Sailor Jerry Spiced – Soldiers and sailors wanted to grab all the experiences they could before they shipped out. Whether a man was raised in a Park Avenue mansion or a farmhouse in Alabama, while on shore leave, he was fixated with one of three things (or most likely all three of them). To paraphrase the words of an iconic Sailor Jerry tattoo (as requested by our lawyers), these soldiers were out to have some drinks, enjoy the company of women and get tattooed.

Lines for bars were so long that you had only minutes to finish your drink before having to make room for the next guy. The mix of shenanigans and bravado that characterized the mindset of an American serviceman on shore leave is a deep thread in Jerry’s art. From “Man’s Ruin,” an image of a vixen in a cocktail glass surrounded by a dice, cards and dollar signs – to a picture of a bloody knife sticking though a heart with the words “Death Before Dishonor” – Sailor Jerry’s tattoos dealt with issues that were at once practical and elemental.

Hotel Street may have been a place that would make a preacher blush, but it was also a place where truths were expressed. War, whether you’re for it or against it, tends to filter out the crap and this is one reason why Sailor Jerry’s work is so compelling. – Sailor Jerry Spiced