Oh Mary. (Patreon)

"November 12, 2002 marked the 20-year anniversary of one of the largest and best-remembered conventions in the history of American tattoo conventions. This convention was held aboard the R.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach, California and hosted by Triple-E Productions -- Ed Hardy, Ed Nolte, and Ernie Caraf, the three E's. The facility in which a tattoo convention is held can greatly influence the over all outcome of an event, which is why the Queen Mary get-together is so fondly remembered."- The Tattoo Archive 

Tattoo Conventions played a major part in the mainstreaming of tattooing as a profession as well as tattooing as art- and the Queen Mary (Tattoo Expo Long Beach, 82) played a major part in defining what a tattoo convention can be. Leading up to the event- hosted by Hardy, Carafe, and Ed Nolte- California Governor Jerry Brown* issued a proclamation aimed at legitimizing tattooing as a recognized folk-art. 

"The tattoo is the primal parent of the visual arts… It has re-emerged as a fine art attracting highly trained and skilled practitioners. Current creative approaches are infusing this traditional discipline with new vigor [sic] and meaning. At a time when these artists from around the world meet in California to share, teach and celebrate their skills, it seem appropriate to remind Californians that the tattoo is indeed one of the most ancient of arts." -A Proclamation, Executive Department, State of California, The Queen Mary, Long Beach, Calif., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Nov. 12, 1982.

This photo finds a clothed Sailor Sid Diller in front of the Queen Mary, 1982. 

*The Dead Kennedys would help immortalize Jerry Brown in the song California Uber Alles.