What's with the skulls, etc?
#31
01-19-2010, 08:07 PM
I've collected skull tattoos for many years....I think my fascination is related to the ancient (and very human) concept of 'Memento mori'....which means 'Remember, you must die'. I think it fits in well with motorcycling...it's inherently a dangerous, but extremely rewarding activity. The risk heightens the pleasure. Basically, it reminds me to enjoy the pleasures of life when I can...because nobody gets out alive.
#33
01-20-2010, 12:15 AM
Hey, Krusty
Krusty Quote.. "...it reminds me to enjoy the pleasures of life when I can...because nobody gets out alive."
How do you know for sure nobody gets out alive? You keepin' track of everyone?
How do you know for sure nobody gets out alive? You keepin' track of everyone?
Last edited by hommes; 01-20-2010 at 12:18 AM.
#34
01-21-2010, 11:59 AM
Don't like em! Don't want em! I think we should get smiley faces on our rides and HD should follow Walmarts lead and Roll back the prices
#36
01-21-2010, 12:15 PM
if HD made 10 billion in profits next year and saved another 2 billion dollers by thinning things out, they might roll the prices back on there cvo ultra by $.001 per bike
#37
01-21-2010, 07:24 PM
#38
01-22-2010, 06:17 AM
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#39
01-22-2010, 06:19 AM
Ultimate HDF Member
Everybody will surely have their very own extra special reason for going skull-crazy.
But there is actually a history.
Remember that biker culture originated among the returning vets after WW2. A lot of those guys couldn't quite return to civilian life as they knew it before the War and probably suffered from what we now know to be PTSD. So, what did they do? They stuck together. And while MCs were around before the War, they evolved into the kind of organizations that the nation finally noticed famously at Hollister.
What does that have to do with skulls? Well, these vet-riders, in order to show how much of a bad *** they were, would decorate their bikes and jackets with stuff they took off of dead/captured enemy soldiers during the war. So, that meant a lot of swastikas, eagles w/ swastikas, German helmets, etc. It was a real prize to get an Iron Cross from a vanquished/captured German. (We now see them in catalogs as "Maltese Crosses" because who wants to buy an Iron Cross? The real Maltese Cross is something else.) Even rarer were the skull insignia that came from the uniforms of German soldiers serving in elite SS divisions.
Whenever you saw a biker from a different MC, you knew exactly what his "experience" was.
(That tradition did not carry on for vets of the Korean War because no one wanted to display Communist symbols in those days. And the Viet Nam vets simply displayed their own insignia.)
So, like I said, everyone has their own very special sooper-dooper unique reason for putting skulls wherever they can. But, if they didn't sell these things..... And they sell them because it's a tradition in biker history.
Shame that people don't know where the tradition came from. Especially since people claim to like the Harley tradition and that Harley riders also tend to like to honor vets.
But there is actually a history.
Remember that biker culture originated among the returning vets after WW2. A lot of those guys couldn't quite return to civilian life as they knew it before the War and probably suffered from what we now know to be PTSD. So, what did they do? They stuck together. And while MCs were around before the War, they evolved into the kind of organizations that the nation finally noticed famously at Hollister.
What does that have to do with skulls? Well, these vet-riders, in order to show how much of a bad *** they were, would decorate their bikes and jackets with stuff they took off of dead/captured enemy soldiers during the war. So, that meant a lot of swastikas, eagles w/ swastikas, German helmets, etc. It was a real prize to get an Iron Cross from a vanquished/captured German. (We now see them in catalogs as "Maltese Crosses" because who wants to buy an Iron Cross? The real Maltese Cross is something else.) Even rarer were the skull insignia that came from the uniforms of German soldiers serving in elite SS divisions.
Whenever you saw a biker from a different MC, you knew exactly what his "experience" was.
(That tradition did not carry on for vets of the Korean War because no one wanted to display Communist symbols in those days. And the Viet Nam vets simply displayed their own insignia.)
So, like I said, everyone has their own very special sooper-dooper unique reason for putting skulls wherever they can. But, if they didn't sell these things..... And they sell them because it's a tradition in biker history.
Shame that people don't know where the tradition came from. Especially since people claim to like the Harley tradition and that Harley riders also tend to like to honor vets.
The "most" prized 'symbol' - the Totenkopf (Death Head)
Does this look 'familiar' ?????? I believe MOST on here, know who this belongs to.
IT should. Our 'fly boys' in the Army Air Corp(now Air Force), WWII wore it:
This is from the 552nd Bomber Squadron
The 303rd, were the "Hell''s Angels"
LONG before Germany, Totenkopfs, etc, 'skulls' were actually a religious symbol. Back then, WAY BACK THEN, the grave markers were embellished with skulls (religious). Me thinx, that is where the 'death' connotation comes in, in history.
Personally, ne'er been a skull kinda guy.