Skateboarding had its beginnings in the fifties. The sport gained momentum until it exploded when companies began mass producing boards in the seventies. Allure faded in the sixties, but a resurgence of interest occurred with the invention of urethane skateboard wheels in 1972. This invention allowed for faster boards and a plethora of new tricks to perfect.
The most famous skateboarders of the seventies
were the members of the Zephyr skate team. In 1972 Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom and Craig Stecyk started the surf shop Jeff Ho and Zephyr Surfboard Productions. The group worked on innovative graphics and board designs at their home base in Dogtown, what would become a skateboarding mecca, in West Los Angeles, California. Before the Zephyr team, skateboarding had lost popularity due to the lack of durable wheels. Coincidentally, urethane wheels hit the scene the same year the surf shop opened.The Zephyr team picked up skateboarding as a means of entertainment after they had finished surfing. Skateboarding soon turned into a new way of life for the boys. They took m
any aspects of surfing and added wheels. These skateboarders rode the concrete much like they rode the waves. Many tricks street skaters today use originated from the Zephyr team. Another aspect of today's skateboarding emerged when California experienced a severe drought. Many homeowners emptied their pools, and the Zephyr boys took advantage of the new terrain.1975 was a lan
dmark year for skateboarding. The first major skateboarding competition since the sport lost popularity in the sixties, the Del Mar Nationals, was held. The Zephyr team blew the crowd away on both the freestyle and hill courses. It was at this event that the Zephyr's made the Vans shoe popular. New fame due to their success shortly tore the Zephyr team apart, and Jeff Ho and Zephyr Surfboard Productions closed soon after. The group had helped to create monumental tricks like the ollie, the invert, and the aerial and to solidify skateboarding as a part of American culture.
Skateboarding's biggest setback occurred in the eighties when insurance companies, worried about added injury, would not cover many of the skate parks which scattered the nation in the seventies. Nonetheless, this sport is still huge today. Many 21st century skateboarders use tricks invented in the seventies, and undoubtedly show respect for the sport's forefathers.
Today, skateboarding has become a cultural phenomenon. The sport made a name for itself in 1995 when ESPN held the first X Games. There are over 20 recognized skateboarding teams in America. Now the sport is a high paying career with countless fans. Discrepancies have arisen over the industry however. Some skateboarders argue the teams and competitions have made skateboarding too mainstream. They complain that the Dogtown skaters strove to be individual and scorned conformity. It is obvious that skateboarding is now a public display, but the debate is over whether this is simply an evolution of the sport or a lapse in skateboarding's integrity. Regardless of this issue, every person who steps foot on a board can thank skateboarders like the Dogtown boys who revitalized the sport in the seventies.
Check out this video of the Dogtown boys shredding to Boston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_LTHHEqjs8
Sources:
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/toys.html
http://www.skatelog.com/skateboarding/skateboarding-history.htm
http://skateboard.about.com/od/boardscience/a/DogtownHistory_3.htm
http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history_3.htm
http://www.skatewarehouse.com/probrands.html
Images:
http://www.visualnews.com/2010/12/07/vintage-skateboard-advertisments/
http://www.visualnews.com/2010/12/07/vintage-skateboard-advertisments/
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2001_Dogtown_and_Z-Boys_photo.html
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCNeazviOeJPJrfPJB3oIAWrWcaGzT4ZA7dUL-gTpkhs6y_SrTg0jveifzB9umaUaf2KhjwdLrFgpk7V2j_oXqz1hIYezWi-unYze_PtyBkZ7kTqLd2b8TiLLkDFoz1ltMkeDwAW5sTw/s1600-h/www.futuravanguardie.blogspot.com-Dogtown_and_ZBoy.jpg
http://www.mrbikeonline.com/UserFiles/Image/skateboarding.jpg
http://www.juicemagazine.com/images/9-1-2007news/xgames-djfarley/-2007XGames1562.jpg
Great job, Larissa! Your post really did an awesome job of showing the history of the evolution of skateboarding. It was interesting to learn that the first major skateboard competition happened in 1975. I thought that it happened sometime earlier than that. It was really interesting to see the evolution of skateboarding over time, too. Great job!
ReplyDeleteLarissa, great work! Your dissertation on the history of the skateboard is a fascinating account of its rise in American pop culture. For one, you relate its apogee of success in 1975 to its continued dominance in culture in the 1990's as part of ESPN's X Games. This connection of two disparate developments is a critical skill of historians. Your recounting of the growth of the skateboard is very detailed, insightful, and informative. Great work!
ReplyDeleteLarissa, this is sick. I love how you did the topic on an extreme sport like skateboarding. I love skateboarding and it's own art and skill it takes. Skateboarding is definately on the rise in our pop culture. Very informative and gives a good detail into the first start up back in the 1970's till now and so forth. Very cool and hip, exciting, great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job, Larissa! This article about the beginnings of skateboarding is fascinating. Whenever I think of skateboarding, I think of the nineties not the seventies so it was cool to learn that skateboarding was also extremely popular in the seventies. Your blog post was full of a lot of information and it was very insightful. Well done.
ReplyDeleteLarissa this post is great! Skateboarding has never seemed so awesome. I never was really into it but to see the great history behind it gives me more appreciation of it. The post was informative and so much fun to read. I never knew how popular it was in the 70's and figured it was more of a 90's thing. Now a days skateboarding has become such a big business for sponsers and such. Once again, awesome job!
ReplyDeleteNeat job, Larissa. This example of California fringe youth starting a business (or industry) is echoed in the movie we are watching about the rise of the personal computer industry.
ReplyDelete