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How to Apply a Vintage 1960s Temporary Tattoo
Letraset Tattooze — Some Examples

How to Apply a Vintage 1960s Temporary Tattoo

Temporary tattoos, otherwise known as "tattooze", are a form of waterslide transfers in which licking the skin is the usual method of applying moisture. They are the simplest and cheapest form, and do not require sliding away the carrier layer, which can simply be lifted off. This is more or less just a method of wetting ink so that it will leave an imprint wherever you stick it. Potato printing uses much the same idea, so this method is presumably prehistoric. Temporary tattoos, because they are so cheap to produce, are a staple of the confectionery industry, where they are commonly sold in sealed packets along with a piece of chewing gum.

STEP ONE: obtain vintage 1960s Temporary Tattoos.

(On eBay or somewhere.)

STEP TWO: browse through to select a really good one.

STEP THREE: make sure you reject the best ones.

— BECAUSE.

STEP FOUR: carefully cut out your selected Temporary Tattoo.

STEP FIVE: admire it for the last time.

— It's a Mig Fighter, everybody.

STEP SIX: clean & dry the selected area of skin.

(Yes, that IS the Yellow Submarine Dalek operating the other camera.)

STEP SEVEN: carefully apply the Tattoo face down, & thoroughly saturate with warm water.

If you live in an area with a hard water supply, you might like to boil the water first & then let it cool down; or you could use still bottled water. Please do not scald the recipient.

STEP EIGHT: carefully peel away the backing paper.

It is NOT recommended that you use a potato peeler for this procedure.

STEP NINE: allow to air dry, or tentatively dab with paper towel.

Dab — do not rub. Or you will risk damaging the transfer.

STEP TEN: if necessary, take pain killers to alleviate the sensation of burning.

Jerri Walker: Seriously — WHY is there burning?

Tom Vinelott: That's the burning question.

Allergies to whatever mysterious chemicals were used back in the 60s to print Temporary Tattoos are not anticipated. No celebrity musicians were injured in the application of this tattoo.

STEP ELEVEN: show off your new Temporary Tattoo.

STEP TWELVE: wonder where it all went so terribly, terribly wrong.

Best that can be hoped for with these, I'm afraid. They are, after all, just cheap toys. I don't know how good they were to start with, but the technology is inherently problematic, & the fifty year maturation period probably didn't help…

We had much better results with the other types of transfer.

More sophisticated tattooze come with a protective backing tissue to prevent the transfer sticking to anything until ready; so after cutting out the selected transfer, the tissue should be removed. This step is not illustrated above, simply because no backing tissue was provided to remove!

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