If it had her initials on it then of course it had to be a special order or she might have known someone at Glass Research. I believe Hixons surf shop at the beach sold them and also the department stores here in town such as May Cohen's and Sears and others. Allen was our top of the line custom board. All large boards back then. I know the smallest pop-out was a 9'2" or a 9'6" and the customs were about the same size. HUGE huh!!!
Thought some of you East Coast guys would like to clic on the link below to read the article and watch the video at the end on Bill Hixon from Hixon’s surf shop at Neptune Beach. All that was “back in the day” of Glass Research and all that history.
Subject: Friends of First Coast surfer legend stir up waves of memories | jacksonville.com
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Thanks Foamer - I grew up in Stuart, FL. (on the coast) about 250 miles south of Jacksonville. I really didn’t know anybody in the Jacksonville area other than a couple of people I met in Puerto Rico (some guy named Gordo) and David Hart (who I knew from Maryland).
I was at the Surf Expo in Orlando recently and watched the Hall of Fame induction for Larry Miniard and Dick Catri’s ex wife Shagg. I never realized what a great surfer Miniard was. The MC for the Hall of Famers went into great detail about Miniards surfing accomplishments, not only in the US, but in Australia. What was interesting is that when Miniard got up to give his acceptance speech he said he was originally from Kentucky (not many world class surfers from Kentucky) and what a wonderful experience surfing was for him and the great opportunity to travel the US and to Australia.
Then Dick Catri got up to accept the induction for his ex-wife Shagg (who was traveling overseas at the time) and told a funny story about how he and Shagg used to leave a box of wax by the front door of Shagg’s Surf Shop for all the kids to steal, they did this so at least they got the kids to come into their surf shop. My guess is that Shagg & Dick Catri have probably been the 2nd set of parents to a couple of generations of East Coast surfers. Catri was also (jokingly) somewhat concerned about how his ex-wife Shagg and his new wife got along so well.
I know this is an old thread.
Russell Lamb was my uncle on my mom’s side. He started making surfboards in the huge basement of his parents house in Neptune City in the '60s (as mentioned, a side job to his lineman work for JCP&L). He built the wooden mold himself. His endeavors drove his father crazy, with all the fumes the chemicals generated. Sanded them outside in the yard. He had a small shop briefly in Neptune City next to the wooden bridge going over the train tracks into Avon. He then moved to the store in Belmar. He lived in Shark River Hills with his wife Cherrie and the cats, 2 Siamese, 1 Ocelot, and 1 Margay. Uncle Russell passed away in 1989 of prostrate cancer. He was a wild 'n crazy guy and I loved him.
Randy Rossman
I know this is an old thread.
Russell Lamb was my uncle on my mom’s side. He started making
surfboards in the huge basement of his parents house in Neptune City in
the '60s (as mentioned, a side job to his lineman work for JCP&L).
He built the wooden mold himself. His endeavors drove his father crazy,
with all the fumes the chemicals generated. Sanded them outside in the
yard. He had a small shop briefly in Neptune City next to the wooden
bridge going over the train tracks into Avon. He then moved to the
store in Belmar. He lived in Shark River Hills with his wife Cherrie
and the cats, 2 Siamese, 1 Ocelot, and 1 Margay. Uncle Russell passed
away in 1989 of prostrate cancer. He was a wild 'n crazy guy and I
loved him.
Randy Rossman
A coworker is interested in selling his old Challenger longboard and I was thinking of purchasing for my son. I can't tell much about as I'm not an expert in this area. He says the board is 9'4'' long and is about 22" wide. He sent me a couple of pictures. Can anyone tell anything about this board? Any suggestions on what I should be paying?
Here is my Challenger Eastern I received from the original owners sister. Custom ordered and delivered to Hull Ma 1967.
Not a Challenger but its still pretty cool. I picked it up over the weekend at a garage sale.
Is there anyway to tell if Jim Phillips or Gene Gottrell shaped it? Looking forward to getting it fixed up and back in the water soon. Sammy A said its not worth much but Im pretty excited to have a piece of NJ surfing history for 75 bucks.
Any info you guys have on the board I would appreciate it.
With all the talk about Challenger and Tinker of late. This thread and especially Jim Phillips comments and history need a “bump up”.
Reading back thru this thread. A great read. Beautiful board, especially the tailblock.