Story time with Sailor Fred … Wondo, Wondo, Wondo
K.C. Cullison, Miss Kat and I met Wondo for the first time in Daytona around 1981/82 during Bike Week. The plan was we were all going to tattoo at Gill’s place that week. When we showed up Gill had tickets to a concert so he split. Wondo being his roommate, was gracious enough to host that evening for us all. At the time, like I said, Wondo was Gill’s roommate. Wondo wasn’t tattooing then. He was a machinist; a customer of Gill’s. By the time I met Wondo for the 2nd time, Wondo was tattooing, apprenticing under Gill, along with Clay Basket. Clay is still down at Willie’s Tropical Tattoo in Ormond, Beach, FL. Wondo and Gill came up to Rochester, NY that year so we could attend the Harley Rendezvous together. Over the years, like the rest of the guys I’ve mentioned, our friendship was solid, seeing each other a few times a year at various Bike Weeks and Tattoo Conventions. I’ll share a funny story with you. One year when Gill and Wondo came up to Rochester I picked them up from the airport. They walked off of the plane smashed out of their minds. They told a story … while in flight they sat across from a guy carrying a statue. The guys unintentionally kept knocking into this statue. The guy told Gill and Wondo that the statue was a precious one that he was hand delivering to a client “in one piece!” While they were getting off the plane, Gill comes up behind him, smacks him on the back to say, “See you later man” … the guy dropped the statue. Since it was almost closing time when I went to pick them up from the airport that night, we stopped at a Heebie Jeebie store for food. I stayed in the car while Gill and Wondo went into the store. All of a sudden, they run out and Gill yells, “ Go go go”. I asked, “What the hell is going on?” Gill says, he told the pizza guy, “put your hands up, its a F*CK UP” as a joke and he did. We went back to the shop for pizza and beer. Mr. Wondo is down in Mt. Carmel, PA tattooing at Electric Tattooing. If you stop by let him know Sailor Fred sent you.
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AuthorSailor Fred is a renown American Tattoo Artist that started his career in 1968 Archives
November 2016
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