The Oldest Shop in America
This week's woman in history is Kari Barba. Spring skin care is very important. New England Tattoo Convention is coming up for Caroline and Casey!
Barba on inspiration for tattoos, “It comes from the mixing of minds, from the client’s artistic ideas mixed with my artistic ideas.”
Kari Barba was born on July 10, 1960 in Minneapolis. She is now based in Long Beach, CA, having moved there in 1980 to pursue tattooing as a full time career. She began tattooing at the age of 19 and in less than 5 years she opened her first shop, Twilight Fantasy, in Anaheim. Like other female tattoo artists, she fought against the predominantly male industry by supporting women tattooists from the beginning of her career.
Barba’s renown illustrative realism style has earned her over 500 tattoo awards. “two time winner as Best Tattooist, and once as Best overseas Tattooist, all in my early career. I have owned 7 shops over my years and currently own the oldest continually running tattoo shop in the nation, second oldest in the world, opened in 1927.” She is credited with being a ground breaker, by being one of the firsts to add color to the realism style of tattoo, but more importantly, one of the firsts to wear gloves and wrap her equipment, thus driving the standards of sterility in the tattoo industry.
In 2002, Kari bought the location of her current shop, Outer Limits Tattoo, 22 S. Chestnut Pl in Long Beach, CA. This location opened as a photography shop in 1902 on The Pike, commonly known as the Coney Island of the West. Along with the family friendly amusements that drew throngs of people, The Pike also drew hundreds of sailors on shore leave. So, in 1927, the location was reopened as a tattoo parlor. The Pike began a steady decline beginning in 1942 with Knott’s Berry Farm converting to an amusement park and the 1955 opening of Disneyland. As The Pike was losing its allure to families, the patrons looking for the seedier side of entertainment, sailors and bikers, became more prominent. As did the amount of tattoo parlors. Many famous tattoo artists opened shops, the most famous being Bert Grimm who opened Expert Tattoo in 1952 and the location has been operating as a tattoo shop continuously since, making it the oldest continuously operating tattoo shop in the continental United States.
The Pike was completely demolished in 1979, coincidentally the same year Kari began tattooing, due to the increasing danger in the area and criminals looking for quick cash who began targeting tattoo shops and other busy cash businesses. Because her shop is the last remaining business from the original Pike, she and Matt Hand (the manager of Outer Limits) are trying to preserve the connection with The Pike and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard to “represent and honor the past of Long Beach being a port city.”
“Instead of completely modernizing it, we only modernized it enough so you could still have that naval feel when you come in.” She said.
Barba is trying to establish a tattoo museum. This will preserve the history of tattooing in the US and well as document the evolution of tattooing from the times when artists had to hide their flash to today’s AI imagery. She has created a board of like-minded tattoo artists to form the Tattoo Heritage Museum. They are scouting possible locations in Long Beach to house the permanent collections, but there will be collections that tour the world. In an interview with Sebastian Grewal, Barba explains, “This museum will host permanent collections and collections that tour all over the world and will be the only tattoo museum in the world that is not within a tattoo shop.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kari_Barba
https://canvasrebel.com/meet-kari-barba/
https://www.cloakanddaggerlondon.co.uk/tattoo-history-the-long-beach-pike/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pike#
https://www.californiasun.co/the-heyday-of-the-pike-the-coney-island-of-the-west/
Spring Skin Care
1. Kick dryness at night.
If you wake up with dry skin, moisturize at night. It’s easier to get ahead of a problem than fix it afterwards.
2. Cleansing cloths shouldn't be your first line of defense.
Wipes are more convenient, but not necessarily better.
3. Take your time when applying products.
Allow your moisturizers to absorb for a few minutes, especially if you use more than 1 product - ie. moisturizer and sun block.
4. The sun is responsible for fine lines.
Not only is the sun responsible for wrinkles, it fades your tattoo and burns your skin.
5. Vitamin C is your friend.
Vitamin C neutralizes free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage skin cells and contribute to aging, sun damage, and other skin issues. It’s a powerful antioxidant that offers numerous benefits for the skin, including brightening, reducing hyperpigmentation, boosting collagen production, and protecting against environmental damage.
