Artoria Gibbons (also known by her stage name, Mrs. C.W. (Red) Gibbons) was an American tattooed lady. She worked at carnival sideshows and at circuses for more than 35 years, including the Ringling, Barnum & Bailey Brothers Circus from 1921 to 1923 and the Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus in 1924.
Biography
She was born Anna Mae Burlingston in Linwood, Wisconsin in 1893 to Gunder Huseland, a Norwegian immigrant who used the name Frank Burlington, and Amma Mabel Mason. Her father was a farmer. She and her husband, a tattoo artist, were married in Spokane in 1912. She was the first tattooed lady to perform in his local carnival sideshow. Her tattoos, which covered 80% of her body, imitated paintings by Raphael and Michelangelo. She was one of the highest-paid tattooed ladies of her time.
Gibbons continued to perform until her death in 1985.
References
- Hartzman, Marc (2006). American sideshow: an encyclopedia of history's most wondrous and curiously strange performers (First ed.). New York. ISBN 1-58542-530-3. OCLC 71843379.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - "Artoria Gibbons". www.tattooarchive.com. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- ^ Osterud, Amelia Klem (2008). "Gibbons, Artoria (1893-1985), tattooed lady". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.2001906. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- USA, Tatul (2018-04-19). "Tattooed Lady Artoria - The Living Art Museum". Tatul. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- Preston, Devon. "Beautiful "Freaks!"—Meet the Tattooed Women of the Circus". Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
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