Mr Peck wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
In New York, Maria Carrasco and Luz Catoggio, cousins who grew up together, were first in line at Abuela’s Tattoo Parlor in Brooklyn, along with Ms Catoggio’s husband. Mr Carrasco, 49, who had short blue hair and sneakers, was planning to get a small heart with “FU” nestled inside.
“I’m going through some relationship troubles, let’s just say,” Mr Carrasco said.
“It also can be fired up,” Ms Catoggio said encouragingly. “So she’s fired up for love!”
Not all the participating tattoo artists were thrilled about the extra work.
Nelbo Cordero, an artist at Abuela’s, said this would probably be his last year doing Friday the 13th tattoos, though he expected to make at least $1,000 over the day.