Aldens was a mail order catalog based out of Chicago from 1899 (not a typo) to some time shortly after 1982. This is a page from their 1978 Christmas calendar with three skateboards. I can’t ever remember seeing an Alden’s catalog despite living in the Chicago suburbs during their last gasp. Two of the models are familiar plastic boards, the Free Former (forerunner of the bidirectional popsicle stick!) and the GT Coyote II. There’s got to be thousands of Free Formers in landfills across the country. The Spinner is made from oak or kapoer [sic] which might actually be kapur. Good luck finding anything about Spinner Skateboards on google.

When it’s time to kick up your wheels, do it with one of our deluxe skateboards. All are constructed of maple hardwood with silkscreened designs and sand grip tape surface… Each model has 9″ trucks, precision bearings and kicktails. From the 1986 Sears Wishbook, featuring the usual suspects from Variflex as well as a couple unknown brands, a “vinyl” skateboard, prepackaged plastic accessories and some craptacular safety equipment. Aside from the Variflex Voodoo, there’s a Bad Moon Rising, Demon, Maze, Shock Treatment, and a Robota.

I’ve featured a handful or two of pages from Christmas catalogs and store advertisements from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, but this JCPenny (1993) is the first from the 90’s. Or it isn’t. I can’t tell for sure. A Bart Simpson skateboard is no big deal, but for the discerning reader of S&A there’s more to it than meets the eye. First off, there’s the awesome “pro quality” knee and elbow pads. Also, the country of origin is listed in the catalog descriptions. I barely glanced at the nondescript dinosaur skateboard until I read “Made in the USA.” Sure enough, if you squint hard enough you can see a tiny Nash logo where the wheel well should be. So that’s interesting, right? Maybe not. I’ve seen and thought I posted this Snoopy board before, but I guess not. It’s scooter/skateboard combo with cool illustration of Woodstock in full downhill racer mode. The funny-isn thing about this deck is the fact that they have a giant registration mark from the screen printing process visible over the front trucks. I guess they assumed everyone would attach the scooter handle. A quick search on S&A reveals Snoopy posts are in short supply. I…

The auction said this Black Knight skateboard appeared in a 1976 Montgomery Ward catalog. I would have thought that was an error towards being too late, but the copy says there are no loose bearings, which would imply precision bearings, so 1976 sounds reasonable after all. I had always thought the Black Knight boards were from the late 60’s or early 70’s. Maybe someone suckered the buyer at Wards into taking a bunch of dead weight NOS. Then there’s the “molded fiber wheels.” Composite wheels and closed bearings? That’s a rare combination.

Another shot of vintage skateboard equipment from one of my favorite sources, old department store catalogs. These offerings from JC Penney were available in 1977. There’s a generic board, a Free Former brand, and two that I can’t quite make out with the name Class in it, possibly ODO Class or DDO class. (Update: Pro Class. Thanks Daymond! Pics added.) At the top the page is the venerable Roller Derby brand roller skates, a company that also made skateboards at the same time.

1965 was a good year for skateboards in catalogs. Here’s a page from a Sears catalog featuring Sears branded skateboards, which are essentially Nash-style copies, some like the Spyder are so similar that the were likely made by Nash. The ad copy has some choice bits like “So sturdily built it supports an adult” and “Professional rink skate wheels of tough plastic.” The 35″ Hang Ten Surfer model has a Mahogany top layer. The Wipe Out Surfer has a walnut core with fiberglass rails (rails in the surfboard sense, not the skateboard, bottom of the deck plastics) Rubber trucks are listed as a selling point. We’ve seen plastic ones before… [Source: Ad – Skateboard]

Retailers are sending out Christmas mailings already. Target has a few skateboard related images in their catalog; A giant skateboard prop for Shaun White’s clothing line, and a posed photo of a little kid who looks like he just released a tail grab. he’s getting some awesome footage of his knees. I want that giant skateboard. I do not want the chest harness. I a also not looking forward to a GoProbe, with or without harness.

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.

I swear there are less than five pictures of the

It’s vaguely near Christmas again, so the toy catalogs are already in the mail. Time was when you could get a semi-legitimate skateboard from your toy catalog. I got one in the mail from Fisher Price that features Earth Ace, one of the Planet Heros. He skates on the moon. “The moon. This is what I’m talking about. Hey! Look out!”