Chicago Flag Tattoos: September 2012 Archives

Tom

By Fuzzy on September 1, 2012 10:05 PM

I met Tom in line for packet pick-up at the Hell Run, just outside the city at the Hawthorn Racecourse in Cicero. (You can tell it was before the race because he's still clean.) I really like the way the flag is complete on one side, but the blue bars extend all the way around to background the Bulls logo.

CFT: So, you love Chicago.

Tom: Yep, grew up on the South Side my whole life.

CFT: With all these tattoos, were they all at once?

Tom: No, this was one of my first ones, the Bears one. Big sports fan, big Chicago sports fan. Gotta get my White Sox one done, though. Big White Sox fan, too. That's the Back of the Yards, Halsted and Exchange, Firefighter Memorial and the Stockyard entrance.

CFT: And then you added this one [pointing at the Flag] around.

Tom: Yeah, I added this around, I actually got this one [the Bulls logo] and this one [the Back of the Yards] done at the same time and those two [Bears, Flag] are separate.

CFT: Did you get them all done at the same place?

Tom: Yeah, I went to South Side Ink that's right on Archer and Avers. Freddy Luzon is a good guy. Does all the tattoos for a really good price. I keep going to him.

CFT: Awesome, thanks a lot.

Ben Folgers

By Fuzzy on September 1, 2012 9:49 PM

I spent the last twelve years working in Streeterville, which is certainly not a wasteland or anything, but I just started a new job in the Loop and I'm running around at lunchtime, trying all the dozens of restaurants to choose from and exploring the area more than I've been able to before. Which isn't to say I was far afield--I ran into Ben Folgers about a block away from my office. He was bustling off somewhere with his manila folder of business, but I stopped him and we talked about our very similar tattoos for a minute. Typing up this short interview, I realize that I want to ask Ben how Chicago saved his life (talk about a meaty lead-in to a question). Hopefully I'll run into him again, or he'll show up here, and we can talk some more. Seeing Ben's tattoo also let me see what mine would have been like if I had done the blue bars in the proper proportions. I like Ben's, but I like mine, too.

CFT: You have nearly the same tattoo I do. Talk to me about your tattoo.

Ben: Well, I got it about a year ago up at Royal Flesh Tattoo, at the Sheridan stop of the Red Line. And I got it because I just love the city. I can honestly say that it probably saved my life living here.

CFT: Are you a life long resident?

Ben: No, I moved here from the suburbs for college. I don't like to admit, but I did. So, I guess I'm just like a transplant to Chicago.

CFT: And how long have you been in the city?

Ben: Must have been like three and a half years. But I've been coming here from the suburbs for years.

CFT: Yeah, that's amazing. Nice tattoo.

Ben: Thank you.

Kyle

By Fuzzy on September 1, 2012 8:47 PM

One of the influences for starting this site was the number of running events I do in the city. You tend to see a little bit more skin than normal at races and so I've seen plenty of Chicago Flag tattoos on people that I might not have seen otherwise. Case in point, shirtless Kyle, who I saw at the Goose Island beer tent at the Chicago Triathlon (modest cough, I'd just finished my second triathlon of the day). Kyle had a really cool take on the flag, with the sky and the water around the skyline serving as the blue bars. It's a pet peeve of mine when people accidentally use standard five-pointed stars instead of our unique star, but as you'll see Kyle has a very interesting explanation for his:

CFT: How long have you had your Chicago Flag tattoo?

Kyle: I think I got it about a year ago.

CFT: Are you a life-long Chicago resident?

Kyle: Born and raised, South Side.

CFT: Is that the view of the city from where you grew up?

Kyle: Not necessarily, it's a generic view.

CFT: Fair enough. What prompted you to get the tattoo?

Kyle: Actually, I'm not really sure. I was working on a tattoo idea, of something I kinda liked, and I worked with it from there. I brought it to my tattoo artist and he finished it up.

CFT: Who's that?

Kyle: It's called the Shop over on Archer and Wood.

CFT: I just noticed--do you ever get hassled because it has five-pointed stars?

Kyle: Nope. That was more of a conscious thing.

CFT: You don't like the six-pointed stars.

Kyle: More for like the gang perspective. Where I live, the six points can be more of an issue. So it's a weird problem.

CFT: OK. Noted. Thanks a lot.

Kyle: Right on.

Continue reading Kyle.

September 2012 Archives

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