One of the first famous tattooed women was Betty Broadbent. Starting in around 1927, she began an illustrious career with Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus. Betty was one of the first women ever to have a full body tattoo, and also one of the first to be tattooed by the "new" electric tattoo machine. Her full body tattoo was done by a New York artist named Charlie Wagner, and after getting tats all over her body, she displayed them in the circus side shows and earned quite a bit of money (and reputation). Eventually, Betty became a tattoo artist herself and worked at the job until her retirement in 1967.
There were plenty of other tattooed ladies that helped make tattoos for women more popular. While most females who had a lot of body art stayed in the circus arenas, others broke out into modeling and other entertainment avenues.
Tribal tattoos on back women
Tattoos on waist women
