A non-skateboarding friend sent me a link to an online auction for the Ital Board, and I couldn’t find out anything about it on the interwebs, except for another auction of a slightly different version. It looks late 70’s to me, although possibly from the early 80’s.

Commercialized motorized skateboards have been around since as early as 1965, and every decade or so someone brings another one to market. In 1993 Tom Shanahan Inc expanded their small engine powered equipment for farms and yards to introduce the Powerboard motorized skateboard. The image and text on the right (above) come from Volume 17 #3 of Farm Show magazine in their section “New Products Especially For Women And The Farm, Ranch Home.” Farm Show is still around, but it appears the Tom Shanahan company has ceased to exist. It isn’t really mentioned anywhere on the internet except for some outlets where you can still find parts for some of their engines. These boards do turn up for sale, and some people have refurbished them.

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.

But does anyone care? Looks like they are getting more powerful though. This one from E-Glide is supposed to be all terrain. They even make one with an aluminum deck. I don’t think this really qualifies as earth-friendly green technology since you could just push with your feet for zero emissions, depending on what you’ve eaten earlier in the day. Video after the jump. – Thanks to Ben Reese for the tip. [Source: EarthTechling]