If you are into traditional tattoos you have probably come across this little speed skull guy tattooed on people or popping up on flash sheets, and you might be wondering what the deal is with him?
Well it all starts with Bert Grimm, the legendary American traditional tattooer and pioneer of American traditional tattoos.
Bert Grimm was hanging around tattoo shops from the age of 11 or 12 in his native Portland Oregon and eventually ended up with his own shop in 1912 before traveling and tattooing in circuses and sideshows and going on to own various shops in different locations across America.
Bert would go on to tattoo for over 70 years leaving a plethora of tattoo flash and designs that are still reproduced and paid homage to, to this day. One of which is the Speed Skull.
The origins and inspiration for Bert Grimm’s Speed Skull come from a postcard entitled Honk Honk by Roth & Langley in 1910 (See below image). This was one of a number of postcards in the series all of which depict skulls in various situations. Some of the other Postcards in the series were also used as inspiration for other tattooers such as Chris Nelson and Brooklyn Joe.