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DANDY
GUM tattoo – CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF ALL KNOWN SERIES
Dandy Gum tattoo - Information
Made in Denmark
Info including: series
name, tattoo format, series letter, numbers in the set, approximate issue date
and some notes…
By Andrew,
Australia. Anyone reading this, please send corrections to:
uuu890@hotmail.com
ON-WRAPPER SERIES (55mm x
95mm):
Early series were ‘ON-WRAPPER’ – the tattoo was on the reverse of a wrapper that
folded in three.
They came with a piece of pink bubble-gum wrapped in a wax
parcel, that was then wrapped by the wrapper/&tattoo.
Most of these tattoo have
a small tear where the main wrapper was sealed with glue. – However, some
examples from some series don’t. Some seem to have come straight from the
printer. Perhaps they could be specially ordered back in the day, or belonged to
Dandy staff.
TOMAHAWK
ON-WRAPPER
1-COLOURED (mauve/purple)
SET OF: 12
PRINTED: Pre 1956-1957? |
Tomahawk seem to be
the hardest get series and their relatively simple production style suggests
that they are the earliest known series.
The series designs seem to have all been American Indian and some Cowboy themes.
The counter box was probably quite small and came with a colourful pop-up
display of an Indian Chief whose name is ‘Sitting Bull’. |
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PIRATE
ON-WRAPPER
(1-COLOURED)
1-COLOURED (mauve/purple)
SET OF: 24.
PRINTED: Pre 1956-1957? |
Pirate are very
hard to find. The designs seem to be the first examples of the classic pirate/sailor/navy
illustrations. Many of these tattoos were repeated over many series, for decades
to come. |
PIRATE
ON-WRAPPER
(3-COLOURED)
3-COLOURED
(mauve/purple)
SET OF: 24.
PRINTED: Pre 1956-1957? |
(Mentioned as
DAN-330 in reference book)
All 24 tattoos are the same as the 1-coloured.
A diagonal news-flash on the
wrappers says “NOW ! NEW 3 COLOURED TATTOOS” |
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SAILOR'S TATTOO
ON-WRAPPER (WITHOUT
GERMAN TEXT)
(WITHOUT “KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” under the words “BUBBLE GUM”)
3-COLOURED (purple, green, red).
SET OF: 48.
PRINTED: post 1956-1957? |
I think the
translation from German to English for “KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” is
“Masticatory with strange substances”.
I believe the series without the German words was probably sold in England …and
also Scandinavian countries.
The series without the German words seems to be the easier to find, by a small
margin. |
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SAILOR'S TATTOO
ON-WRAPPER
(WITH GERMAN TEXT)
(WITH
“KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” under the words “BUBBLE GUM”)
3-COLOURED (purple, green, red).
SET OF: 48
PRINTED: post 1956-1957? |
I think the
translation from German to English for “KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” is
“Masticatory with strange substances”.
I believe the series with the German words must have been sold in ……Germany…
The series with the German words seems to be the harder to find, by a small
margin. |
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WITCH DOCTORs
TATTOO
ON-WRAPPER
(WITHOUT GERMAN TEXT)
(WITHOUT
“KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” under the words “BUBBLE GUM”)
3-COLOURED (purple, green, red).
SET OF: 42
PRINTED: post 1956-1957? |
Probably sold in
Scandinavia and England. |
WITCH DOCTORs
TATTOO
ON-WRAPPER
(WITH GERMAN TEXT)
(WITH
“KAUMASSE MIT FREMDEN STOFFEN” under the words “BUBBLE GUM”)
3-COLOURED (purple, green, red).
SET OF: 42
PRINTED: post 1956-1957? |
Probably sold in
Germany.
Seems to be more common than version without the German words. |
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‘GOLDEN-ERA’ SERIES – 3-coloured (45mm x 70mm):
The next style to come along at the dawn of the ‘golden-era’ were the first
classic rectangle size, with "3-coloured" designs, where you could see the
colours of the design on the white background, before the tattoo was used.
This style are all very rare and sought after. In my opinion, they are a great
piece of history, before the classic-style of tattoo appeared in the golden-era.
Sadly, I don’t have anywhere near all of these sets complete, in my collection.
BUBBLE GUM with
TRANSFER PICTURES
3-COLOURED TATTOO -
PURPLE
PRINTING
Mauve (Purple) printing details:
"Designs: Copyright by Tattoo-Ole, Copenhagen
Printed in Denmark"
SET OF: 48 (Same number as the on-wrapper ‘Sailors’, with the exact same
designs.
PRINTED: late 1960’s? |
Purple set might be
first series.
Harder to find. |
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BUBBLE GUM with
TRANSFER PICTURES
3-COLOURED TATTOO -
GREEN PRINTING
Green printing
details: "Designs: Copyright by Tattoo-Ole, Copenhagen Printed in Denmark"
SET OF: 48 (same number as the on-wrapper ‘Sailors’, with the same designs).
PRINTED: late 1960’s? |
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WITCH DOCTORs
TATTOO 3-COLOURED
TATTOO -
PURPLE
PRINTING
Mauve (Purple) printing details:
"PRINTED IN DENMARK"
SET OF: 40
PRINTED: 1963 |
These designs were
never repeated again. (Possibly because they are rubbish) |
PIRATE TATTOO
3-COLOURED TATTOO - GREEN
PRINTING
Green printing details:
"PRINTED IN DENMARK"
SET OF: >30 ?
PRINTED 1965? |
These were NEW
pirate, nautical tattoo illustrations.
Wrapper features a brown pirate with a domestic parrot on his right shoulder.
He
has an eye-patch on his left-eye (perhaps explaining why the parrot is now on
his right shoulder). He has a yellow ear-ring in his left ear. |
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WIGWAM TATTOO 3-COLOURED
TATTOO
Green printing details:
"PRINTED IN DENMARK"
SET OF: 48 Known.
PRINTED: 1960's? |
All tattoo designs
feature American Indian stereo-types. Must have been set around Davy Crockett’s
era. Early 1800’s in the USA. Davy is on one of the tattoos, but is missing an
eye, yet has no eye-patch, so this may have been designed as a tribute to Davy
on 6th March 1836 at Alamo, where he was shot and killed.
Two Indians have rifles, but other than that, there are no other signs of
tender-foot.
The wrapper features an angry-looking Indian deputy-chief, with three white
feathers in his hair. He is hiding behind a bush. Perhaps he has had his
loin-cloth stolen by Chief Sitting Bull. |
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‘GOLDEN-ERA’ TATTOO SERIES – (45mm x 70mm):
Then came the style that was used for the majority of the series during the ‘GOLDEN-ERA’
of Dandy Gum Tattoos. A white back-ground with a black-looking design that
revealed its colours once it was transferred on to the skin. Many series have a
Sailor theme. Tattoos that might be worn by a Sailor or a Pirate.
These series have many tattoo designs repeated across the various series. Just
the number and letter (N, T, S, B, C etc.) have been changed. A few designs are
refined from earlier on-wrapper style and 3-coloured tattoos. There are normally
a few new designs in each series, which make collecting worthwhile.
In most series there are definitely "key" tattoos (numbers), which are harder
to find than others. For a series of 100 there seems to be about 80 that turn up
as easily as each other. Then about 15 that appear about 1 for every 5 of the
majority. Then about 5 or less that seem to turn about 1 for every 30 of the
majority.
HIPPY HAPPY TATTOOS
SERIES A
SERIES LETTER: A
SET OF: 80.
PRINTED: 1972 |
Probably the very first series in the classic golden-era style, with the
black-appearance tattoo designs, revealing colour after the tattoo is put on the
skin. This first series of ‘Hippy Happy’ tattoos are almost impossible to find.
It is distinguished from the more common second series, by the series letter and
tattoo number being on the bottom LEFT of the tattoo, also there are a number of
unique designs. This series has more ‘slogan’ designs than the second series,
which had more ‘hippy flower patterns’. |
HIPPY HAPPY TATTOOS
(MAGIC TATTOO GUM)
SERIES A
SERIES LETTER:
A
SET OF: 80.
PRINTED: 1972? |
The second series
of ‘Hippy Happy’ tattoos. Subtitled ‘Magic Tattoo Gum’ …as only the Danes can
do.
This series is pretty rare, but turns up once in a while. I like them very much,
because they are printed exactly the same way as the classic Navy, Sailor etc
tattoos – yet have such completely different designs. Most of the hippy patterns
appear to be stylised flowers, a few can probably only be appreciated by rolling
a spliff or dropping some serious vintage acid.
The series letter and tattoo number are in the bottom RIGHT of the tattoo.
Some designs only appear in this series.
3 tattoos per packet. 90 packets per counter-box. |
DISNEY TATTOOS
SERIES D
SERIES LETTER:
D
SET OF: 60.
PRINTED: 1973 |
Very common series,
seems to have been made in huge numbers and would have been sold in USA, as well
as elsewhere. …still has a couple of harder to get designs. – D6 for example.
Just 60 numbers in this set, perhaps due to the fact that Disney cartoons have
no good characters, besides Pluto and maybe Donald on a good day.
4 tattoos per packet. 96 packets per counter-box. |
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SKIPPER TATTOOS
SERIES T
SERIES LETTER:
T
SET OF: 100.
PRINTED: 1971 |
I think Skipper
must have been the first of the classic sailor/navy style of tattoo, in the
golden-era style, with the design looking black until it was on the skin. So
this is where the real classic tattoos started.
Perhaps because of the age or the changing tattoo style, a huge number of
Skipper turn up in poor condition. There seems to have been a lot of bleeding of
the gum in to the tattoos and then they get smudged. So a good achievement to
get a mint looking set of 100.
Like most sets, there are various numbers that are harder to get then others.
This set seems to have two ‘key’ numbers. T 83 and T 92 – good luck getting
those two.
There are at least two wrapper-variations. So probably two printings. Seems like
maybe one printing was on acidic-paper, which has turned brown over time. Also
the type on the printer for the letter “T” next to the number seems to have been
damaged and too many of the “T’s” are missing the left side of their lid. |
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My
guess however is that the earlier printings had the damaged “T” and then they
repaired it (for a lazy 15 Krone). The earlier ones are on the bad quality paper.
However, BOTH printings have the same hard-to-get designs etc.
3 or 4 tattoos per packet. 120 packets per counter-box. |
NAVY TATTOOS
3-COLOURED - SERIES N
3-coloured (with skull & bones designs for numbers
14,82,83,86,89,91,92,94,96,97,98)
SERIES LETTER: N
SET OF: 100.
PRINTED: Early 1970’s? |
– This 3-coloured
version of the Navy set (with skull & bones designs) seems to perhaps be PROOFS.
The only known sets come from a source with ties to the Dandy Factory.
So this is probably the most desirable Dandy Tattoo set. (However, ‘Western
Tattoos’ are probably even rarer)
On 6th November 2015 a set of these sold on eBay for US$610.00. |
NAVY TATTOOS
SERIES N
(Denmark only?)
issue, with skull & bones designs for numbers 14,82, 83,86,89,91,92,94,96,97,98)
SERIES LETTER: N
SET OF: 100.
PRINTED: Early 1970’s? |
This series has 11
Skull and Cross-bones themed tattoo designs substituted for the designs (that
were probably sold outside of Denmark).
This makes those numbers particularly hard to find. Many of those numbers
seem to be ‘key’ numbers in the regular series anyway, but having 89 designs
that are all the same in both series and 11 that vary between two designs,
obviously makes them harder to find these days.
I would guess that the skull & bones designs were substituted, because
skull and crossbones is a much darker theme for children to collect. |
NAVY TATTOOS
SERIES N
SERIES LETTER:
N
SET OF: 100.
PRINTED: Early 1970’s? |
I believe that the
Navy Tattoos were the definitive series at the apex of the golden-era of Dandy
tattoos.
If you only get one series, this should be the set.
Seems to have been printed 3 or 4 times, with different wrappers.
Has two key hard-to-find numbers – N 91 and N 92
There were also Navy tattoo-related foil-wrapped gum coins. Called ‘Navy Coins’.
They retailed for 1p in the 1970’s, but like many coins, they would have gone up
greatly in value over time.
3 tattoos per packet. 120 packets per counter-box. |
BARRATT PIRATE
TATTOOS
SERIES B
Series of
Sailor/Pirate designs taken exclusively from Navy and Skipper series (+ 2 skull
& bones).
“Made in Denmark”, no doubt by Dandy. For Barratt in England.
SERIES LETTER: B
SET OF: 100.
PRINTED: late 1970's? |
Presumably Barratt
saw Dandy’s success with tattoos during the golden-era and wanted some of the
action. They were given only previously published designs, that are taken from
Navy (N) and Sailor (T) (Most in the actual order they appear in from the N and
T series) and also there were 2 of the enigmatic Skull & Crossbones designs
thrown in.
Despite this series seemingly going to England on commission…there is still the
traditional method of making some cards VERY hard to find. There are two numbers
in the middle that are especially difficult. Any tattoos from this series are
relatively hard to find. Strangely, I have never seen one with gum-damage…unlike
all other Dandy series.
However the wrapper clearly states that there were 3 tattoos with bubble gum.
Perhaps they had a limited run in England and all got opened quickly, or maybe
Barratt-Gum was superior to Dandy’s legendary ‘asbestos-bubble-gum’. – so bad,
that they had to add 3 brilliant tattoos as a bribe, just to sell the junk. |
SAILOR TATTOOS
SERIES S
SERIES LETTER:
S
SET OF: 100
PRINTED: Late 1970's |
‘Sailor’ was
probably the sequel to the great Navy series…but there seem to have been a lot
less printed and they are harder to find. Perhaps collectors didn’t want them,
because almost all of them were the same designs as the Navy series, which
everyone probably already had.
I did not collect them much back in the 1970’s…although once again, there are
clearly key numbers to get. I don’t have all I want myself yet, so must keep the
numbers in-house.
3 tattoos per packet. 120 packets per counter-box. |
CAPTAIN TATTOOS
SERIES C
SERIES LETTER:
C
SET OF: 100
PRINTED: Mid 1980's |
‘I really enjoyed
this series. It was about ten years after Navy and I was able to start all over
again. The designs seemed to be hand-picked from all previous series, going
right back to the on-wrapper and 3-coloured illustrations. Some being published
for the first time and some completely new designs as well. Almost like a ‘by
request’ series.
Once again, some very, very key numbers. C96 could be the rarest and certainly
most sought after, of all Dandy tattoos.
The series came in three different designed wrappers. Plus a fourth variation
for some markets. The three wrapper illustrations were used also for three
counter-box designs. Would be great to own all three boxes. The three boxes also
had a few variations.
3 tattoos per packet. 120 packets per counter-box |
DANDY "CAPTAIN"
TATTOO - known as "TATTOO - OLE"
SERIES A
Named as "DANDY CAPTAIN TATTOO" (on the counter box)
Named as "DANDY TATTOO" (on wrapper)
Mentions "TATTOO - OLE" (on the lower part of the tattoo) …most people seem to
see that as the definitive name.
Printing details: “C (Copyright) TATTOO - OLE, Copenhagen" "PRINTED IN DENMARK
IMPRIME AU DANEMARK"
SERIES LETTER: A
SET OF: 100
PRINTED: 1984 |
"Dandy Tattoo" often
called "Tattoo Ole" - This was a whole new set of 100 designs with a variety of
themes. The artwork is more detailed than previous series. "Tattoo Ole" could be
the name of the design studio for the tattoos, although I understand that
"Tattoo Ole" possible means they were illustrated by Mr. Ole himself... …the
artist who also possibly designed many of the earlier Dandy tattoos. So this
series could have been a special commission and an attempt to bring back the
popularity of the tattoos from the ‘GOLDEN- ERA’. They seem to have sold well
and remain very popular today with collectors.
However, this series suffered badly in my opinion, from having too many
hard-to-get "key" numbers. I bought about 2 boxes in the mid 80's and have since
picked up a few hundred more tattoos from eBay, yet I have not been able to put
together a full set by myself. I did buy one full set from a collector in
Denmark, so he somehow put one together. I know of at least 3 keen collectors,
who have been collecting longer then me and have better resources than me, who
as far as I know are all still sitting on about 80 out of 100. (Word-up David !)
ALSO, very interesting, despite the detail in the designs and presumably the
state of the art printing methods used - on at least 10 of the designs – THE
EYES “MOVE”…from tattoo to tattoo. It looks like it’s deliberate. So for example,
tattoo A47 is a skull & crossbones…and his eye-ball clearly looks straight-ahead
on some printings and is then looking left or right on other printings. – It’s
great! …but means that the serious collector has a lot more than 100 to collect.
It’s more like 120. |
DANDY WESTERN TATTOOS
SERIES W
SERIES LETTER:
W
SET OF: 75 ?
PRINTED: Early 1990’s? |
This series seems
to be the final attempt by Dandy to make their classic style of tattoo.
I am 98% sure they weren’t even commercially released. I have only seen a
handful of tattoo designs, a few wrappers and one counter box…and all were
sourced from a special contact in Denmark, with ties to Dandy.
They must therefore be amongst the rarest of Dandy tattoos. Yet from what I can
tell, it was all new designs in a Western/Cowboy theme. They mostly appear to be
very simple illustrations. I really hope to get a full set of these one day. Of
the handful that I have, the very highest number is W75. …this makes me wonder
if, at the end of the era and trying for all-new designs, perhaps this was a
series of just 75 tattoos ? |
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I have W1 and then at least one for every ten after that…yet nothing at all
beyond the exact ¾ mark to 100. 0/25 between 76 and 100. …seems reasonable to
consider.
Counter-box also included black foil-wrapped bubble-gum coins, with the outline
of a cowboy on each side. |
COLOURED BODY TRANSFERS AND TRANSFERS SERIES (Various
sizes):
Later series and a couple in between, were full-coloured body transfers, which I
have included in this list.
TATTOOZE
TATTOOZE TRANSFER
BUBBLE GUM
Coloured body transfers of funny animal characters.
SET OF: 60
PRINTED: 1974 |
Made in partnership
with none other than Letraset. Extremely hard to find.
Odd to collect. Besides being next to impossible to find, they are not numbered.
But mainly when in original condition, they have what must be a partly acidic,
opaque sheet of semi-waxed paper to protect the image, prior to application. So
they are hard to see through the paper…and the paper seems to brown slightly
over time. Also of course, the images are in reverse before you apply them.
Having said all that, any Dandy collector would be mad not to try for a set of
Tattooze.
The pictures are mainly of ‘zoo’-related animals, but also a variety of other
wacky themes.
There are 6 different wrappers, with zoo animal pictures, that are taken from 6
of the transfers. |
ACTION TRANSFERS
Letraset? – (style?)
body-transfers?
SET OF: ?
PRINTED: 1974 |
This series exist and they are recorded.
But I have never seen a transfer up close. |
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Bubble gum TATTOOS
1ST SERIES
- Coloured
body transfers
(probable) First series.
SET OF: 50
PRINTED: mid 1980’s? |
The probable first
series is distinguished easily, by having much simpler application instructions
on the reverse of the sheet of tattoo transfers.
Series are all numbered 1 to 50. ‘1 of 50’ ‘30 of 50’ etc.
The first series came in an orange packet, with a cartoon young boy and girl
together, enjoying putting tattoos on their bodies. The first series wrapper has
different writing on the back to the second and does not have a bar-code.
One card of tattoo-transfers in each packet plus gum. The packet had to be torn
or cut to open.
There were 60 packets per counter-box. |
Bubble gum TATTOOS
2ND SERIES
- Coloured
body transfers
(probable) Second series.
SET OF: 50
PRINTED: late 1980’s? |
The probable second
series is distinguished easily, by having much more comprehensive application
instructions on the reverse of the sheet of tattoo transfers.
Series are all numbered 1 to 50. ‘1 of 50’ ‘30 of 50’ etc.
The second series came in an orange packet, with a cartoon young boy and girl
together, enjoying putting tattoos on their bodies. The second series wrapper
has different writing on the back and does have a bar-code.
One card of tattoo-transfers in each packet plus gum. The packet had to be torn
or cut to open.
There were 60 packets per counter-box |
DANDY SAILOR
TATTOOS
- Coloured
body transfers
SET OF: 50?
PRINTED: Early 1990's |
Combined Dandy’s
traditional ‘Sailor’ theme, but in the body-transfer format.
They were even around the same size of about 45mm x 70mm, although quite
different in most ways and designed horizontal from memory. I don’t have any of
these any more, although they were readily available where I live. |
BUBBLE GUM
tattoos
- Coloured body transfers
SET OF: 40
PRINTED: late 1980’s? |
Coloured body
transfers. 2 per sheet. Sheet folded 3 times, to 1/6 its opened-size. Wrapped
around a large piece of pink chewing-gum. Then wrapped around by outer wrapper.
Pink, blue and yellow stripes, with a winking dog putting the tattoos on.
Designs are colourful children’s pictures. (Could also be used on cool dogs) |
BIRDS
- Transfers
SET OF: 50
PRINTED: 1958 |
Has birds. Possibly
not meant as body-transfers. |
PREHISTORIC ANIMALS
- Transfers
SET OF: 75 ?
PRINTED: Early 1990’s? |
Has prehistoric
animals. Possibly not meant as body-transfers. |
NOTE:
There were
also a number of other Dandy
body-transfer series, made in many different countries and other series that may
have been copies/pirated. They are a long way from being like the classic Dandy
tattoos and many I know next to nothing about, so I am not listing them.
CAN
ANYONE CONTRIBUTE FURTHER INFORMATION TO THIS LIST ? PLEASE EMAIL
uuu890@hotmail.com
Also WANTED
Dandy Gum - Air Line Stickers (mid-1970's:
3 AeroMexico x1
7 Air Canada x 1
9 Maersk Air x 3
40 Air India x 1
45 Luxair x 4
62 Danair x 1
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