Branding "An Honor but Huge Responsibility"
What is branding and how is it done?
Branding is the process where you take something white hot (usually some
piece of metal in some particular shape) and press it into your flesh so
that it makes a serious burn and (later) a permanent scar. Branding is
dangerous (all burns are prone to infection), but so is driving a car.
Most of the branding I've read about fall into one of two categories:
--Rite of passage
--Punishment.
Most of the rites of passage involved branding someone with a design on
entry into puberty. A lot of tribal people have puberty initiation that
involve something like scarification/tattooing.
Most of the branding in Western cultures was done as a means of marking
criminals. The French would brand a fleur de lis into the shoulder of
the offender, and the mark was supposed to make the wearer into one of
essentially an "untouchable" class. However, they also did this to
Protestants, after a while, and with so many French Huguenots wearing
fleur de lis brands, it lost a lot of its former meaning.
The English branded people with marks, in different locations, depending
on what they were accused of. Cutpurses and pickpockets were accorded
the punishment of an "S" brand on the cheek, indicating "slave" and sent
into a lifetime of indentured servitude. This punishment came into the
laws in the reign of Henry VIII, and was abolished in the 18th Century,
when they started getting heavily into transporting folks to the
colonies.
Based on my experience with burning my fingerprints off on an antique
stove, and the fact that the pain lasted for weeks, you might not want
to get into that. (Well, if you're into constant pain and self-generated
endorphins, I don't know.) In full-scale branding, the iron is heated
hot enough, and applied long enough, that the resulting wound is a
third-degree burn, which destroys the nerve endings and doesn't hurt as
much as more minor burns. However, areas that have been third-degree
burned *never* regain sensitivity. It will make a silver scarred area,
in the shape of the third-degree burn, due to destruction of the entire
dermis layer of the skin (through to the underlying tissue). The
surrounding skin, with years, will eventually fill in areas that
haven't been too badly damaged.
Warning: Second and third degree burns are notorious for getting majoraly
infected. Third degree is slightly better, due to cauterization. Where
it gets you is if the scab cracks. [Just remember that your skin is your
first line of defense against infection.]
The following is a synopsis of modern branding from the article, "Strike
up the Brand, a Scar is Born, New Fad leaves its Mark on the Valley"
from the Phoenix New Times:
The article is on Steve Haworth, of HTC Body Piercing in Phoenix, who
was interviewed at a branding demonstration at "El Rancho de los
Muertos". Haworth said human branding is very different from cattle
branding (which would just leave a big blob-scar with no definition)
because the human body has more curves and fewer flat planes. To fit the
topography, he uses small irons of stainless steel 1/16 to 1/32 inch
thick. Brands tend to spread 2-3 times the width of the iron. The length
of steel is rarely more than an inch long. Heated with a propane torch
until red hot, it's tested on a piece of cardboard (1,800F is the
preferred temp.) and held on the skin no longer than a second or
two--and apparently produces quite a stench.
Haworth said the keys to successful branding are:
--The brander's skill at judging correct temperature
--How long the steel is held to the skin,
--Proper pressure
--Placement
--People's skin types (which differ greatly).
While a local doctor didn't recommend getting brands, he did say, "On a
more optimistic note, they can be removed by laser," although even the
laser leaves a scar (why not do the brand with a laser in the first
place? Star Wars branding!)
Some history: Among Fakir's more painful discoveries were that wood
burners, soldering irons, red-hot coat hangers and paper clips were far
more apt to produce unsightly blisters and/or uneven scars than the
small stainless steel strips used today.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH SELF-BRANDING
The following incident occurred at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital in April '95, and was reported to us by Dr. Mark
Miller
intermediate care area.
"Although I am not qualified to instruct on the proper method to brand
oneself, I can relate the following disaster in the hope that it will
encourage people to seek out someone qualified to perform such a
procedure if desired.
"Two brothers, aged 16 and 17 years, were drinking beer with friends
when they decided to be branded. They used a chrome-plated paperclip
with one end forced into a piece of wood (for a handle).They heated the
paperclip with a butane lighter and pressed it against their upper arms
when it was glowing orange.
"They both were brought into the ER by their parents because their arms
were very red and inflamed. At first glance, it appeared as an early
infected burn. However, it was determined that both boys were allergic
to the bits of chrome plating that were left in their skin. The
paperclips were plated or coated with a flaky metallic shiny coating
(which may or may not be chromium.) After a course of antibiotics, they
both needed the bits of metal removed from their skin --a difficult and
uncomfortable procedure, when the allergy or chemical irritation was
diagnosed."
Source
