How Halloween played a role in former Naples mayor's choice of his unique tattoo

Note to readers: The News-Press and Naples Daily News are launching a special series today called "Tattoo Tuesday." We will feature a tattoo story every week − from the emotional to the humorous − asking those who are participating for the story behind their body art.

Have a tattoo story to share? Send your story and photo to mbickel@gannett.com.

Bill Barnett: Former Naples mayor pays tribute to another mayor − the Mayor of Halloweentown

The year was 1957 and I was living in White Plains, New York and was 17 years old. It was spring and getting close to the end of the high school year.

A few friends and myself decided to take a ride in to New York City on a Saturday afternoon. It was a short drive for us. We ended up late that afternoon in front of a tattoo parlor and we decided that getting a tattoo back then was a cool thing to do.

I in no way was I going to get something big and I ended up with a Bluebird on my right arm high enough that a short sleeve shirt would hide it if necessary.

Last week's Tattoo Tale Her tattoo, a birthday gift to herself, features the names of her grandchildren - all six

I knew my parents would not be happy but figured I could hide it.

It became a very hot summer and I managed to avoid my parents noticing it. One particularly hot summer day in August my father looked at me and asked me just how long did I think I could get away with that tattoo on my arm. Parents to this day just seem to have a way of finding out things that as youngsters we never know how they did it.

That Bluebird is still there, faded and old like me, and hardly recognizable. However there’s more to this story.

Fast forward to the year 2017. My career had taken me on many paths − the main one was I became involved in the City of Naples politics in 1984 as a City Council Member and ended it in 2020 as the Mayor of the City. It was the summer of 2017 and I was going to Las Vegas to play cards in the seniors World Series of Poker event. Just before I left Naples I suggested to my wife, Chris, that I might like to get another tattoo. She looked at me and smiled and said to me “why not get something that has to do with you, not just a random tattoo”.

I immediately knew where she was coming from. My birthday is on Halloween, I was the Mayor of the City of Naples, and what better tattoo than one of Tim Burtons Nightmare before Christmas which is now a classic. I loved the idea, contacted a well known tattoo artist in Vegas and explained on the phone what I wanted done. The artist said to me he would work on some drawings so when I arrived he would be ready if that’s what I wanted to do.

I thought the drawings were great and sat down for about four hours-plus and ended up with “Nightmare before Christmas" artwork on my left arm. (Editor's note: Appropriately, It's the character known as the Mayor of Halloweentown.)

Here we are seven years later and the comments I have received over the years about this particular tattoo is always good for a story, and a smile especially from those who recognize it and what I had in common with my tattoo.

By the way I asked the artist if he could touch up my Bluebird and he said: "You don’t want to do that. It’s a classic."

So, I didn’t!

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What are the reasons someone gets a tattoo