Apparently frat boys have a long history with skateboarding. This Delta Tau Delta skateboard allegedly came from a pledge dance in 1965. The board style and condition of the skateboard would seem to support that. I have to say, it’s a pretty cool party favor, much better than some stupid paddle. This board was spotted at a Goodwill online auction, and eventually sold for $102.

– Thanks to Guy Housewright for the tip.

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, which is always a good excuse to go to a comic book store, even if you aren’t a regular reader. Last year there was an issue that had some skateboarding in it, but it looked like this year was going to be a bust. Archie comics have a had a lot of skateboarding in them (in small doses) over the years, so I figured an Archie Digest might have something.

The July, 1965 issue of Popular Mechanics features a five page spread on skateboarding. I had sort of assumed that in 1965, skateboarding was still an “all-American” sport, looked at by the general public as an amusing or cute attempt to imitate surfing. It was surprising to learn that a “prominent psychologist” said that “the skateboard is a symbol of defiance, young people showing their elders that they have scorn for all the things they have been taught about the preciousness of life and safety of limb.” Fortunately the tone of the piece is purely informational, almost instructional in some ways. Vita Pak gets a name check too. Popular Mechanics was (haven’t seen it lately) very DIY oriented, packed with projects and tips for hacking ordinary items for improved functionality. Make has nothing on this.

“Just for Kids” is a skateboarding storyline in Teenage Hotrodders, Volume 1, #14, published September of 1965. All the drag racers, sprint car drivers and motor sports enthusiasts have cool helmets that look appropriate for the era, or an A-Ha music video. There’s plenty of talk of “Nationals” and championship qualifiers. it seems to be aimed at boys old enough to drive though, because it contains an entire page of sage, but vague driving advice in space usually reserved for talk about characters and upcoming issues. The lettering is strange too. It almost appears like a monospaced handwritten computer font, but obviously isn’t. Still, it’s so badly spaced and placed in some of the sapeech bubbles that it looks mechanical. Just for Kids features a characters actually named Motors Mchorn and Shifty Gears, ao maybe Teenage Hotrodders is aimed at kids who are old enough to drive, but aren’t quite that bright, or maybe it was distributed by the Charlton Comics Group in states where the driving age is 14. Then again, there are other ads for being the life of the party, selling greeting cards for extra cash, and learning to play guitar the Chet Atkins way.

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.

Although it may look like Kentucky, Ken Henning, took these pictures at the zoo (Tiergarten) in Nuremberg, Germany in 1968. Pictured are American GIs from California enjoying a downhill session. Ken says this was the first time he ever saw anyone on a skateboard. The guys in these photos eventually shipped out to Vietnam, and Ken doesn’t know what became of them. Additional photo after the jump.

– Thanks to David Brosch for the photos.

It’s October, and Halloween approaches! Here’s Eddie Munster on a skateboard, in model form. I haven’t been able to find any information about this set. The seller claims it was built and professionally assembled and painted by an “award winning make up artist and painter.” There’s no information about the manufacturer or date, or whether it was actually a mass produced item or a custom one-off. Ironically, the biggest hit for “Eddie Munster on skateboard” turns up this t-shirt post on S&A. It’s been on eBay for a while. Priced at about $600, it’ll probably be there for a while longer, mystery award winning makeup artist be damned! Slightly alternate view after the jump.

This 1966 film is available for viewing online, legally at the National Film Board of Canada. Actually, they are showing the 1969 version, which is the English language version instead of the original French version. You can even buy a DVD copy if you want. If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely watch this gem.

– Thanks to Japakiva for the tip.

Some examples of water-release decals from the 60’s during the crossover of the hot-rod skateboarding fads. For sale now by Socal Speed Shop. I threw the weird surfer dude in there to make the cover image 4 panels. Something about those old head culture illustrators, they loved drawing normal guys whose eyes were bugging out in somewhat normal situations.

This is an advertisement for Jantzen swimwear published int the June, 1966 issue of the Life Magazine. It gives Further credence to the idea that skateboarding was not dead by the end of 1965. Granted, the submission deadline could have been a couple months in advance. Also of note, this advert features 3 future Hall of Fame professional athletes in 3 different disciplines. It has NFL football player Frank Gifford, NBA basketball player Jerry West and NHL hockey player Bobby Hull, all admiring the Jantzen “Chemstrand Sharkskin” fabric wrapped around a skateboard and surfboard.