New York Tattoo Shops: 5 & 11 Chatham Square
Researched & Written by Carmen Nyssen
Today’s post is a short visual history illustrating the early New York tattoo shops at No. 5 & 11 Chatham Square. Although Sam O’Reilly is typically the tattoo artist associated with the No. 11 address, he actually spent most of his career at 5 Chatham Square—intermittently from 1887 to 1904—with a short stint at Huber’s and Worth’s Dime Museum in the early 1890s. O’Reilly had several partners at the No. 5 location, including Japanese tattoo artists Horitoyo (1898-1899) and Mituhashi (1902), and Boston’s Electric Elmer Getchell (1897-1899).
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In 1899, Getchell and O’Reilly’s partnership dissolved, because O’Reilly brought a lawsuit against Getchell for infringing on his 1891 electric tattoo machine patent; it provocated a back-and-forth court battle that lasted over a year (See Early Tinkerers of Electric Tattooing article). Getchell then moved down the street to No. 11 Chatham Square. O’Reilly finally ended up at the No. 11 location several years later, after Getchell left the city in 1904; he operated there five years, until his death on April 29, 1909.
Today’s feature photo of Chatham Square—which dates to 1900, right when O’Reilly and Getchell were in the midst of their heated court battle—depicts both the No. 5 & No. 11 Chatham Square tattoo shop locations. (No. 1 Chatham Square in this photo is the forefront corner building. No. 2 is the next one from the corner, and so on. See the map at the end of the post for address correlations).
O’Reilly’s 5 Chatham Square Tattoo Shop
The exceptional clarity of the image, and the fact that it shows the entire Chatham Square block, makes it’s a wonderful bit of ‘turn of the century’ history. What makes it all the more amazing is the sign at No. 5 Chatham Square that reads:
“Prof. O’Reilly Tattooer.”
In this zoomed-in, cropped version of the photo you can see O’Reilly’s shop sign just above the awning with the number 5 on it. The Glenmore Hotel is in the foreground, next door, at No. 4 Chatham Square.
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You can purchase a hand-painted rendition of the Chatham Square photo here at fineartamerica. Make sure to zoom in on the online image to see the Sam O’Reilly tattoo shop sign in color.
Elmer Getchell’s 11 Chatham Square Tattoo Shop
Getchell’s circa 1900 tattoo shop, at 11 Chatham Square, would have been located where the striped awning is in the photo, under the large hanging Progress Hotel sign. Unfortunately, his “tattooing” sign isn’t visible.
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As a point of interest, however, there’s a sign just under the striped awning that reads “soda water.” It’s quite likely the soda stand that belonged to Louis Alterisi, owner of the No. 11 Chatham Square barbershop, who over the years, rented work space to tattoo artists Elmer Getchell, Sam O’Reilly, Charlie Wagner, and Lame Leroy.
1901 Ordinances, Resolutions, Etc. Vol 2. Pg. 142
Soda-water Stands. Louis Alterisi, No. 11 Chatham square, Manhattan
Note: Getchell worked with several tattoo artists at 11 Chatham Square, including John W. Rose and possibly Sidney B. Wright.
11 Chatham Square Barber Shop
The below photo of No. 11 Chatham Square doesn’t depict Elmer Getchell’s tattoo shop either, and it pre-dates his stay there by a few years, but it at least details a portion of Alterisi’s barbershop in the general period. Along with the Chatham Square photo depicting O’Reilly’s tattoo shop, it helps breathe a little more life into the ‘turn of the century’ tattoo scene in New York City.
Map of Chatham Square
The below map will help with identifying the shops in the above photos. Chatham Square street numbering system was a little unusual. Rather than odd numbers on one side of the street and even numbers on the other, the addresses are labeled 1 through 13 on one side of the street, and 14 through 19 on the other.
Questions or Comments? Email:
carmennyssen@buzzworthytattoo.com
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