Grandpa Groovy's 1988 (Patreon)

Tattoo Conventions grew out of smaller, intimate gatherings sponsored by tattoo clubs like the Tattoo Club of America (founded by Rudy Inhelder, who claims to have hosted what he believes to be the first American tattoo convention on October, 1964) and were generally speaking for artists and their more dedicated clientele. 

Beginning in the 1980s they became more of a casual, commercial enterprise- by the 1990s they were big business, with multiple large conventions in any given month all over the world, drawing thousands of guests and working artists. 

In 1988, when the shift was happening, Grandpa Groovy- an artist who also had a tattoo club, hosted Richmond, Virginia's first large convention, with legendary tattooers Paul Rogers, Lyle Tuttle,  Sailor Ned, Randy Adams, and more working or in attendance. 

This video, from our tattoo sub-site Occult Vibrations, features a convention walk through.