I am not trying to say that I invented skateboards. Even though in 1957 I stole one of my sister's steel wheeled roller skates. You know, the ones that had a 'skate key' to adjust them on to your shoes.
I cut a 2x4 scrap that I sort of found at a near by construction site into a 1 foot length. I then took apart the skate and used some 16 penny nails that I had also picked up at the construction site to nail the front of the skate to the front of the board. And then I nailed the back of the skate to the tail end of the board.
It looked like something a kid put together, the nails were partially nailed into the board and then bent over the skate parts and stuck out.
The thing worked somewhat. I scooted along until it hit a rock and stopped dead in it's tracks. One time, in Ocean Beach California, some Mormon boys and I had our homemade skate boards and we were all flying down a sidewalk on a hill. The wheels were making a clack clack sound as they went over each segment of side walk crack. The faster we went the more wobbly the boards got, there were no 'trucks' on these first prototypes so they wobbled something fierce.
Suddenly I hit a small rock, the board stooped dead in it's tracks and flipped me forward straight down on my forehead. Smack down!!! I was knocked completely unconscious. I came to on a nearby lawn with my Mormon friends looking down on me. Being a typical kid I got back up and completed the ill fated run on that gnarly run.
Around 1963 I saw my first pro~skate board. It was called the Red Rider and cost about $10.00. I stole a ten spot from mom's purse and got one after seeing a friend 'walking' one of these boards around the school side walks. It was the first trick that I had seen anyone do.
I cut a 2x4 scrap that I sort of found at a near by construction site into a 1 foot length. I then took apart the skate and used some 16 penny nails that I had also picked up at the construction site to nail the front of the skate to the front of the board. And then I nailed the back of the skate to the tail end of the board.
It looked like something a kid put together, the nails were partially nailed into the board and then bent over the skate parts and stuck out.
The thing worked somewhat. I scooted along until it hit a rock and stopped dead in it's tracks. One time, in Ocean Beach California, some Mormon boys and I had our homemade skate boards and we were all flying down a sidewalk on a hill. The wheels were making a clack clack sound as they went over each segment of side walk crack. The faster we went the more wobbly the boards got, there were no 'trucks' on these first prototypes so they wobbled something fierce.
Suddenly I hit a small rock, the board stooped dead in it's tracks and flipped me forward straight down on my forehead. Smack down!!! I was knocked completely unconscious. I came to on a nearby lawn with my Mormon friends looking down on me. Being a typical kid I got back up and completed the ill fated run on that gnarly run.
Around 1963 I saw my first pro~skate board. It was called the Red Rider and cost about $10.00. I stole a ten spot from mom's purse and got one after seeing a friend 'walking' one of these boards around the school side walks. It was the first trick that I had seen anyone do.
Up to that point we only went straight down hills and used the boards to get from point a to point b. But this guy kept both feet on the board and was able to kind of walk his board forward until he picked up momentum and flew forward. As he slowed down he did the maneuver all over again, never once needing to touch the ground. That did it, I knew I had to have a store bought board. That red rider had the first attempt at trucks even though it was still plagued by steel wheels.
Then someone came up with wide composition wheels and a better truck. I was told that the wheels were made out of ground up walnut shells. This new wheel made a great sound as it slid sideways around corners. The trucks were not perfected yet, they still wobbled at downhill speeds. O, I did catch hell and restriction when I was found out on my $10.00 theft from mom.
Then one day my sister somehow ended up with the first Hobbie skate board! I swiped the thing often. Michael Mcdonald and I took to the hills of Laguna Beach, High Drive to be exact. That Hobbie had composition wheels, which minimized the rock stopping to some extent but it would wobble if I went straight down so I had to tack like a sail boat to slow my speed. Mike was fearless or just plain crazy. He flew down those hills!
That same Hobbie skate board that I used now lives at the Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach California if you want to see it LOL. Honest, it is there on display as one of the first skate boards.
And then came along a new breed of skateboarder, the dogtown Z~Boys. Around 1973 I recall a drought in southern CA. People stopped watering their lawns and emptied out their swimming pools. These guys discovered the first skate parks by using the empty pools to do stuff that we never dreamed of doing!
They began the fine art of aggressive skateboarding. The empty swimming pools brought the skill of skateboarding to a whole new level. These guys pushed the envelope way beyond our simple 'survive~the~hill' mentality. The best trick that we ever did was to nose ride the board while flying down hills and not crashing. We started putting on gloves to prevent the ripped up palms that we often got from all the crashes. Never occurred to us to wear head protection.
One guy in particular lead the push into uncharted territory. His name was Bob Biniak. I highly recommend getting "Dogtown Z-Boys" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275309/)
from Netflicks. That documentary tells the whole story in a very wonderful way. You won't be dissapointed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtown_and_Z-Boys
On Feb 25th Bob Biniak passed on from this life. He was awesome.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-bob-biniak4-2010mar04,0,3767884.story
Then someone came up with wide composition wheels and a better truck. I was told that the wheels were made out of ground up walnut shells. This new wheel made a great sound as it slid sideways around corners. The trucks were not perfected yet, they still wobbled at downhill speeds. O, I did catch hell and restriction when I was found out on my $10.00 theft from mom.
Then one day my sister somehow ended up with the first Hobbie skate board! I swiped the thing often. Michael Mcdonald and I took to the hills of Laguna Beach, High Drive to be exact. That Hobbie had composition wheels, which minimized the rock stopping to some extent but it would wobble if I went straight down so I had to tack like a sail boat to slow my speed. Mike was fearless or just plain crazy. He flew down those hills!
That same Hobbie skate board that I used now lives at the Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach California if you want to see it LOL. Honest, it is there on display as one of the first skate boards.
And then came along a new breed of skateboarder, the dogtown Z~Boys. Around 1973 I recall a drought in southern CA. People stopped watering their lawns and emptied out their swimming pools. These guys discovered the first skate parks by using the empty pools to do stuff that we never dreamed of doing!
They began the fine art of aggressive skateboarding. The empty swimming pools brought the skill of skateboarding to a whole new level. These guys pushed the envelope way beyond our simple 'survive~the~hill' mentality. The best trick that we ever did was to nose ride the board while flying down hills and not crashing. We started putting on gloves to prevent the ripped up palms that we often got from all the crashes. Never occurred to us to wear head protection.
One guy in particular lead the push into uncharted territory. His name was Bob Biniak. I highly recommend getting "Dogtown Z-Boys" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275309/)
from Netflicks. That documentary tells the whole story in a very wonderful way. You won't be dissapointed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtown_and_Z-Boys
On Feb 25th Bob Biniak passed on from this life. He was awesome.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-bob-biniak4-2010mar04,0,3767884.story
