Artoria Gibbons
| Artoria Gibbons | |
|---|---|
| |
| Birth Date | 16 July 1893 |
| Birth Place | Linwood, Wisconsin |
| Death Date | 18 March 1985 |
| Occupation | tattooed lady |
| Website | none |
Artoria Gibbons (Born Anna Mae Burlingston on July 16, 1893) was a tattooed lady.[1]
Biography
She was born in Linwood, Wisconsin and later moved to Washington with her family. She came from a poor family and worked as a domestic servant in Spokane, Washington. There, she met the tattoo artist Charles "Red" Gibbons who she eventually married in 1912. They had one daughter together.
Her and her husband decided they would make a better living if she became a tattooed lady a few years after they were married. He tattooed her body with religious tattoos because she was a very religious woman and a member of the Episcopalian church. She began touring as a tattooed lady in the 1920s. When they weren't traveling they lived in California.
Her sideshow story was that she ran away from her family and poverty for the sideshow and for love. She changed her story in the 1970s, when she became the finale for the Hall & Christ sideshow, she was introduced as a "man-made monstrosity" who married a man who tattooed her out of jealousy. This story, made up by her manager Ward Hall, would upset her but he would turn down the sound system so she wouldn't hear.
The real reason she became a tattooed lady was because of the economic troubles of this time and it was a way to survive. Tattooed ladies were paid well, making between one to two hundred dollars a week.
She retired in 1981 and died March 18, 1985. She was one of the last working tattooed ladies in the USA.
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