Imagining Classic Tattoo Shops in Today’s World

Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins came into the world on January 14th, 1911. On what would have been his 105th birthday we decided to take a look back at his legendary shop on Smith St. in Honolulu. In order to get an idea of how much the world has changed since the iconic tattooer’s heyday in the 1950’s we found a photo of Collins outside his shop and placed it in the context of today’s Honolulu. And as you’ll see below, it’s really not all that different today.

We had so much fun doing it that we decided to check in on a couple of the other places where tattooing got its start. And one thing is for certain, a lot of those neighborhoods have changed far more than Collins’ hometown. In the gallery below you’ll see some old timey pictures placed in context of the latest image from Google Street View to get an idea of the neighborhood that once was.