Several years ago, he interviewed me for the now defunct.
However, as years passed, it became obvious he was totally serious with his desires and he began to get all the mods he had previously spoken with me about. In fact, I distinctly remember some photo editing of mods onto a picture of his face at one point which made it truly seem as if it was all just fantasy for him. I foolishly lumped him in with several other young modders that seemed to be more into the fantasy of obtaining heavy mods than the reality of doing so. In all honesty, I didn’t take him too seriously. At the time he was a minor seeking answers to questions about heavy mods.
Later, Cliff Raven would also tattoo Blubak, along with many other Chicago tattooers and eventually, Blubak was tattooed by Great Lakes Tattoo’s own Nick Colella.I first talked to James several years ago. Sparrow returned the favor by practicing his new skills on Blubak. Upon meeting Phil Sparrow and getting tattooed by him, Blubak offered to introduce Sparrow to the legendary Amund Dietzel, who gave Sparrow some pointers on his tattooing. In fact, Raven’s partner of 27 years, Pierre Mitchell, was often known as Bob Raven, his “brother.”Īnother interesting thread that ties these men together is a colorful Chicago character known as “Blubak.” Real name Larry Rogers, Blubak (pronounced "Blue-Back") was a gay man, merchant marine and tattoo collector who spent a lot of time on State Street. Raven felt that it could affect his business if clients learned of his sexuality, as well as put him and his partner in danger, so he preferred to keep that aspect of his life private to those outside the community. Raven felt that his sexuality was on a “need to know” basis and it was rarely discussed. Like Sparrow and Renslow, Cliff Raven was a gay man but chose to keep that aspect of his life largely separate from his tattooing career. In the mid-1960s, Raven tattooed out of Renslow’s Kris Studios photography studio. The first Cliff Raven Studios, the only tattoo shop in Chicago at the time, was run out of a Belmont Street building that was owned by Chuck Renslow’s mother. The collection also includes childhood photos of Raven, several paintings and flash sheets, and Cliff’s personal tattoo machines that he used daily. Some of these photos can be seen today as part of the Great Lakes Tattoo collection. Renslow also enjoyed taking photos of his friends Raven and Sparrow tattooing.
Renslow drifted away from tattooing himself but stayed involved with his store Eagle Leather on Clark Street, offering tattoo and piercing services for many years.
Renslow had begun teaching Raven how to tattoo, and Sparrow also encouraged Raven to pursue tattooing as a career. Leather competition and the magazines Triumph, Rawhide, and Mars. This included the founding of the Gold Coast bar, Man's Country, the International Mr. After a brief tattooing career, Renslow changed gears and established many landmarks of late-20th-century gay male culture in the Chicago area. Sparrow had attempted to teach Renslow how to tattoo, but Chuck never really took to it. Chuck Renslow was an aspiring tattooer and businessperson with a passion for leather and physique photography.