Two hundred and nine people have signed up so far to get free Old Bay tattoos at Baltimore’s Tattoo Museum Tuesday, and the line is sizable. Washingtonian photographer Evy Mages is on the scene in Fells Point, where she says people began to line up at 4:45 AM.
As Sylvie McNamara reported for Washingtonian last week, Old Bay’s parent company, McCormick Spices, will pay for crab-spice tats as part of a cross-promotion with the Preakness Stakes. People who attend the tattoo event will have a chance to win tickets to the race, known for its rowdy “Freakness” infield celebration that has featured a “dirtbag centaur” and annual “Running of the Urinals” event.
One lucky winner will get two VIP tickets to Preakness Live, and two people will each win a pair of general admission tickets. Everyone will receive a bag of Herr’s Old Bay chips (while supplies last).
A shop employee tells Washingtonian that realistically, the seven artists on duty today can get to about 70 people, which is still a surprisingly high number of humans who’ve decided to have spice-mix artwork permanently affixed to themselves. Anyone who wants an Old Bay tattoo in the future can get one, a shop employee tells Mages, but they’ll have to pay for it.
It’s possible this post will be updated.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
