that Wallingford b&w tattoo mural was inspired by a historical photo of tattooing in Denmark

Driving east on 45th, right before I-5, you can see the large black & white mural on the west wall of Slave to the Needle tattoo parlor (top picture) which was painted in 2014.

I emailed the artist, cabron (a.k.a. Alex Forster) and asked if it was based on any real people. He sent me the link to this article:

https://cphpost.dk/2016-03-14/business-education/from-sailors-to-kings-the-birth-of-tattooing-in-denmark/

which shows the picture that inspired the mural (bottom picture above), from a 2009 photo book called “Dansk Tatovering/Danish Tattooing”.

Now you know.