Sacred Debris

Tattooing at Ken Myers in Kissimmee, Fla (Patreon)

Published:

2021-07-07 22:00:00

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

1970s Ken Myers Tattooing Video

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Content

We're still tentatively dipping our toes into the waters of posting digitized VHS tapes from our archives on Youtube; according to the "this is totally a bot I'm chatting with" conversation I had with their official Twitter account, nudity is fine as long as it's purpose isn't to arouse.

So don't be aroused by this and we should be fine.

Given that it's YouTube, I fully expect it to get deleted.

This film was originally shot in the 1970s or early 80s, likely on 8mm or 16mm film (I'm betting on 16mm) and transferred to VHS in the 1980s. The footage is beyond degraded, but provides a look into the Kissimmee, Florida shop of Ken Myers; I've been unable to dig anything up on Ken save for a few photos and videos in our archives and in several photos in the Alan Oversby collection, so I can't say if he was a professional tattooist, or someone like Sid who was more of an enthusiastic amateur, but the contents of the tape this clip comes from shows happy, smiling, naked artists and clients having a good time.

I've posted this segment of video before, but we're hoping that Youtube will be more practical/easy to stream for you folks than viewing/saving them from my Dropbox.

Files

Previews only

Tattooing at Ken Myers- 16mm film transfer.

After going back and forth with Youtube's official Twitter account about their policies, we're posting in good faith that this content should be fine in so much that it does not: "arouse the audience sexually, or as most people would say, “turn them on.” They say that context is key; in this case the context is to document a time and place in the history the LGBTQ and body art community, where casual nudity was part of the process. It’s purpose is not to arouse, but to document. So. With context in mind, we must ask if this content features: “Depiction of genitals, breasts, or buttocks (clothed or unclothed) for the purpose of sexual gratification” The answer is no. With context in mind, we must ask if this content includes: “Pornography or depicting sexual acts, genitals, or fetishes for the purpose of sexual gratification on any surface (such as video, text, audio, images)” The answer is no. With context in mind, we must ask if this content includes: * Explicit or implied depictions of sex acts for the purpose of sexual gratification * This applies to real-world or dramatized content such as sex scenes, video games, or music * Masturbation, fondling, or groping * Masturbation or fondling of genitals, breasts, or buttocks * Using or displaying sex toys to provide viewers with sexual gratification * Animated or illustrated pornography, sex acts, or fetish content * Nudity or partial nudity for the purpose of sexual gratification * Bestiality or promotion of bestiality * Incest or promotion of incest * Non-consensual sex acts or unwanted sexualization * Celebrity wardrobe accidents or nude photo leaks * Violent, graphic, or humiliating fetish content where the purpose is sexual gratification * Aggregating content for the purpose of sexual gratification * Any sexual content involving minors — see our Child Safety on YouTube page for more information The answer is no. So. Since we couldn’t get a real human at Youtube to answer these questions for us, we’ve uploaded the file and await their eventual flagging process. For those of you who’ve made it this far- this video features well known LGBTQ tattoo artist Sailor Sid Diller, performing a tattoo with a rotary machine on a client in the 1980s. It was originally shot on film, likely 8mm or 16mm, and transferred to VHS, which was the source of this transfer. Sid was an “out” gay tattoo artist in a time where tattooing was considerably homophobic, and this truly one of a kind footage shows him at work and at ease at the Kissimmee, Florida studio of Ken Myers, 1970s or early 1980s.