Body Piercings Early Days

I would be willing to bet that unless you have some involvement in the body modification industry most people don't have a clue how body piercing even became popular in the United States. Have you ever heard of Jim Ward? To those of us who are in the body modification industry Jim Ward would be considered the Grandfather of body piercing. He's not the first body piercer known in the United States by any means, Jack Yount was body piercing in the 1950's. Jim Ward is however responsible for taking body piercing out of the back bedrooms of homes and into the malls, shops, etc....

Jim Ward started a company called The Gauntlet in 1975 which he ran from his Hollywood home. The Gauntlets clientele base originated from the gay S&M communities of California. On November 17, 1978 The Gauntlet opened its first commercial location on Santa Monica Blvd an would later go on to opening locations in San Francisco, NYC, Seattle, and Paris, France. Jim Ward also set the standards for safe piercing that we know an still follow today, he also invented the body piercing needles we know an use today and some of the body jewelry we use in initial piercings like the "barbell", "circular barbell", and the "captive bead". The Gauntlet is no longer in business today, it went under in 1998. I learned about Jim Ward and The Gauntlet during my apprenticeship for body piercing. I wanted to share my knowledge to the body modification community. Jim Ward was a pioneer in the body modification/body piercing industry and I look up to him and what he has achieved. If your interested in body modification please feel free to contact me! Also check out my website at www.yourpiercednation.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yourpiercednation