This cat scratching post in the shape of a skateboard comes from Suck.uk. I avoided another obvious choice of post title because Ted is a douchebag. This product is mildly amusing. – Thanks to Garrett for the tip.

If you were exposed to it as a child and have a good heart you’re likely a fan of Richard Scarry’s children’s books and characters. Lowly Worm was always one of my favorites because he was so ridiculous looking and had such of zest for life despite not having any appendages. Super 7 has a line of licensed Richard Scarry merch that includes action figures and this very excellent t-shirt. After a quick inventory of my Super 7 related posts Ive realized that I’m constantly complaining about the price, so I’m not going to continue the traditions. I’m the proud owner of this t-shirt thanks to Father’s Day, and even if it wasn’t a gift, it’s still reasonably priced. You can get an action figure combo with Huckle Cat and Lowly that unfortunately does not include a skateboard but is still moderately priced. On the right is a rug spotted at a street fair in Bellingham Washington. I can’ recall if this is an actual illustration from a. Richard Scarry book but my gut says it is, and if I ever get to that storage unit I’ll see if I can find out what book it came from. Cars and…

The bi-monthly children’s magazine Jack and Jill started in 1938 and is shockingly still in publication. On the left are 2 covers from 1977 and 1978. On the right is the August 2024 issue. A quick search of the the golden year of 1965 turned up no cover appearances in Jack and Jill, and a casual search of other decades so far has shown some examples of rollerblades and roller skates, but so far no other skateboards. – Thanks to Darren Haugen for the tip.

They keep cranking ’em out. I don’t have an affinity for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they are starting to wear me down. This Mondo Gecko figure from Super 7 is pretty cool. $55 cool? I’m not so sure. Maybe if I made better decisions in life and didnt waste so much time, effort and money on skateboarding ephemera I wouldn’t have to think twice about it.

VibeRide is still claiming to be the world’s first longboard with a brake, which seems patently false. They’ve redesigned their original concept from a couple years ago, and this time it’s quite a bit simpler. Although they don’t give you a very good closeup of the mechanism, its looks to be the same sort of setup you see in traditional caliper brakes on bicycle, with the calipers pressing the pad out against the wheel instead of in agains a tire rim. This is aimed at the longboard market so I guess you don’t have to worry about hinging up that cable on anything. In videos they mention that it’s not meant for serious downhill use either. There’s an emphasis on beginner use, and the Switch is pretty clever in that it allows you to start with a leash, and replace it with a foot pedal once you’ve gotten the hang of it. This is the lightweight version of their original concept, which they still offer for sale. My stance on tools and setups for beginners has mellowed with age. I could see this being pretty useful for some kids or clumsy adults who wanted to get into skateboarding purely as…

Yes folks, the Caricature of Dorian Gray, as opposed to the picture, by Mannequinonthemoon. – Thanks to Hon Don Gerard for the tip.

First time visitor? I’m a sucker for vintage skateboard packaging. This is a box that California Free Former model #CF-26 came in. Thanks to Andra Malczewski for the picture. That’s her and Joe Collela on the box, photographed in Redondo Beach, California. Glorious!

After decades of only ever seeing this in an advert, in 2017 I managed to score a block print (actual block) of the Wheelee Board logo from Ebay and sat on it for a long time. I think I was going to try and print something with MC but like most of my grand ideas, never got around to it. I’m not sure about the authenticity of this, becasue it wouldn’t have been used in magazine printing of the era, but who knows, maybe for stationary or handbills… That is if these things actually existed, because I’ve never known anyone who has claimed to see one. Flash forward to couple of weeks ago and someone posts images of an actual Wheelee Board!

This is not a picture of a cored wheel in the traditional sense. You’re seeing an intact wheel surrounded by a second pour of urethane at a later date. I had never seen anything like this, but apparently it was a tactic used at some point in the 70’s used to sell old stock of smaller wheels that were no longer popular. In this case an open bearing Cadillac wheel was used as the core. Most of them look like these do now, many decades later. Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center? – Thanks to Dennis Kilian, Mark Manbars Baxley and Harvey Gallent for the pics.

Happy confusing St. Patrick’s Day! Yes, you are looking at what is essentially an informational comic book style publication put out by the US Army called Preventive Maintenance Monthly. How long have they been publishing these? SINCE 1951! A huge chunk of these (especially in the first few decades) feature a pinup style art of a blonde woman, usually looking out of place, sometimes in a military environment, sometimes not. In issue #304 from May of 1978, they decided to add a leprechaun to the mix. Bonus miscleaneous leprechauns on skateboards at the end of this post.