Lydia the Tattooed Lady Lydia the Tattooed Lady "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus" (1939) and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes. The complex lyrics by Harburg – with clever rhymes such as "Lydia/encyclopedia" and "Amazon/pajamas on" – were inspired by W. S. Gilbert. Harburg made many contemporary references to topical personalities such as Grover Whalen, who opened the 1939 New York World's Fair. Among the items, persons, and scenes tattooed on Lydia's body are the Battle of Waterloo (on her back), "The
Tattooed Lady still faced harsh scrutiny for their appearance. However, with their limited options taken into consideration, the pay-off was ultimately worth it and women during the time period continued to perform. During the 1930s and onward, tattooed ladies deviated from fictionalized captivity narratives and boldly accounted for their choice of profession more freely. When asked in 1931 why she acquired her tattoos, May Vandermark quipped, "I love Art…and that's true, too—up to a certain point…I mean, I like to eat regular." Vandermark found that performing as a tattooed lady garnered a higher profit than working as a stenographer. According to a