Original vintage no skateboarding poster on sale at Antikbar. Published by the British Railways Board in 1978, it will set you back £325.00 or about $560. Pretty cool, but not that’s a steep price. There must be a British Railways Board collector’s scene.

I love the packaging from 70’s era skateboard parts. These parts are shrink-wrapped on a display card for hanging up on pegboard hooks, as if you could go to your local grocery or toy store and pick up a few items for your skateboard. Check out some goods from GT, aka Grentec Leisure Products.

It’s the Cracked Guide to Skateboarding, published in the September, 1976 issue of Cracked Magazine. As a kid, not knowing the history of which came first, I still somehow managed to grok Cracked as a somewhat inferior imitator of Mad Magazine. That didn’t stop me from pouring over each issue I came in contact with. I’ve always associated Mad and Cracked with trailer homes at the lake where my cousin kept his stash hidden from plain sight in his closet. His mother would literally sneer when she’d see us reading them, and she often disapproved vocally of “that trash,” which lent them a small fraction of an illicit quality usually reserved for Playboy and the likes. Sure, there were the frequent Bill Ward illustrations featuring out of place dangerously endowed females, but for the most part it was just adolescent gags and smart-assed comments. Issue 135 of Cracked tackles skateboarding in typical Cracked fashion.

The age old story of an insanely wealthy boy and his dog’s misadventures on a time traveling skateboard. How a comic book character as weak as Richie Rich got a spinoff title is a mystery. Richie must have been pretty popular. The number 2 issue of Richie Rich & the Dollar Dog, (February of 1978) has a story titled “Skateboard Dog.” With the bar already raised so high by the title, you’d think the story would fail to measure up, and you’d be correct. I think every issue of Richie Rich and his affiliated crew is worthy of the title “Number 2.” You can check out this sad tail [sic] after the jump. Some of the pages proved difficult to lay flat, but I didn’t take apart the issue for scanning in fear of destroying it’s obvious (huge) money making potential. I think I paid $3.50 for this 15 year old comic. In 15 more years I may double my investment! Eat that, Richie Rich.

It’s 1978 and the Rocket Racer is back in Volume 1 #182 of The Amazing Spiderman. I haven’t seen the first appearance of the Rocket Racer, but the storyline mimics the ’90s animated Spiderman series, except the Rocket Racer in the cartoon is a teenager, while the original Rocket Racer is drawn more like a full grown man. The Rocket Racer has a skateboard that allows him to defy gravity. Not only does it stick to walls, but it magically adheres the riders feet to the board while riding vertical surfaces. Rocket uses his skateboard to perpetrate crimes to pay his mother’s or gandmother’s medical bills. It’s the age old story of a good hearted person forced into a life of crime. The pages with skateboarding in them are available after the jump, as well as the entire episode from the 1994 animated series.

I’ll join you too… The official title of this publication is “Archie’s Girls Betty & Veronica.” Archie’s been skating since the 60’s. His previous appearances here have only cover-only affairs, but this issue (#250 October, 1976) actually has a skateboarding story inside. Archie gets away with murder as far as the ladies go. I don’t know if Betty and Veronica have ever wised up, but you’d think they would have ditched him. Veronica always seemed more appealing to me when I could stomach to read Archie, but in this comic I’m squarely on Betty’s side. Turns out Betty is a good skater. She’s so good that she’s giving pointers to the guys in the gang, who are doting on her purely because of her skills and not because of her feminine wiles. Big surprise, Veronica is jealous of the attention. I wonder if this the origin of the term “Skate Betty?” Sit back and enjoy the “Wheel Zeal” and let me know if you what the heck the”Shu-Fly” variation of the Christie is. UPDATE: The Wheel Zeal title gets used again in a 1999 Betty & Veronica skateboarding story.

This is Richie Rich #163 published in February of 1978 by Harvey Publications. As a child, I never understood the appeal of Richie Rich. Why would anyone want to read about a kid who was absurdly rich unless he was also Batman? In 1978, Richie is on the forefront of the novelty skateboard trend with this dollar sign shaped deck. He’s got bling too – that looks like some sort of gem covered mounting hardware. “With a model like this, I’ll never be skate-bored!” Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk…

Gold Cup Skateboards comes to you from the mind of Lance Mountain. The boards are all made in U.S.A. and distributed by NHS. The product looks fully flushed out, right down to the “Power Slider” tail blocks. It’s not all retro nostalgia. Well maybe it is actually, but they do seem to be built with functionality in mind, as long as you are OK with a bizarro Streets of Fire ( Note “of” not “on” fire ) scenario where the technology of the future is wildly available in the past. It’s as if somebody forked a parallel universe on GitHub where certain niche technologies and fashions remained the same while the rest of the world advanced. Maybe they can get a young William Dafoe on the team. It’s a strange but interesting time in skateboarding. You can basically buy skateboard technology form any past generation right now. I can’t think of a similar scenario in any other sport. Imagine a football team where everyone decided to wear the old leather style helmets. I suppose you can still buy a basic wooden tennis racket. Maybe it’s just that skateboard styles and technology are more distinct through the ages.

Hey kids, the weekend’s almost here, so I want all you S&A readers to stay safe. We all know that wiping out is no fun, so you have to be prepared just in case. To that end, please watch this Aetna Insurance TV commercial on safety that dates back to 1978. A good helmet and a snazzy set of gloves and pads never goes out of style. Video courtesy of the miraculously-still-allowed-on-youtube Scott Starr. Remember, there’s a key to staying safe and having fun: Never ride in the street, and always whistle a catchy tune.

Catawiki has a collection of covers from the Jinty comic book that contain the Concrete Surfer stories. Jinty ran from the mid 70’s to early 80’s. It was written fro girls, and most of the issues had a Sci-fi or supernatural theme. Somehow, skateboarding fits in that theme too. Several Jintys with skateboard covers after the jump. – Thanks to David ODK for the tip.