Frank & Annie Howard

Rhode Island natives Frank Howard and his wife Annie, America’s premier early tattooed showfolks, performed regularly at Austin & Stone’s Dime Museum. Two tours with Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, in 1888 and 1897, established the Howards as world-class entertainers. Frank, a consummate self-promoter and a savvy businessman, later spun that fame into highly profitable ventures as a tattoo artist, tattoo shop proprietor, and dealer in mail-order tattoo supplies.