The walls of Palace Tattoo on Hastings Street are blanketed with classic tattoo flashes of hearts with 鈥淢OM鈥� written across them, nude pin-up girls, eagles and skulls.
鈥淒own here is work from Doc Forbes,鈥� said Nick Wasko, crouched in front of several vintage tattoo flashes at the front of the shop. (鈥淔lash鈥� is the word used to describe a tattoo design created on paper or cardboard.) 鈥淗e was a famous tattoo-er in 麻豆传媒映画and had a place a few doors down from here. Most of the older guys you see walking around with tats are probably his.鈥�
Wasko and business partner Jessy Hoffman can name Vancouver鈥檚 tattoo artists from the 20th century as if they were their own uncles, reciting names and life stories of Curly Allen, Speed Robinson, Percy Waters and Lee Roy Minugh.
鈥淭attooing is an art and its concept as an art is lost in antiquity,鈥� Wasko said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely gratifying for us to save these bits of history from being squirrelled up in some hipster鈥檚 attic or ending up in a landfill somewhere.鈥�
Wasko referred back to the Doc Forbes collection, a series of flashes that haven鈥檛 seen the inside of a tattoo parlour in 40 years. 鈥淭his art wants to be up in the walls of a shop, this is its home.鈥�
The two tattoo artists spent the last decade 鈥渉unting for treasure,鈥� as Hoffman puts it. Having opened Palace Tattoo about 18 months ago, the shop on Hastings Street at Heatley Avenue is a culmination of Vancouver鈥檚 tattoo history and a time capsule into the city鈥檚 overall heritage 鈥�
from the seats from the now-defunct Pantages Theatre to the giant clown head from the P.N.E. to the 1930鈥檚 clock above the door from one of Vancouver鈥檚 iconic Aristocratic diners. Wasko and Hoffman agree tattoo history and the city鈥檚 past are one and the same.
鈥淭hese tattoos represent the western narrative, boiled down to a single image,鈥� said Wasko, a born and bred Vancouverite. 鈥淭attoo history represents who we are as a western culture.鈥�
麻豆传媒映画has always had a strong tattoo history, Wasko said. Since it鈥檚 a port city, he continued, for decades navy men and merchant sailors frequented tattoo parlours in search of those iconic vintage and patriotic images 鈥� skulls, mermaids, eagles, lots of badges and shields from the military.
Most of the flashes in the store are antiques dating from between the 1920s to 1970s. The oldest flash dates back to the turn of the century. Half of the designs in the collection are original pieces in impeccable shape.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard not to feel the connection to the original stuff,鈥� Hoffman said. 鈥淓veryone who comes in says they feel that impact because someone physically sat down and drew this.鈥�
Wasko and Hoffman, who both have their fair share of ink, said 80 per cent of the work they do today is based on antique tattoos.
鈥淲e did our research and cultivated a want,鈥� Hoffman said. 聽
Wasko said these days, any art school dropout can be a tattoo artist. But back then, he added, these guys were trailblazers, working in an environment most men or women couldn鈥檛 handle today.
Wasko and Hoffman agree their focus is to carry on the rich narration and stories behind the ink. The owners say by tying in Vancouver鈥檚 history to the intrinsic value tattoos bring to it, Palace Tattoo is simply 鈥渁 place for people that love tattoos.鈥�
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