Franklin Paul Rogers (1905–1990) was an American

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

. He trained under Cap Coleman in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

from 1945–1950. He designed tattoo machines, which he called "irons", a term he coined that is used in the industry. People from all over the world would visit him in his “Iron Factory” where he taught them about tattoo machine building. In his early life, he was in the traveling

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. He also helped start a mail-order supply business, Spaulding & Rogers. He is buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Chesapeake, Virginia. Rogers contributed to the development of the American traditional tattoo style. Don Lucas, a tattoo artist and tattoo historian, wrote a book based on interviews with him, titled ''The Father of American Tattooing'' (1990).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Franklin Paul 1905 births 1990 deaths American tattoo artists People from Bryson City, North Carolina Artists from Norfolk, Virginia American male tattoo artists