Skateboard Tow Rope

My first skateboard was a yellow plastic rRoller Derby banana board bought from a Sears catalog outlet in Midland, Michigan. I was in grade school in the 70’s, and soon after, all my neighborhood friends had skateboards, including Gene & Gary Wang, who lived across the street, as well as a kid names Allan Lockwood (I think?) For a while my driveway had intricate slalom courses drawn in chalk, complete with tank installations and pill boxes, firing at us of course. What can I say, I was a prepubescent male. When the driveway became too confining, we developed a sort of Rollerball-lite game that involved pairing up into teams made up of one kid on a bicycle towing another kid on a skateboard behind some jumprope tied to the back seat of the bike. The objective was to circle the block, trying to make the other team wipe out. It was great fun until I sent a skateboard flying at Alan, who got his glove caught on the back of his tow bike and wad dragged on his rear end for 20 feet before he came loose. He had a giant friction burn on the side of his ass and hip that hurt like the devil, and that was the end of the public enthusiasm for bicycle skateboard chariot races. If we had had these bespoke skateboard tow ropes we probably would have felt like gladiators and might have kept at it. The packaging makes some dubious claims: “Control your speed – Makes skateboarding safer!”

– Thanks to Terence Sideras for the pic.

UPDATE: This is actually from the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.

It’s basically a waterskiing style handle with a hook. Good times. It’s hard to tell if tis is from the 60’s or the 70’s. The shirts and bicycle say 60’s but the pant legs on the main character hint at the 70’s.

500 lb test! For plain or trick riding! Control your speed – Makes skateboarding safer!

G&C Toys out of Seattle is no longer in existence.