A patent print poster of the first Tattoo Machine known as a Tattoo Gun invented by S. F. O'Reilly. The patent was issued by the United States Patent Office on December 8, 1891. A tattoo machine is a hand-held device generally used to create a tattoo, a permanent marking of the skin with indelible ink. Samuel O'Reilly discovered that an electric stencil pen invented by Thomas Edison could be modified and used to introduce ink into the skin, and patented a tube and needle system to provide an ink
