Born (1875) in Prešov, Slovakia, Charlie Wagner cemented himself as a founding father of modern tattooing with a career spanning 50+ years tattooing in New York’s Bowery. Originally under the tutelage of Samuel O’Reilly, an American tattoo legend in his own right, Wagner’s major contributions included the first tattoo machine patented with vertical coils in line with the tube assembly, a design used for most machines built today.
