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⚓ My wife and I made a zine about sailor tattoos from the 1800s that indicated interest in fellow men: swanpress.itch.io/gay-sailor-t…. (Note that some of the tattoos are raunchy, of course.)

Should be fun if you enjoy #queerhistory (it's fully cited!), or if you're into historical #cosplay. We're hoping people who like #OFMD enjoy it, because that was part of the inspiration for our research. 🏴‍☠️

Cover: "Gay Sailor Tattoos" in a Blackletter-style typeface with a small woodcut-style image of a jumping rabbit
Sample of first page of zine: During the Age of Sail (1500-1900), life at sea was difficult and dangerous: as one saying ran, “Those who would go to sea for pleasure would go to hell for pastime” (Rediker 1987: 13). It was often forced upon men, either by the press gang or economic hardship (Rediker 1987: 13). However, queer historian William Benemann (2019: 259) argues that, “for the minority of men who were primarily attracted to other men, choosing to be a sailor could be an exhilarating act of liberation.” The development of our modern concept of homosexuality barely overlaps with the Age of Sail (Blank 2012), but whatever we label them, men who were attracted to other men left their mark on the historical record. While surviving letters and journals are rare, there is another way for the average sailor to speak: with his bodily decoration (Newman 1996: 18-9). Already by the early 1700s, sailors were recognizable by their unique ways of dressing, talking, and moving—and by their tattoos (Rediker 1987: 10-2).
Sample from zine with two drawings of clasped hands and foliage

Gay Sailor Tattoos by Swannery Press

A zine about gay sailors' tattoos during the Age of Sail
itch.io
#cosplay #queerhistory #ofmd
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