Maude and Gus Wagner

I have had the picture (above) of Maude (Stevens) (1877- 1961) Wagner the first American female tattooist, since I was a teenager, but never thought to research this incredible image and the woman behind it. Maude worked as a circus aerialist and contortionist and it is through this work that in 1904 she was courted by her future husband Gus Wagner. By his hand, she became the most hand tattooed lady. Maud became her husband's apprentice and learned how to make traditional “hand-poked” tattoos, despite the invention of the tattoo machine and the Wagners were two of the last tattoo artists in America to work by hand and Maude was the first female professional tattooist.

Augustus Wagner (1872-1941) Gus was born June 16, 1872 in Marietta, Ohio, a trading and boatbuilding town on the Ohio River. At age twelve he saw his first tattooed man, “Captain Costentenus the Greek Albanian,” in a traveling show. 

As a young man he worked first as a traveling salesman and laborer, and In 1897 he boarded the cargo steamer “Bellona” at Newport News, Virginia, embarking on a four-year career as a merchant seaman.

During his voyages, he wrote an amazing journal full of scraps, drawings and paintings of all the things he saw called; 'Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook'.

“There is something about tattooing which I cannot explain... and why so many people have it done I don’t know. It may be vain, but I find it fascinating and very useful in traveling. Every symbol and every design made up of symbols has a meaning. These on my body, for instance, are mementos featuring incidents of my life and travels.” Gus Wagner

He claimed to have learned to tattoo from tribesmen in Java and Borneo who showed him how to use their traditional hand-made tools.  By 1908 Gus had 800 tattoos and was known as the tattooed globe trotter.

 He died on this day in 1941 as a result of being struck by lightning.