In the spring of 1959, the film ‘‘Gidget’’ came out. John Severson’s ‘‘The Surfer’’ came out in May 1960, or thereabouts. Things began to change, rapidly, soon thereafter. What do you remember of those times? Were you even aware of surfing, prior to the appearance of surf magazines? Do you remember doing ‘‘Coast Trips?’’ How did it all start for you ?
Growing up in Brooklyn during that time period the access to surfing was nonexistent. My first recollection was in an episode of Route 66 where one of the characters was involved in learning to surf. I being a 9 or 10 year old kid was quite impressed. During that time period my grandmother had a “summer” house at the Jersey shore and the following summer I use to watch an older guy surf the local beach. It’s never been the same!
I wasn’t even born. My first recollection of surfing was watching Michael Ho win a contest on Wide World Of Sports in 1978. Was hooked from there. Started surfing in 1982.
Hey all,
I’ll bite on this…
For me it was one William James “Bill” Burrud.
I’m guessing 58, saw one adventure with guys riding balsa boards…
Hooked!
Mom’s ironing board suddenly became a focus in the mind of a seven year old!
Got some old surfers from the beginning.
Stoke,
Strange vodoo…
three movies I saw in the movie theatre
on the fantail of the USS Sultan
en route to pearl harbor,I was 13,
november 1961 was knute rockney,
gidgit,and gidgit goes hawaiian.
the beatles were raging,pegged pants and
the peppermint twist…poppa poppa zubba…
I was a san francisco chlorine municipal pool
kid yearning for growth and identity…
waikiki loomed in my future life’s tapestry.
tiger burpee’s father found a surfboard at sea
and brought it to shore on his assigned navy submarine
his daughter kathy showed it around
everybody said who/what is dewey weber?
velzy’s were at the bottom of the escalator
at sears ala moana. …ambrose…
Before surf magazines…dinosaurs roamed the earth. Lol, I’m real old and remember it.
In 1962 my mom got a job with a supermarket chain. It paid well as it was a union job. She did it with the intent of using the money to rent a beach house in the Summer. There happened to be two lifeguards at the town beach near our rental who had gone to college in California and brought a couple of boards back with them. I saw them surifng after work and nagged them to try it. They finally relented at some point.
The following Summer I was able to use one of the lifeguard’s boards most days while he was on duty. That was when I learned to surf, in 1963. Surf mags were very rare and I could only find them at one local drugstore. We had no surf shops back then.
The Beatles didn’t exist in 1961.
Their first US release was on December 26, 1963, with the single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on Capitol Records.
Hi Bill. In 1959 I was still on Mom’s boob. I don’t remember, but I must have liked it because I still like boobs… Mike
i stand corrected
scratch the beatles
add chubby checker
maybe he invented
pegged pants
were the beatles raging
before the cut their fingers
wanting to hold hands?
… was the msts uss sultan
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/092212006.jpg
a liberty ship? it left from fort mason
…ambrose…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzfWLlvlAE
who are the beatles anyway? When you got
Johnny Cash, mebe he invented
mother Maybelle Carter
the day before he wore
junis pants to a gig.
they were tight.
now I got my beatles dates straight
I’ll be o.k. tanks sammy A.
I remember some stuff
like cliff kamaka
and Fleishaker pool
I think the glossy mags were the start of mainstream surf marketing . My first one was an early SurfingWorld (Aust)…just left school and had a job and spending money…still remember a lot of the photos and adds…yeah , it did start to change things from that point , for better or worse .
I lived in Germany from 1961 to 1964. The Beatles were big in Germany before 1963.
My surfing influences go back to Duke Kahanamoku. Duke and my grandfather were classmates at Kamehameha School, until Duke dropped out. My grandfather’s youngest brother was a life long surfer at Waikiki, and was friends with all the original beachboys. He was a solid wood board era surfer.
My grandfather didn’t surf, but he fished and built his own boats. My grandfather worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, and did most of the water depth maps. He was also very involved in building the harbors here, and the post war infrastructure for the huge guns they pulled off the sunken battleships.
My dad didn’t surf, but he loved to bodysurf and fish. We would catch waves in a 14’ aluminum row boat when we came in from fishing. My dad’s uncle and close friends had leases to 3 acres of beachfront land about a mile from our house, and when we came back to Hawaii in 1965, we spent most of our free time there. Even back then there were always a lot of surfers, all riding classic longboards.
I didn’t know anything about surf magazines until about 4th grade when my brother started buying them. Jeff Hackman and Jock Sutherland were the top dogs in Hawaii. If anything the magazines portrayed a certain lifestyle that many have tried to find, but only a lucky few really have. The guys that got into clothing like Hang Ten and Ocean Pacific really laid the foundation for what has taken over. The clothing companies are where the money is, and they need to stay in business. Ad sales… it’s all about sales.
Ever since Alexander Hume Ford figured out that he could use surfing and canoe riding/paddling to make money, it hasn’t been the same. The simple act of skimming across the ocean was turned into a business. It was a way of getting people to come here and enjoy Hawaii. My dad’s uncle did quite well as a part time beach boy, never married, and enjoyed the women. Dad told me about his uncle’s life style before I decided to get serious with my wife.
The hustle side of surfing goes all the way back to that time. George Freeth was brought to California in 1907 to attract people to Redondo Beach.
Life was life, my cousins all many years older than me were great surfers then…my uncle now 93… Was a Dana point guy back in the 40-50’s made a surf truck to spend the summers at killer Dana…he made his own wetsuits, ordered an aqualung and taught himself to scuba, and killed Abalones and lobsters, until they start to write folk songs about him. 1 cousin ran a few surf shops in San Diego for 20plus years, my sister married a big wig in the surf industry and I partied with Dora, Dane K and Martin P in 83… My aunt hung out with a surf nazi named “Zero” down at mission beach.
Surfing was surfing… Didn’t really look at the mags until mid 80’s, 80’s surf checks were done by looking out the window at bird rock, and PB point.
Oh in 62 I was still a tadpole twinkle in me pappys eye, surfing was diversion, a derilic sport for the mentally deranged… Until my sister married an industry big wig and my parents saw the 7 figure pay off… Then surfing was a sport of kings!
Grew up in Santa Monica in the 60’s. Saw two guys surfing one day. Life was never the same.
I like boobs too.
Is anybody else seeing the green down arrow that links to Keepvid?