His name was Jack Dracula or Jack Martin or Barcelona Jack, the Marked Man but he was born on Christmas day, 1935 as Jack Baker. After a short stint in the Navy, Jack got his start tattooing after he entered a shop on Coney Island owned by Brooklyn Blackie, when he was tossed a gun and told to do it himself. Jack did a piece on his thigh and never stopped. Over time he did work and received work in various shops, tattooing his his face, cheeks, chin. forehead and all around his eyes. Most prominent were the images of Bella Lugosi/Dracula and Boris Karloff/Frankenstein on his stomach. All in total the Marked Man had over 400 tattoos.

A renaissance man Jack worked for Ringling Brothers Barnum Bailey Circus, P. Cortez’s sideshow, Hubert’s Dime Museum and Amusements American Carnival as a sideshow attraction. He was said to have been a gourmet cook and certified wine connoisseur with an interest in archaeology and opera.

Dracula operated shops in Camden, NJ and later Kensington Philadelphia, home of Swellco & Swellco’s Subversive Subliminal Video Circus, where he has resided ever since.

Jack spent the last of his days in West Philadelphia’s Park Pleasant Nursing Home his legs amputated from the knees down due to complications with diabetes developed in the 90′s.

At the age of 75, our beloved Jack Dracula died today at 5:30pm, after a meal of chocolate ice cream and a long, interesting life, reportedly due to a heart attack.

Rest in Peace Jack.

–Kevin Dalton
Swellco & Swellco 83473t

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Music & Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Body Arts, Jack Dracula, Tattoo Convention, tattoos, The Marked Man