Zac Efron skateboarding in a grocery store because he is just that desperate for more media attention. From the looks of his footwear, he must be on break from shooting a mummy movie. That’s a repro of a vintage skateboard that could probably be identified by one very bored S&A reader. US Weekly photo by Splash News. – Thanks to Mrs. Kilwag for the tip.

5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley.…

Vintage 80’s Grin and Bear It comic, courtesy of Paul Graf. Too bad the skateboard is mostly out of frame.

Nothing says “Ovaltine” like a skateboard, ruler and a small mystery box, at least in Japan. Actually I’m guessing that is Japanese, so readers, help me out here please. It seems the only sport not being enjoyed by the cartoon Ovaltine kids is skateboarding. No date on the package.

I’m not one to encourage pushishing corporate sugar water on anyone but this video has some good footage. The best part is they had to hire extras to pretend to be mostly convincing office workers, at least until you get to the 2:00 minute mark. Photos here, and here, video after the jump. Hello Chicago!

If I didn’t know better I’d think this was a gag from GVK. The ad copy is absurd. “The ol’ Mersedes Bends Skatboard Factory?” Seriously? Even if “skateboard” wasn’t misspelled, that would still be a bit much. Twenty dollars will buy you the hottest skateboard you’ve ever seen. Star wheels designed by freestyle champ Ed Nadalin normally sell for $79.95 each (yes, each) but through this ad you can get a complete set for only $12. That’s an amazing 97% discount! Pre-designed configural CAMBER-FLEX? They make a big deal about including sealed bearings, so you know it must be 1976, and it is. Volume 3, Number 1, which is the October 1976 issue of Skateboarder Magazine. My best friend in grade school nada plastic board with a Mercedes logo relief on top, but no name visible anywhere. It always impressed me as a kid. We all called it the Mercedes Benz board. I’m surprised Skateboarder agreed to print this advertisement, it would be the same thing as Thrasher running an ad for Nash…. Oh wait, they actually did that all the time.

Skater Girls photographed by Claire Garcia Rosso, whose web site appears to be down, but her Deviant Art profile isn’t. She’s from Zaragoz, Spain, so any chance to sneak in a Clash reference, I’m going to take it. These photos date back to February of 2012, and it’s unclear if they have been published in print or not. Check out the highly functional skate footwear. Must be from the line of new high heels by DC Shoes.

Here’s three vintage Levi’s print ads from the 70’s. The one on the right is from Salvador Dali’s brief, unpublicized performance art piece where he worked as commercial artist in various ad agencies. Yes, I am making this up.

California Christmas by Manafest, a guy who kind of looks and sounds like the guy from Workaholics. Coming up next on Yo S&A Raps!

SFGate has posted some pictures in a feature called Four decades of skateboarding in San Francisco. It’s part of their Let’s Go to the Morgue! series where they dig up old photographs from the San Francisco Chronicle. Better versions of the picture, along with a little commentary are on the SFGate blog. The earliest photo dates back to 1964, and the last one is from 1994.