History and Culture
Although at first glance the manufacture of threaded jewelry might appear to be of contemporary origin, there are examples of externally threaded, straight barbells being used by tribal people, most notably the Dayak of Borneo. In contemporary society, barbell style jewelry was popularized by Jim Ward, founder of Gauntlet (the first body piercing studio in the United States), in the 1970s. He was introduced to barbell style jewelry by Horst Heinrich Streckenbach "Tattoo Samy" (1926–2001), a tattooist and piercer from Frankfurt, Germany, and his student Manfred "Piker" Kohrs from Hanover, Germany.
"The first barbells I recall came from Germany. Doug had made contact with Tattoo Samy, a tattooist and piercer from Frankfurt. Over the years Samy came to the States a number of times and frequently showed up in LA to visit Doug. On one of his first visits he showed us the barbell studs that he used in some piercings. They were internally threaded, a feature that made so much sense that I immediately set out to recreate them for my own customers." Jim Ward and his magazine PFIQ have been crucial in the development of modern body piercing.
Read more about this topic: Barbell (piercing)
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