Surfboard Color History

The first multi colored abstracts I had seen were in 1956 or 1957.         All were on balsa surfboards.         I had an abstract bottom on my 1958, balsa, Burland surfboard.         Applied by Ronald Patterson.        In my case, it was done to hide the repairs on the bottom of the board, as a result of a trip into the rocks at WindanSea.       I think the majority of abstracts were done to hide cosmetic issues.     By 1960, you had a hard time finding a surfboard with an abstract pigment job.       Lots of ‘‘Easter Egg’’ solid colors were coming out of Hobie, but no abstracts, as I recall.