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Letter: Telltale tattoo

Published 8 April 2000

From Clive Grove-Palmer

All your correspondents on the subject of “tan tattoos” are far too young
(11 March, p 57).
The tattoos date back even further than the 1960s.

I had a cousin who, because her mother was Spanish, had the sort of skin
which took on a very enviable tan. When she returned to England after living in
Italy for several years, she had the name of her current boyfriend “tattooed” on
her arm by having had a paper cut-out of his name stuck to her for a few hours
in the strong Italian sunshine. And that was in 1934.

She was actually en route for South America and had to stay with us for
several weeks before venturing on her new life, where she married someone with a
quite different name.

Byfield, Northamptonshire

Issue no. 2233 published 8 April 2000

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