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George
Fosdick (1885-1946)
"Sailor" George
Fosdick, was born
in Wisconsin January
14, 1885. He was
said to have served
in the United States
Navy and Merchant
Marines, hence
the title "Sailor." Many
tattooists earned
this designation
while serving in
the Naval Forces.
The photograph
below shows George
Fosdick tattooing
Sailor Carl circa
1920s.
Fosdick came to Portland, Oregon
around 1912 and set up his shop
near the waterfront on Burnside
Street, joining "Sailor" Gus and
Charlie Weston on Burnside, both
of whom were already established
tattooists. It was only a few years
later that a very young Bert Grimm
took the trolley to downtown Portland
where he would sell newspapers
and hang out at the Burnside shops,
cleaning up and running errands.
Bert developed a friendship with
Fosdick whom later became his tattoo
mentor.
In a 1981 interview with the Tattoo
Archive, Bert recalled times in
1916 and 1923 when he and Fosdick
would pool their money and at the
end of the day, splitting it 50/50.
In a letter written in 1925, Fosdick
talked about the price paid for
tattooing in the 1920s. "The
average cost of a tattooed man
is around $300.00, $175.00 to the
waist and $125.00 for the legs."
Fosdick set up shop in several
locations in Portland Oregon and
Seattle, Washington. In 1924, the
Portland city directory listed
him at 269½ Burnside. A
business card from that era, where
he shared a shop with Prof. Bert
Grimm, lists his name as "Sailor" George
and Prof. G. Fosdick. Letters and
business cards in the Archive's
collection which date back to the
1920s, show Fosdick working alone
at 267½ Burnside, just a
couple of doors down the street,
and indicate that he had been in
Portland since 1909. There were
no listings for Fosdick in the
Portland city directory in the
1930s. Seen below is Fosdick's
signature from 267 1/2 Burnside.
 Seattle
directories for 1935 and
1936 list Fosdick working
at 423 2nd Avenue. In another
letter dated July 1939,
written to Fred Marquand,
Fosdick announces; "Sailor
George is back in business
again." Fosdick's return
address at that time was
319 W. Burnside, Portland.
Larsen Waldemar, better
known as "Sailor" Walter
Larson, was listed in the
1936 city directory at
319 Burnside. Larson and
George worked there together
in 1940, and Fosdick occupied
the space, working alone,
from 1941 to 1943.
In a 1924 news article, Fosdick
declared: "Father had a large
family, money was not plentiful,
so early in life I had to fend
for myself. For a time I followed
the sea; then later in life I learned
the art whose age nobody knows."
In speaking about Fosdick, Bert
Grimm concluded that Fosdick was
a paranoid person who shunned publicity.
This may account for the fact that
very few photographs of Fosdick
exist. Fosdick never mentioned
his past and Bert speculated that
Fosdick may have been a deserter
from the Armed Forces or had some
other shadowy past that he kept
hidden.
Bert Grimm told the story about
the time that he and his wife Julie
were on the train heading to visit
Fosdick. Unfortunately they arrived
just after his death. Fosdick's
wife Lorena offered Bert the estate,
but as Bert told the story, he
did not need the gear and advised
Lorena to gather it up, put an
ad in the local paper and sell
it so that she would have something
for her future.
"Sailor" George Fosdick passed
away on February 3, 1946 and services
were held at the Chapel of Portland
Crematorium, located at SE 14th
Street and Bybee. His ashes still
remain there. Lorena whom he was
married to for many years, lived
until the age of 66 and passed
away in 1951.
More of George Fosdick's tattoo
work can be seen in Kobel photographs
#1/125/137/153/176/184/210.
(Materials for this article were
based on interviews with Bert Grimm
and Fosdick's adopted daughter,
as well as newspaper articles,
letters, business cards and other
assorted documents that were made
available to the Archive. A very
special thanks goes out to the
late Tom Slick, for all of his
help in assembling this information.)
Tattoo Archive © 1999
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