Lydia the Tattooed Lady Wreck of the Hesperus" (beside it), the red, white and blue (above them); the cities of Kankakee and "Paree", "Washington Crossing the Delaware", President Andrew Jackson, Niagara, Alcatraz, Buffalo Bill, Captain Spaulding (Groucho's character in Animal Crackers) exploring the Amazon, Lady Godiva (with her pajamas on), Grover Whalen, the Trylon, Treasure Island, Nijinsky, Social Security Number and a fleet of ships (on her hips). Alternate lyrics imply that Lydia's buttocks have tattoos of a globe (or a map of the world) and a caricature of Hitler (that she sits on). In 1950, Groucho famously 'stopped' trading at the New York
Tattooed Lady daily lives unnoticed. Photographs of popular tattooed ladies reveal that their tattoos did not extend past their forearms, above their neck or below their ankles. In addition, many of these ladies' bore tattoos that included religious and patriotic iconography. Whether this was for personal preference or as a means of self-expression is not known, however, the organization and thematic nature of these tattoos demonstrate a common pattern. Tattooed ladies used such images to elevate the status of their tattoos as a proper art form worthy of display and as a way to soften the blow of their nonconforming bodies for