Jim Ward, 1970s. (Patreon)

In the beginning, there was Gauntlet.
If you've attended any of Jim Ward's lectures over the years, that phrase should be pretty familiar; there was piercing before Gauntlet, which is to say before Jim Ward, but his contributions were instrumental in turning it from a subculture to a global industry.

While issues of PFIQ (Piercing Fans International Quarterly)- the magazine founded and edited by Ward that ran from 1977/97 commands increasingly higher and higher prices on auction sites, you can still buy copies of Jim's memoir, Running the Gauntlet, directly from him. It's one thing to have history interpreted by the generation that came after Jim, but as a primary source his book is second to none. 

This photo was taken sometime after 1977 and suffered water damage while in the possession of Sailor Sid Diller.