56 yr old tattoo ban lifted

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A 56-year-old ban on tattoo parlours has been lifted in this navy town.

City council approved an ordinance Tuesday allowing tattoo parlours in certain parts of the city, home to the world's largest naval base. The ordinance restricts parlours to a few industrial zones and downtown.

The move came after courts ruled that cities may no longer prohibit tattoo parlours.

Sixty years ago, Norfolk's East Main Street was world-famous for its tattoo parlours, taverns and burlesque palaces. In 1945, there were about a dozen parlours.

That ended in 1950 when city council banned all tattoo parlours. Tattoos were branded unsanitary, vulgar, even "cannibalistic."

Tattoos have become heavily regulated by the navy. It forbids tattoos in places not covered by the uniform and regulates the types of tattoos sailors may have.