It’s the Ice Surfer, the invention of Willard Gebien from Libertyvlle, Illinois. Debra Fischler sent in a picture of the device from 1966. An auction for a mint condition Ice Surfer showed up about a month ago, I sent it to Neil but I guess he forgot or wasn’t interested. I believe it went for about $150, I was tempted but I just don’t have the extra cash floating around. I’d never seen close up pictures of the actual Ice Surfer board before then, but when it rains, it pours. There’s another one on eBay right now. It’s well worn and slightly damaged, so the opening bid of $149 is pretty steep considering the condition. Peep some pics of the pristine version after the jump.

This is a Chicago Trucks advert from an unnamed surfing magazine from the 60’s, although it probably shouldn’t be that hard to figure it out. I can’t imagine there was more than one or two tops. Chicago made it’s name in roller skates of all things, and I’m going to hypothesize that they were one of the first companies to manufacture skateboard specific trucks, outside of full setups. Those are composite wheels… I guess it’s possible they could be early 70’s, but if I had to place money on it, I still say 60’s. Dig the three point mounting hardware.

UPDATE: Based on this ad, we know an ad with the same illustrations was run as late as 1975, but it features different ad copy. It’s entirely possible that this was leftover stock from the late 60’s.

There’s a web site called Vintage Portland that is dedicated to presenting historical images of Portland from various sources in one place. It’s just pictures and maps without a lot of explanation or pontificating. There’s not much to say except this photo is SW Portland circa 1965. Two kids bombing a hill on clay wheels. Awesome. Check out VIntage Portland for the big picture.

– Thanks to Daniel Evans for the tip.

I think it was Scott Starr who tipped me off to the existence of a 60’s era nudist lifestyle magazine with some skateboard shots in it. He’s hoarding them for a skateboard book that’s all pre- 70’s. I’ve heard about some of the things he’s unearthed, and it promises to be amazing, although he will have some competition from another book in the works, but more on that later. (No, it’s not from me.) All of this has nothing to do with where I found this, which was on Wooden Toy Publishing. I can’t link directly to it because for some reason they don’t have permalinks set up. Every time they update everything gets pushed further back and the urls change. Look for it on the June 21st, 2010 edition of Happy Mondays. I emailed them earlier in the week to see if they had any background information to share and I haven’t heard back yet. Very tame (unless you are offended by cellulite) but NSFW after the jump.

Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster. Now I have to search out a DVD of the Munsters to look for a skateboarding episode. Sounds like a job for Scott Starr. Enlarge-o-rama.

I keep looking for this Sears catalog from 1965, but they always go for upwards of $40 when I’m watching. Too much for me, but I’d never actually seen the page before, but I knew it existed. This one showed up as an ancillary illustration to another Sears Hot Dog board on eBay. The same board they used on an episode of Green Acres. It’s at this point in the interview that I mention for the umpteenth time that I got my first skateboard at a Sears. Enlarge-o-rama.

– Thanks to Dave P. for the tip.

There are a few architectural relics left standing from the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York, but unfortunately the Kodak Pavilion isn’t one of them. This would have been at or near the height of the skateboard craze in the 60’s, so it;s possible a few pioneering street skaters may have gotten away with hitting the tranny.

– Thanks to Bill Helene for the tip.

And Ed Roth cartoon, as found on 4Q Conditioning. So this guy must be a mountain boarder? Ooooh. Burn!

Art Clokey passed away on Friday. His early work was pretty surreal at times. What good hearted person doesn’t love Gumby? There were at least two Gumby episodes that revolved around skateboarding. The first one was a 1967 episode of the Gumby Show, titled Dog Catchers. I believe that is the first skateboarding dog, unless you count this one. The second was a 1988 creation titled Skateboard Rally, in which the Blockheads rip his stick. There’s a dramatic car chase, Skate Rock on a half pipe – performed while skating, no less, a contest with loop action and some heavy eigties guitar riffs. I think David Dink got ripped off by the judges though. Check em out after the jump.

– Thanks to ehdubya for the tip.

Yeah, that’s right. I read Woman’s Day all the time. I like to brush up on my jello recipes, kick-knacks and diets. You know, keeping it real. Imagine my joy and delight when I perused 8 Incredible Ice Sculptures, which included this photograph from Eugenio Franchi. There are skateboards made out of ice, and then there are skateboards made for riding on the ice. Almost a year ago I did a little digging around on the history of ice-boards. The daughter of Willard Gebien, one of the inventors wrote in to let us know she first ice-boarded in 1964. Debra Fischler had this to say:

The winter of 1964 I was iceskate boarding. It was fun! My father is Willard Gebien… I only have one still picture on hand -1966 my dog riding the skate board, however my cousins may have home movies and pictures in their attic. Also, I remember the Ice Capades in Chicago used the board in their clown act.

Catch the picture after the jump.