During the early to mid 1900's a father and his 3 sons had a monopoly in the tattoo business around Boston. Known as "The Liberty Boys of Scollay Square", Edward "Dad Liberty" who started tattooing in 1909 and his sons ted(later known as Captain Ted), Frank and Harry"lefty" Liberty ran 3 separate tattoo shops within close proximity to each other (side by side and across the street) in Scollay Square near Boston's west end.
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here Edward Dad Liberty is shown working in his shop on a sailor from Walpole Ma.
Teds 2nd Floor 14 Scollay Square from "Walk East on Beacon!”
Carles Wagner Display with Harry“Lefty”Liberty business card
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However in Massachusetts there is a large gap in our tattoo history due to a nearly 40 year long ban on tattooing. Tattooing was deemed a "crime against the person" by Massachusetts legislature in 1962 and was punishable by fines and or imprisonment. This legislation was because of a hepatitis outbreak in New York that was thought to be caused by tattoo artists on Coney Island.However hepatitis was never actually linked to tattooing. It is rumored that this law was passed not from the fear of disease but mainly driven by negative stereotypes and an urban renewal effort by the city of boston to build a new government-office complex in Scollay Square. In 1962 the business owners were evicted and the buildings demolished The ban on tattooing remained in effect until the On October 20, 2000 when Massachusetts Superior Court judge Barbra Rouse found the ban to violate our First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
