START OF AN ERA
Norman Collins was born on January 14, 1911 in Reno, NV. His father tagged young Collins as “Jerry,” sighting similarities between the boy and the family’s mule. Little did he know this was the first part of a name that would become an icon.
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Norman spent the years of his youth in California, before taking to the practice of train-hopping and hitchhiking around the country in the 1920’s. He also came in contact with the tattoo culture during these years, which was an emerging art form on the American landscape. Intrigued, he began tattooing fellows travelers with a pen and black ink.
Eventually Collins landed in Chicago. It was during this time he met Gib “Tatts” Thomas, who introduced him to his first tattoo gun. He practiced and apprenticed in Chicago until 1928, when he enrolled in the Navy. It was this exposure of Asian culture during deployments that would grow to define his Sailor Jerry style.
