Above: homemade skateboard, metal shoe-skates, crate scooters, sidewalk surfboard, “Chicago” skateboard
My Real Memoir: The Year I Invented Skateboarding
Actually, untold thousands of other Stone Age kids did too. The idea was in the zit-geist, which is to say that acne-prone teens and their younger sibs all suddenly got the same idea in the summer of 1959. Since surfing was the coolest thing ever, we all decided to convert our skates into “sidewalk surfboards.” But how?
There Were Two Types of Skates:
1) Pro skates with smooth “clay” wheels that you could rent at the local roll-a-rama. You’d glide around the rink, and Hokey Pokey to the center, hoping to “put your left foot in” just as that cute girl in the poodle skirt did.
2) Metal skates, the kind you’d steal from your buddy’s kid sister, strap onto your sneakers, and rumble noisily down “Death Hill” in, hoping nobody stretched a water hose across the sidewalk.
Metal skates were cheap and flimsy, and the only kind anybody I knew had. But, hey, they had wheels, and any kind of wheels were better than no wheels. Plus, we’d discovered you could pull the skates apart, nail the wheels to the bottom of a board, then stick a fruit crate on the front and, voilà, you had a crate-scooter! Of course, these tended to disintegrate, sending splintered wood and body parts everywhere.
And Then I Heard…
…that surfers would sometimes build crate-less scooters and go “sidewalk surfin’!”
My buddies and I built one the next day!
Our homemade models were metal skate wheels nailed onto two-by-fours. They refused to turn, rumbled like coal cars, and stopped the instant they hit anything larger than an atom. Virtually every trip down Death Hill ended with hitting a rock or a speck of dust and becoming airborne. But, hey, we were sidewalk surfin’, and there was no going back!
We soon discovered that the sidewalks at our grammar school were smoother and featured virtually no cars backing out of driveways. Plus, they had tameable roller-coaster-like ridges and dips. So we surfed the hallways after school and every weekend.
Until One Day…
…my dad brought home a commercially made “Chicago” skateboard with better metal wheels and a thinner board you could actually turn! Sort of.
Then, a short time later, a surf company started making “pro” skateboards. They had wooden stringers and clay wheels that turned like a dream—and they actually looked like surfboards!
I got one that Christmas. A friend even got a “longboard.” It was so big that three of us could ride it, trading off roles as Captain, Engine Room, and Rudder Operator.
Skateboarding would eventually become an Olympic-level sport, leaving us cave dwellers in the dust. Or more likely splayed across somebody’s driveway. Still, I’ll never forget…
The year I invented skateboarding!
To read My Real Memoir from the start, click here. To read the next episode, click here.
LOL — I made one the same way. Blessings.
Many kids did back in the day. And blessings to you, my friend.
Oh my son would love this.. we have a lot of those hanging around still!! xx
🧡
I could ice skate ride a bike play sports but never rode a skateboard, except one time. My son saved up his paper money and bought a Tony Hawk. He was really good at it and one day talked me into trying it. Well, got about 5 feet fell backwards and hit my head on the sidewalk; haven’t been right since .. 😜 Maybe that is why I excelled in computer repair and as a network tech. When asked what I did I would always say, “ I like to do cognitive assessments of known facts any by deductive reasoning arrive at logical conclusions in solving technical issues.” 🤔
Blamed it all on my one time ride on a skateboard… 😎
So it shook a few thinking gears into place? ;>)
I have a question? Are you a writer??
Well, I wrote this blog post, so it would seem I am. Nice to meet you, miss writer.
You certainly were a crafty group of kids. I remember those metal skates. You had to kind of “walk skate” with stiff legs.😅
Yeah, they were pretty primitive, Nancy. ;>)
Oh I remember after my dad made me a skateboard, he proceeded to test it out and fell flat on his back!
Yep, that’s Skateboarding Lesson #1, Debby. ;>)
I love this. I was the right age when Marty McFly went back to the 50’s and showed you kids (or maybe just the kids that weren’t you!) what they were missing. I may be 54 now, but I still have my skateboard….
Thanks, Damian. Your generation of skateboards left mine in the dust, Damian. We never dreamed skateboarding would become the mega-skill sport it became.
Thanks for this fun and laughter-inducing read, Mitch! Well-written with a chuckle at each sentence.
Thanks, Terry. 🧡
I had and greatly enjoyed the metal roller skates but never had the pleasure of a homemade skateboard! How fun!
This is a fascinating memoir. It captures how creativity often starts with simple materials, curiosity, and a willingness to experiment. The story also shows how something that begins as childhood fun can eventually grow into a worldwide sport. A great reminder that innovation doesn’t always start in a laboratory—it can start on the sidewalk.
Hey Mitch! What a fun memory! “Death Hill” had me laughing, although I’m sure it wasn’t so funny when you went airborne! I love how kids could turn a few skate wheels and a piece of wood into an adventure. And of course, I love the title: The year I invented skateboarding! Great story!
Thanks, Mary! 🧡
Mitch you never disappoint in your funny tales. Crafty I’ll say. 🙂
Aww, thanks, Bernadette. ;>)
I’m such a klutz that I’d been sure to have broken something if I’d ever tried skateboarding.
This brings back memories of my daughter’s cheap (thrift store) skateboard that I decided I’d “just try” one day. The result was having to lie on a table and endure a 45-minute lecture from my chiropractor while she put everything back in place.
;>)
Must have been something wrong with me. Never had roller skates nor skateboard. Just a trusty old bike !
;>)
Many great ideas started with a cave dweller. I like that expression! Rustic adds so much more oomph, I think 😉
;>)
you obviously had too much fun when you were young. love it.
;>)
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