No, not the little guy on Fantasy Island. Anyone who is too young to remember that show must ask their parents what I mean by that. This one is still used today in the Navy. It is the last call before night prayer onboard ship while underway.

There are two meanings to this word, far different in their origins and application. Of course one for the body decoration. The other one comes from Old Dutch tavern keepers, who would say, tap toe when the town drummer or bugler would sound the call for everyone to return to their quarters for the night. It meant, the tap, or “bar”, is to, “to be closed”. This is from the early days of gunpowder and walled cities, especially in the country of Flanders, when the night watch would be called by the bugle to go out to take up their duties. To the English soldiers stationed in Flanders or Holland at the time, it sounded like, tattoo, and became utilized to describe the next to the next to the last bugle call for the night. The final bugle call was taps, which meant that all businesses and taverns were now shut down for the night, and everyone except the night watch should be at home or in their barracks.

So when the call “Tattoo, Tattoo, lights out in 5 minutes” was heard it was time to get squared away to hit your rack for the night. About 4 minutes later evening prayer was said then the last call of the night, “lights out.” This final call was at 10:00pm.