Q
&
A
LYLETUTTLE
is thegrandfather of contem-
poraryAmerican tattooing.He’s alsobeen an
AAdvantagemember since 1996, accumulat-
ingmore than 1.5millionmileswhile traveling
all over theworld.Whenhe started tattooing
back in 1949, the audience for tattoos had
reached a lowpoint inAmerica. Tuttle revived
interest in the art, inpart throughhiswork
tattooing celebrities, includingJanis Joplin.
Hehas been featuredonTV, on the cover of
RollingStone
and in
TheWall Street Journal
and
Time
. Based inSanFrancisco, heboasts
a savvy entrepreneurial spirit that helpedhim
make aname for himself.
You’reproudof yourmillion-miler status.
It just snuckuponme.Oneday in themail I
got anenvelope fromAmericanAirlines. It was
a letter of congratulations that I had amillion
miles.Whew! That was hot stuff.
You recentlybecame thefirstperson to
tattooonall sevencontinents.Howwould
you likepeople to remember this?
Accomplishments are something youdo for
yourself, not for other people. That trip is inmy
memorybank. I did it sonobody else could.
Describeyour travel philosophy.
I’mnot an adventurer, but I windupgetting in
somegood situations. I can’t sort things out
geographicallyuntil I’vebeen there.Natural
phenomena are someof thegreatest things to
see. Even theGoldenGateBridge— I goback
and forth across it all the time and admire it
every time.
TattooTycoon
Ifanyoneknows tattoos, it’sLyleTuttle.Hisart formhassurpassed
beingacareer tobecomeaculturalphenomenon.
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NOVEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
PHOTO
NI CO OVED
What are someof your travel highlights?
In theMarines in the 1950s, standing atop
Mount Fuji.OnMountVesuvius, you can look
at the lava in the cauldron, but the Italians don’t
put up aguardrail; just a sign that says, “Beware
of theedge.”Tromsø,Norway, 200miles inside
theArcticCircle— I don’t knowhowpeople
live there; it’s inhospitable. I got tattooed in
Samoa, 12degrees southof theequator.
Howdid it feelwhen
AmericanPickers
showedaT-shirtwith tattoos youcreated in
the ’70s,making itpart ofAmericanhistory?
It can’tmakeyou feel anythingbut good. You
don’t realizewhenyou’redoing something
what it’s going to turn into. They’re so rareand
somuchof a collector’s item, even I don’t own
one.
–
ANNA
FELICITY
FRIEDMAN
