Kentucky Land Glyder

Until the advent of concaves and laminated board construction, the barrier to entry in skateboard manufacturing was pretty low, especially if you already had a business that manufactured wooden objects. That’s why there were a plethora of small, regional skateboard brands in the 70’s like the Land Glider, made by Kentucky Woodcrafts in Gray Hawk, Kentucky. Gray Hawk is a small unincorporated community about an hour and a half south of Lexington. My bet is there’s someone in that community that still knows who made these. There does not appear to be business with that name currently, but I did find one 11 miles away in Mckee, Kentucky with a. dead phone number. Yes, it is 12:30pm on a Tuesday in Portland, Oregon and I am calling random wood shops in Kentucky trying to find out (what?) about an almost 50 year old skateboard.

– Thanks to Kurt Katnik for the photos.

Roller Sports Mark IV wheels can be spotted in this advert from V2 #4 1976 Issue of Skateboarder Magazine. That ad also features some “Tuit” wheels that were shown in a 1975 issue. I have super low res pictures from an Ebay auction of a Land Glider with the same wheels, so they must have been sold as completes.

Below: Pics from a 2009 Ebay auction for a Land Glyder. I must have saved them because I didnt recognize the brand name and it looked interesting.