Chicago newcomer found solace in a strange place — the rat hole. Now he tattoos it on his clients.

It’s safe to say the infamous rat hole has cemented its place in the hearts and lives of many Chicagoans.

In recent months, the rat-shaped cement indentation in Roscoe Village has been the subject of grandiose fanfare, from flowers and memorials placed at the site to actual weddings and proposals with the rat hole as a backdrop. The unorthodox tourist attraction garnered national attention, with its own Wikipedia page and features in The New York Times and Business Insider.

The rat hole, a charming yet head-scratching display of internet humor and Chicago culture, now sits prominently on some Chicagoans’ bodies in the form of a tattoo, thanks to artist Nick Hatheway.

Hatheway is new to the city, moving to Ravenswood from a small town in Connecticut called Southington just three months ago. The dedication to humor and whimsy that the rat hole represented, he said, was a symbol of everything he was looking for when leaving his hometown.

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“I’ve seen memes and stuff in relation to Chicago before, and I appreciate how whimsical it can be,” Hatheway says. “I think it makes you appreciate how fun life can be. It gives people something to collectively laugh about all together. I appreciate that cause I didn’t get to have that for a while.”

Hatheway, 22, added the rat hole to his selection of flash tattoos, which are designs prepared by tattoo artists in advance to avoid the hassle of a custom design. It was kind of a joke at first, but the demand was astounding, he said. Since adding the tattoo to his flash less than a month ago, he’s already completed more than 10 tattoos with another five scheduled at Noble Coyote Tattoo in Ravenswood.

His first canvas for the design, though, was himself.

“I have been wanting a Chicago tattoo to commemorate the fact that I lived here, and I wanted it to be silly and ridiculous,” Hatheway says. “If I could see something on my body that could make me laugh a little and have a little positivity in the world we live in today then why not?”

Provided

Yes, the rat hole is the source of a good chuckle, but Hatheway also sees something deeper. Nothing like the phenomenon would have ever happened in his East Coast hometown, he says, which he describes as somewhat stuffy and close-minded. The rat hole provided a communal joke in a way he needed, showing that people were okay with being a little off-color.

His Connecticut hometown didn’t make him feel safe to express himself as a queer person, Hatheway said, and that jump-started the conversations about moving somewhere he felt more comfortable. Chicago has proven to be exactly that.

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“I feel like I’m living in a reality TV show or something,” he says. “This is a completely different world that I’m not used to, and I love it so much.”

Where others might see a trivial Internet joke gotten out of hand, Hatheway sees the rat hole as a symbol of connection and a way to bond over something small but hilarious.

“Silly little things like that just don’t happen in my hometown,” he says. “It creates community in its own funny little way.”

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A Sun-Times series on the stories behind body art.