Skateboardingens historie og kultur

I choose this topic because I love skateboarding and its culture and wanted to learn about what and who shaped the sport to become what it is today.

Skateboarding originates from surfing back in the 1950’s. After surfing became a common sport in the USA, the first skateboard was invented, it consisted of a thin wooden plank, with old roller-skate wheels on the bottom of the plank. It was meant for something surfers could practice on when the waves were low, and it was called Sidewalk Surfing.

Skateboarding was first featured on television in a show called “Surf’s Up” in 1964, were it was promoted as something new and fun to do when the waves were flat. Somewhere in the early 1960’s was the name changed from “Sidewalk-Surfing” to “Skateboarding”.

As the popularity of skateboarding grew, the first skateboarding magazine was published in 1964, and the publisher, John Severson, wrote:

“Today's skateboarders are founders in this sport—they're pioneers—they are the first. There is no history in Skateboarding—its being made now—by you.”

In the late 1960’s, skateboarding had a big dive because of the financial market dive. Skateboarding was later revived in the 1970’s again because of the new and improved polyurethane wheels, which made skateboards faster than ever, as compared to the old wheels which was made from clay and steel. The kicktail was also invented almost at the same time. The kicktail made u able to do a kickturn, and “pop” th skateboard.