Skateboards, Longboards, and Accessories

Skateboarding is a relatively new sport to the world. It can still definitively trace it roots back to some of the earliest skateboard decks. That cannot be said about very many sports whose roots trace back to arcane practices or acts of war. Skateboards were first developed in the late 1940s in southern California as a way for surfers to pass the time when the waves weren’t breaking. They were very crude contraptions at first, simply wooden planks with roller skate wheels mounted on them and they performed about as well as anyone could expect which wasn’t very good. The wheels were made from ceramic at first and had no bearings which made them slow and very slippery on pavement. There was a brief surge in popularity in what was then being called “sidewalk surfing” and by 1965 there were televised international and national championships but because the wheels were so difficult to learn on skateboarding declined in popularity.

Things changed in 1972 when Frank Nasworthy created polyurethane wheels that gripped pavement like no wheel had before. He called them “Cadillac’s” because of their cushy, smooth ride and they cause a huge surge in the popularity of skateboarding. Four years later dedicated skateboard trucks were being mass produced and skateboard decks became increasingly fat and maneuverable, shying away from the exceedingly thin banana boards of the early seventies. Skateboard bearings were also being used in the wheels to make them faster and smoother.

The summer of 1976 was a pivotal year for skateboarding. It was a hot and dry year and California was in the middle of a severe drought. Swimming pools everywhere were left unfilled, merely concrete holes in the ground. A few skateboarders in Venice Beach, most notably the Z-Boys, the surfing crew sponsored by the Zephyr surf shop, drained the remaining stagnant water and began skateboarding inside the pools. Vert skateboarding was born which allowed for the development of many new tricks. As the pools became filled with water and were used for swimming again in later years skateboarding ramps and parks began being built.

Building parks for skating was a slow process, with many actually being shut down shortly after opening because of liability and the perceived threat of drugs and vandalism. During the 80s skating was heavily involved with punk music and the associated anarchist lifestyle was shunned and feared. Skating moved back to the streets and many skaters choose local parking lots, stairways and other street features as their “spots” prompting many landowners to ban skateboarding on their property, often due to liability reasons. This merely fueled the anti-establishment nature of the sport and won many more followers as well as developing many new flat land tricks.

Skateboarding now is widely accepted. It is used for recreation, transportation and has even been tested by the Marines as a possible fighting tool. Complete skateboards can be found in many stores included specialized skate shops and outdoor equipment retailers, which often sell skateboard clothing, skateboard stickers, and other skateboard accessories. They are also good places to find cheap skateboards and longboards. A longboard skateboard is a newer development with wider trucks, larger wheels and a much larger deck, sometimes four or more feet long, which mimics surfing even more than a small board, but cannot perform nearly as many tricks. Sidewalk surfing is back.

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