Martin Hildebrandt

Martin Hildebrandt (c. 1825–1890) was an early American tattoo artist, nicknamed "Old Martin". Sailors tattooing each other at sea was common in the mid-19th century. In the 1850s, Hildebrandt traveled to Japan as part of the Perry Expedition. He traveled from camp to camp tattooing other soldiers and sailors. Another Civil War veteran, Wilbur F. Hinman, wrote that many regiments at the time had tattooers who applied "flags, muskets, cannons, sabers and an infinite variety of patriotic emblems and warlike and grotesque devices." This was probably the first American tattoo shop. He tattooed a wide range of people, including mechanics, farmers, and ladies and gentlemen.

In 1882, Hildebrandt tattooed Nora Hildebrandt, one of the first "tattooed ladies" to perform in the US. She was often presented as his daughter, but she was actually his common-law wife. He died in 1890.