The History of Skateboarding

Skateboarding has an extensive and complicated history dating back all the way to the early 1900â€™s. Nobody knows for sure exactly when the skateboard was first developed or by who, although we do know that the first skateboards were extremely primitive compared to todayâ€™s standards. Todayâ€™s modern skateboard consists of several basic parts: the deck, the trucks, the wheels, the hardware, and the bearings. A deck is the plywood board that the rider stands on. The deck is concaved to allow for better flip when a skater performs a trick. The trucks are the metal structures that attach to the deck via the hardware, or screws. Every truck has a kingpin, which is the bolt that keeps the truck together, a hangar, which is where the axles are connected, a base, which is screwed into the deck to prevent the truck from falling off, and bushings which cushion the hangar and allow movement. Trucks can be tightened or loosened simply by tightening or loosening the nut in the center of the hangar. The wheels of a skateboard are made of urethane which allows for a durable yet smooth ride. Last but not least, the bearings are what fits into the wheel to let the wheel move on the axle. The skateboards of yesteryear, however, are no where near as complex.

Sometime around 1950 children began to dismantle their roller-skates and nail the wheels onto a two-by-four. The kids would often attach rudimentary handle-bars made from a milk crate as a means to control their contraption. The final product ended up looking more like a scooter with metal wheels than a skateboard. Perhaps twenty years later, in 1958, the very first skateboard, without handle-bars, was designed. A company called Roller Derby, which was a big name manufacturer of roller-skates, designed the first ever "Roller Derby Skateboard Kit" around 1960. The kit consisted of a pair of trucks, clay wheels and a wrench. The consumer supplied themselves with a two-by-four and attached the kit accordingly to create a skateboard. The clay wheels that came with this kit were also an impressive, yet dangerous, innovation. They were a step up from the metal wheels and rolled easily with reduced noise.

The most important developmental times in the skate industry were during the sixties and seventies. Several important faces sculpted what was to become a global media phenomenon. In 1962, a man by the name of Larry Stevenson developed the very first professional model skateboards ever. His company, Makaha created a skate team to promote their products. He was later referred to as the "Henry Ford of the skateboarding industry" (http://www.makahamovie.com/story.html) because of his countless achievements in paving the way for skateboarding. He organized the first competition sponsored by the early corporate leaders of the skate industry which was held in Hermosa, California in 1963 and invented the "kicktail", which is the sloped end of the board which allows the rider to perform tricks. When Stevenson was given a patent for the kicktail in 1969, many other companies tried to copy his idea. He asked them to pay royalties but was denied, which lead to a three year battle against the government. He was overall denied his requests for royalties because his invention was "an obvious idea".

Until the invention of the Ollie by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand in 1977, the foundation of all skateboarding tricks which involves the skater popping the tail of the board while sliding their foot to bring the board into the air, the selection of tricks was quite meager. These "old school" tricks mostly consisted of flatland which, obviously, were performed mostly without the aid of a ramp. Tricks such as the old school kickflip, which is when the skater flips the board into a sort of barrel roll without popping the tail of the board, and the pogo, which is when a skater uses the board as wooden pogo stick, helped lay a foundation for trick creation. Vertical skateboarding, or "vert", began to make an appearance sometime in 1964. Skaters would drain their, or a neighbor's, swimming pool and carve the smooth, curved concrete.

By this time, skating had become an international success. 1965 brought around the first international contests, as well as the first death of skateboarding. The original death of the sport was due to "inferior product, too much inventory and a public upset by reckless riding" says Michael Brooke, author of The Concrete Wave. For five long years skateboarding lay dormant, kept alive only by the tenacity of the true fanatics. It became an underground sport, practiced only by those who were rebellious enough and obsessed enough to keep it that way. Cities all over the nation banned skating all together and resorted to confiscating skateboards as well as keeping stores from selling them. One of the leading causes of death for skateboarding was the clay wheel. While clay wheels were easy and cheap to produce, they did not provide adequate traction for skaters at high speeds. The results were a few fatal accidents and countless injuries which in turn gave cities a reason to ban the sport. Skating also had not had a serious technological revelation since the clay wheel and the advances in decks.

In 1970 Frank Nasworthy decided to visit his friend in Purcellville, Virginia, who happened to own a factory that produced urethane roller skate wheels. Frank began development on his own brand of wheels which he titled "Cadillac Wheels". His wheels offered a much more stable and smoother ride compared to the clay wheel, thus skateboarding was revived in 1973. Independent, Tracker and Bennett began to develop trucks specifically made to fit on a skateboard. The seventies held not only the birth of the improved wheel and truck, but later in 1975 Road Rider invented the first precision ball bearing. With ball bearings and urethane wheels skaters could coast longer and faster than ever before. By 1976 the first outdoor skatepark was built in Florida, which spurred the later construction of parks all over the country. This park boosted the popularity of vert skating. The skateboard decks began to adapt to the terrain they were used for. Decks were made longer and wider for increased stability on vert ramps. Also until 1976, decks had no paint on the bottom of them, making them entirely blank. It was at this time that Wes Humpston began to paint pictures on the bottoms of his skateboards and sell them. These painted boards became such a huge hit that he developed the Dogtown label, which later became an inspiration to skateboard producers all over the nation. 1977 brought skateboarding to a new level when Alan Gelfand, a professional skater, invented the ollie. Alan was only thirteen when he discovered that when he popped his board during a lipslide, he could bring the board into the air. He perfected this maneuver and later it evolved into the ollie aerial, which is the ollie that is used today. Stacy Peralta, founder of the Powell Peralta team, was the first to have Alan Gelfand as a team member, solely based on his ability to ollie. Peralta even left the company called Gordon & Smith to make the Powell Peralta team specifically so Alan could join the team. Since vert skating boasted the possibility for skaters to catch big air, the skate parks were doomed because of liability problems. Many parks were destroyed and by 1980 skateboarding was gone once again, moved underground where only the most loyal skaters kept it alive. In his book The Concrete Wave, Brooke says, "But even as the skateparks disappeared, a hardcore contingent built their own backyard halfpipes and ramps and continued to develop the sport."

The early 80â€™s were a tough time for skateboarding, although the "hardcore contingent" kept the sport alive, it still needed something to give it a boost back into popularity. Thrasher Magazine attempted to give skating that boost by publishing a magazine aimed at the what was left at the hardcore skaters to let them know what was going on. Sadly skating needed more than one magazine to push it to itâ€™s feet, although it did aid it some. What really caused skating to take off again was the first "Bones Brigade" skate video made by the Powell Peralta company. Vert skating began to take off because of this video and new vert champions were named. Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain and Neil Blender all arrived on the scene around 1984. Manufacturers began to spring up left and right but three had the scene on lockdown. Powell Peralta, Vision/Sims and Santa Cruz dominated the market with their products. As Brooke explains in his book, many companies had professional riders leave their team behind and start an entrepreneurial market. Steve Rocco was the first to leave, creating a company called World Industries. "New School skateboarding was born. Itâ€™s focus was on ollies and technical tricks and it took on a whole new attitude" (The Concrete Wave, p.90).

New school skateboarding left the ways of freestyle and vert behind to start a more technical style. This style is unique in itself because it combines many aspects of skating into one large chunk. An example might include ollieing onto a ledge, manualing(wheelie) across the ledge and then pop shove-it off the ledge onto the ground below. "By 1991, a worldwide recession hit and the skate industry was deeply affected. As in the past, a number of manufacturers were faced with large financial losses" (The Concrete Wave, p.90). Once again driven underground, skating was forced to begin again.

The recession lead to skateboardingâ€™s third and possibly final death. As before, the underground fanatics kept the sport on life-support, but only barely. The numbers were fewer this time around and had to contend not only with BMX biking but also rollerblading. Finally 1995 came around and ESPN 2 hosted the first Extreme Games, or as they are more commonly known, the X-Games. The X-Games brought skateboarding the media exposure it needed to come back to the public. This incarnation of skateboarding could very well be the last, because of the amount of worldwide public exposure it gets thanks to the ever expanding industries of movies, trade, and the Internet.

The rich history of skateboarding has influenced many other genres of society, not counting sports. The music industry began to sign bands with rebellious backgrounds that performed music called punk. Punk music started to incorporate rebellious behavior with music to make a style suited perfectly for skaters. Some bands such as AFI, Alkaline Trio, Yellowcard, and various others are examples of the more alternative bands spawned from a rebellious background. The film industry was influenced early in the game with a movie called "Skater Dater". Recent skateboarding titles include the teen comedy "Grind" and a documentary on the legendary Dogtown label called "Dogtown-The Legend of the Z-Boys". Fashion was influenced heavily by the skate culture. Brands such as Transnine, DC, Etnies, and Vans are only a very small chunk of the incredible amounts of products available. These manufacturers make money not just from the skaters but also the non-skaters. The public eye of fashion has evolved to include more alternative form of dress. Skate shoes are not worn only by skaters but by regular, everyday people simply because they are extremely comfortable. Who is considered a skateboarder and who is not? A skateboarder is anyone who uses a skateboard whether it only be for riding down a sidewalk or launching from halfpipes. Who can become a skateboarder? Anyone. "Skateboarders come from all walks of life. Rich or poor, west coast, midwest or east coast, American, Brazilian, Austrailian-no matter who or where they are skateboarders are bound by common threads. Some of these threads include an energy and passion for something most of the mainstream ignores" (The Concrete Wave, p.14).

Skating has a vast trick history that has evolved beyond comprehension. New tricks pop up all the time and continue to be invented everyday. The original inventors of most of todayâ€™s popular tricks include Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, and Jason Lee. Tony Hawk invented tricks like the stalefish, the 720, and the first ever 900, which is when the skater launches out of a halfpipe to spin a full 900 degree rotation while in mid-air. Rodney Mullen created most if not all of the flatland flip tricks we do today. The kickflip, heelflip, primo, darkslide, inward heelflip and 180 to name a few. He was one of the earliest (and youngest) flatland competitors in skateboarding that dominated all competition. Jason Lee, while not inventing quite as many tricks as his predecessors, came upon the idea of spinning more than one kickflip in a single trick.

As skateboarding evolved and changed, so did the language that the skaters used. Early on, skaters had their own vocabulary that set them aside from other sports and made them unique. Words like sketchy, which means to pull off a trick yet about to fall over, or haggard, which just means a really bad ramp set up, become everyday lingo for skaters.

Skateboarding remains to be the safest sport available to todayâ€™s generation,

according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. (Table from www.skateboard.com)

Activity

Total Participant

Total Injured

Treated (%)

Hospitalized (%)

Ice Hockey

318,000

77,492

98.9

.244

Baseball

2,033,000

326,569

98.2

.161

Basketball

4,427,000

644,921

99

.142

Football

4,414,000

334,420

98

.076

Soccer

2,825,000

148,913

98.3

.053

Golf

971,000

39,473

95.6

.040

Snowboarding

1,037,000

37,638

96.7

.036

Volleyball

2,732,000

67,340

99.4

.025

Fishing

3,812,000

72,598

98.8

.019

Skateboarding

8,238,000

48,186

95.2

.006

Although this study was taken in 1997, you can see the number of participants in skateboarding is larger than any other sport on the table. The number of injuries are also one of the lowest numbers, which catagorizes skateboarding as the safest sport out there, if the studyâ€™s data is still accurate. Most serious injuries are due to the fact that the skater did not take the proper safety precautions such as wearing a helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads to protect themselves. Skateboard maintenance is also a very important part of being safe on the skateboard. Water, as noted on the website Area 51 (http://www.members.shaw.ca/area51/maintenance.html), is very destructive to a skateboard. "Water will find itâ€™s way into the plies of the skateboard and break down the glue that holds it together. This is de-lamination. Water will also cause corrosion (rust) when in contact with bearings and mounted hardware. This corrosion will slow down and eventually seize bearings." Water is perhaps the most important thing to look out for when skating because even a small amount such as a puddle can eventually erode your bearings. Broken bearings are also a common problem encountered while skating. In this case, the balls inside the bearing have come loose of the track and the protective rubber comes off. The balls cannot be replaced and the external ring of the bearing must be pried loose with a screwdriver. Bearing maintenance can be tricky due to the slightly delicate nature of the bearing. The Area 51 guide suggests, "Taking the wheels off and wiping the accumulated dirt off the wheels will help prevent dirt from getting inside the bearing. A light oil such as Bones Speed Cream can be applied to the bearings to keep them in tip-top shape. Never use WD-40." Dirt is a big problem in bearings because it scratches the highly polished surface that the balls use to move. These scratches slow down the bearing and will continue to slow it down until it completely freezes up. Using excessive lubrication or grease will only bring more dirt into the bearing.

In conclusion, skateboarding has overcome obstacles like no other sport in this time period. Whether it be poor quality products, safety concerns, or worldwide recession skateboarding will always pull through whatever downfall that is thrown at it. If a sport can survive fifty-five years of trial and hardship, survive three deaths and still come back bigger and better than ever than it is definitely a sport that can stand the test of time and constantly bring new and innovative ideas to the world. As Michael Brooke states in The Concrete Wave, "Itâ€™s a sport that is continually reinventing itself. Like a hyperactive seven year old, skateboarding will not be pinned down. And like that hyperactive child, skateboarding can be both exhilarating and maddening." This means that skateboarding cannot be suppressed now that the beast has been released. When it comes right down to it, "Itâ€™s a sport associated with youth that combines agility, speed and sheer guts. Itâ€™s not a sport for everyone, and thatâ€™s just the way skaters like it" (The Concrete Wave, p.14).

Skateboarding came in four phases. Phase one was 1959-1965 and covered Larry Stevensonâ€™s first skate team, the clay wheel, and the mass produced wooden skateboard.

The second phase was 1973-1980 and dealt with Frank Nasworthyâ€™s invention of the urethane wheel, the improved truck, ball bearings, the first outdoor skatepark, Dogtown, and the invention of the ollie. The third phase was from 1983-1991. It covered the introduction of Thrasher Magazine, Bones Brigade, the beginning of Tony Hawkâ€™s career, and the rise of vertical skateboarding. The final phase, number four, is from 1993-2003. It is the here and now of skateboarding and the birthplace of the first X-Games.

Skating will live on leaving itâ€™s legacy for the curious to discover and broadening itâ€™s horizons seemingly everyday. As of right now, it seems to have an endless ocean of possibilities still waiting to be uncovered by a talented skater who just might take skateboarding to the next level.

Bibliography

1. Brooke, Michael. The Concrete Wave. Warwick Publishing Inc. 162 John Street, Toronto, Ontario.

2. Stecyk III, C.R. Dogtown-The Legend of the Z-Boys. Burning Flags Press. New York, NY 10003

3. Thrasher Magazine. How to Build Skateboard Ramps. High Speed Productions. San Francisco, CA

4. Weyland, Jocko. The Answer is Never. Grove Press. 841 Broadway New York, NY 10003

5. Wimmer, Dick. The Extreme Game. Buford Books Inc. Short Hills, NJ 07078

6. Wingate, Brian. The Complete Book of Skateboards and Skateboarding Gear. Rosen Publishing Group, 29 East 21^{st Street, New York, NY 10010}

Websites

1. Area 51 http://www.members.shaw.ca/area51/maintenance.html

2. Excerpt From the Concrete Wave. http://www.interlog.com/~mbrooke/history.htm

3. Lemelson-Mit Program.http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/skateboard.html

4. Skateboard.com www.sk8central.com