Old treasures and new ink
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Bob Stuart / News Virginian
Published: September 2, 2007
"I used a hay wagon to bring it home,'' Fritz remembers of how he carried the sign.
Little did he know he had discovered a hobby that would last a lifetime.
Today, the owner of Southern Rose Tattoo Co. in Waynesboro's Basic City neighborhood is a collector of just about everything eclectic and no longer in existence.
And his business, located in the old Basic City Bank, is jammed full of his collectibles from wall to wall. The business is a museum of dated pop culture.
If you like taxidermy, see the stuffed black bear riding a bike, or the stuffed bobcat. A wild boar head and moose head each hang on the wall.
There's a small black coffin in one corner of the room. Fritz stores paperwork inside the coffin.
Fritz bartered with the coffin's former owner. "I gave him a tattoo for the coffin,'' he said.
Models of Ford Mustangs, Camaros and other cars line one display case.
Hood ornaments from cars are in another case and the logos from a variety of cars are also hanging on the wall. The logos include the old Ford Falcon.
An old gas pump sits near one of the display cases.
But take a look at the beer tap handles. Fritz has collected those from his trips to various bars.
His collection ranges from modern favorites such as Killians to old standbys like Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz and Michelob.
Pieces of Fritz's life are also in the business. He worked at the University of Virginia morgue for three years in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
One day, he saw a white marble slab used as an autopsy table being carried out of UVa.
"I asked if I could have it,'' he said.
Today the former autopsy table sits on top of an old-fashioned Coca Cola machine at Southern Rose Tattoo.
A legendary shoeshine man in Charlottesville was known as Tippy Rose. Fritz has his shoeshine stand in his business.
"I love Americana,'' said Fritz, who visits auctions and flea markets each year to purchase his collectibles.
"There's a nice one in Stuarts Draft every year,'' he said of auctions.
The building in which Fritz's tattoo and body piercing sits is interesting as well.
Majestic high ceilings frame the interior of the Old Basic City Bank.
The old bank vault is now a storage place for Fritz's collectibles, but there are still vestiges of the vault's financial past.
On the left hand front side still sit the dates and signed documents showing the vault was inspected. Those dates are in the 1930s and 1940s.
What do visitors think-
While many come to get body piercings and tattoos, available at Southern Rose Tattoo since 1989, "some people just come to look,'' Fritz said.
The question is an obvious one. What does Fritz yearn to add to his collection-
"I don't know what I want,'' he said, adding that he will know when he sees it.
Infrequent visitors to Southern Rose Tattoo might notice some subtle changes over time.
"I try to change things up every now and then,'' Fritz said.
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