Origin and History

Skateboarding is a recent phenomenon. It evolved in the early 1950s from surfboards in California, as surfers were looking to “surf” when the waters were calm. Thus, skateboarding was originally known as “sidewalk surfing,” and it was unique to the surfer community. It spread quickly throughout the United States in the ’50s and ’60s, however, including non-coastal areas that did not have a surfer culture, and started becoming an independent culture of its own.

The history of skateboarding can be divided into certain stages, and important developments can be identified that changed the practice of skateboarding, such as the development of more and more complex tricks, vertical skating, or street skating.

The first wave of popularity for skateboarding brought about professionally manufactured skateboards (made by surfing manufacturers), and even worldwide skateboarding championships in the 1960s. The skating craze died down in the late ’60s, only to surge again in the 1970s when polyurethane wheels were developed for skateboards, drastically improving their performance. Further improvements were made, due to skateboard manufacturers experimenting with different materials for their boards, including polypropylene, aluminum and fiberglass. More and more skateparks were built. However, with the improved performance came the ability of skaters to perform more extreme tricks at higher speeds, which led to an increase in insurance and liability costs to the skateparks. Another relative decline in the popularity of skateboarding followed.

Skateboarding was popularized again by the manufacturers again in the 1980s and early ’90s, with a focus on vert skating (skateboarding on vertical surfaces), which was mainly due to the famous trick of Alan Gelfand, the “ollie.” Given the lack of ramps (see the previous period), many skateboarders took their passion to the streets, and street skating experienced a surge in popularity. Most of the current skateboarding culture is centered on street skating, using light, relatively narrow boards.