For the superstitious among us, Friday the 13th is unlucky. But, in the tattoo industry, it’s a day many tattoo artists and people hoping to get tattoos treasure – a day when people can get quickly inked for a discount.
Inside Craftsman Tattoo, June Tieckleman is talking to a tattoo artist about the design she’s picked. She’s settled on a pair of teeth with ribbons wrapped around them. Tieckleman sounds calm, excited even. The Saratoga resident has been making the trek down to this parlor for almost every Friday the 13th tattoo event at the shop since 2021. She says almost every tattoo on her left arm was done on the supposedly unlucky day.
"I have a jackalope, that’s like a jackrabbit with the antlers and like wings. Kind of like a cool cryptid. And then, I have a cicada with a skull on it kinda similar to a deaths-head moth where there’s like a skull in the center of the body but it’s a cicada instead," said Tieckleman. "The whole arm is just kinda like, creatures. I love weird things and they have lot of cool concepts here.
The tradition of inking discounted tattoos on Friday the 13th has its roots in Texas, where one shop in the mid-90s began hosting a tattooing marathon, letting customers pick a pre-designed piece in an effort to tattoo as many people as possible.
Scott Dethorne is the owner of Craftsman Tattoos in Schenectady. He says tattoo artists look forward to the day as much as the customers.
"It’s just a day that guarantees that we get to do the stuff that we want to tattoo for a day," said Dethorne. "We put it out there, we make it really cool. Everything’s hand painted; hand drawn. "
After her session, Tieckleman admires her new ink in a mirror.
"I love just kind of like not knowing and then having them pick the placement and everything. It’s just, it’s exciting, it’s fun," said Tieckleman. "You know you’re going to get a good piece every time. They’re fantastic artists and they love what they do. It’s fun to give them like, the creative freedom."
