91 adverts from Skateboard! magazine #10 ( June 1978 ) brings the total vintage skateboarding magazine adverts in the gallery up to 801! Skateboard! was a UK publication and as such, features some distinctly British ads, companies and slang in addition to the the usual fare from the USA. Half the ads seem to brag about products made in in England, while the other brags bout being made in the USA. Did you know helmets were sometimes called “Bump Hats?” Now you do. Someone in ad sales gave Uniroyal Corp. the hard sell, because they took out two, 2-page spreads in this issue. Check out the gallery.
If there is a Back To The Future hoverboard reference and it isn’t posted in Skate and Annoy, will anyone hear it? Probably. See: Hoverboard Socks.
The Vintage Skatemag Advertisement gallery has been updated with 30 ads from a rare, east coast skateboarding magazine called Skate, The International Skateboarding Magazine. With that addition the total number of adverts in the galley has reached 704! Some notable additions include very early ads from Zorlac and Santa Monica Airlines, in addition to the usual assortment of brands normally associated with the 70’s, like this classic with Tony Alva with no ad copy whatsoever. Skate magazine hailed from Melbourne, Florida. This issue is pretty slick, and the magazine probably would have been able to find a good sized audience if the bottom of the industry had not fallen out within the year.
Union Surfer skateboards “The Monster” collection photo courtesy of Stanton Hartsfield.
Portland is famous for 2 things in the skateboarding world; Burnside, and these weird, smiling, fez wearing blue poops that somehow learned how to kickflip on skateboards with backward facing trucks.
– Thanks to Colin for the pic.
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Enjoy these mediocre photos (except for the drone shot, which is not mine.) of what is now my favorite skatepark. You’re looking at a semi-new a park in sleepy little Vernonia, Oregon, built by Evergreen Skateparks. About an hour outside of Portland, Vernonia has less than 3000 people. The axe on the left side is a nod to its logging history. You can tell you’re riding an Evergreen skatepark if it’s got that moonscape feel with bits of coping sticking out of what might otherwise be a tribute to the best parts of 70’s era skateparks. This version features the usual connected low bowls, bumps, and berms with the addition of a pump track round the outside. But again, they’ve improved on the traditional pump track with subtle variations on either side, so you can ride the track multiple times in various combinations, hitting (or ignoring) obstacles along the way, reversing course without losing speed. So many combinations for fun. There’s also a medium sized, mellow bowl in the middle. I can’t tell you enough how much love this park. I can’t wait to get back there.
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Some unusual skateboarding history from 1970’s South Africa. The Mother of all kicktails. Thanks to Mark Tulleken for the pics.
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I just added 62 advertisements from Volume 2 Number 6 of Skateboarder Magazine (1976) to the Vintage Skatemag Advert Gallery, bringing the total in the gallery up to 674 ads! 1976 was a good year for skateboarding.
The Huffy Skateboards extravaganza continues in part 3, which focuses on non-wooden and non-plastic skateboards. We’re talking glass here. Plexiglass and fiberglass. This whole series started out as what I thought was just going to be a quick post about the clear model seen top right, but quickly ballooned out of control. Thunderboards!
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