Tattoo Charlie’s: Inking Baltimoreans on the Block since 1938
Founded in 1938, Tattoo Charlie’s remains on the Block in Baltimore today, making it one of the oldest tattoo parlors in the United States.
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- A 1946 photo of “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer from The Sun archives. Geizer had over 300 tattoos by the end of his life. (Merriken/ Baltimore Sun)
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- Founded in 1938, Tattoo Charlie’s remains on the Block in Baltimore today; making it one of the oldest tattoo parlors in the United States. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- The waiting area at Tattoo Charlie’s is adorned with designs — many of them antique. The shop’s current owners took over in 2008, and embraced the place’s long history. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- Gary Clark, originally of New Jersey, is a tattoo artist at Tattoo Charlie’s. He’d like to see more people coming through the shop, but says business is rough on the Block. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- Evidence of Tattoo Charlies’ founder Charlie Geizer is everywhere at the shop: his original tattoo machine is even on view. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- Baltimore native Rampage Reese used to be a dancer at a club on the Block; she’s now a full-time piercer. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- Some of Tattoo Charlies’ original designs are on view. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- Vintage designs on the walls of Tattoo Charlie’s on the Block. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- The owners of Tattoo Charlie’s pride themselves on keeping a clean shop; the shop’s founder, Charlie Geizer, maintained similarly strict standards that allowed him to remain in operation while other shops were shut down for spreading disease. (Christina Tkacik/Baltimore Sun)
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- In 1975, The Sun reported that the black rose of death was the newest fad in town in the art of tattooing. (Baltimore Sun)
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- A 1967 photo of “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer from The Sun archives. (Stacks/ Baltimore Sun)
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- A 1972 photo of a popular design by “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer from The Sun archives.
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- A 1972 photo of a popular design by “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer from The Sun archives.
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- The exterior of Tattoo Charlie’s in 1972. (Pearson/Baltimore Sun)
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- “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer in 1946. The caption that ran with this story says “Most of his tatto business is now devoted to covering up sweetheart initials which no longer symbolize warborn romances.” (Baltimore Sun)
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- “Tattoo Charlie” Geizer in 1972. (Baltimore Sun)
“Women are the chief reason Baltimoreans with an itch for tattoos take to the needle,” The Sun reported in 1956 in a profile of Tattoo Charlie’s. Back then, the place was already in a bit of a slump. During World War II, sailors poured into his parlor – hundreds each day – to get inked up. But peace seemed to put a stop to the tattooing.
“In case war breaks out, or something excites the people, they get a crazy notion for some special design,” Charlie Geizer, the tattoo shop’s founder, told The Sun. Otherwise, it was the usual order: women’s initials, entwined hearts and naked ladies. In 1975, The Sun reported that the black rose was the newest fad in town in the art of tattooing.
Geizer, who had over 300 tattoos on his own body, was born in Baltimore and raised in Texas. He picked up the craft early, tattooing a star on his kneecap at the age of 14 and later traveling with the circus as a tattooed man. In the early days of tattoo artistry, he told The Sun, he tattooed women’s lips and eyebrows, but this fell out of fashion over time.
Over the years, other tattoo parlors came and went in Baltimore, but Charlie’s endured. In part, this may have been due to its superior hygiene standards – the city health department shut down several other parlors for spreading hepatitis and syphilis. Not Geizer. He claimed to have once tattooed the Duke of Windsor.
At Geizer’s death in 1980, the shop was taken over by his protégé, Dennis Watkins. And then in June 2008, Tattoo Charlie’s was bought by Ami James and Sam Mirkin. Today business is a bit slow, says tattoo artist Gary Clark. It’s not easy doing business on the Block – a stretch once famous for PG-13 burlesque bars, but today infamous for crime.
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Rhonda Jenifer
Oct 21, 2016 @ 11:15:12
Tattoo Charlie is the best place to get your tattoo. They have been on the block since the 1930s and in the late 1990s I got my one and only tattoo done there. The process and quality of my tattoo is flawless. I am deciding on another Tattoo from Charlie. Before the year end I will return. I recommend Tattoo Charlie to anyone who wants a tattoo and wants to make sure that equipment is clean properly and the results are flawless. I LOVE TATTOO CHARLIE.
Baltimorian for life.