Yep the banana boards and the urethane wheels were the turning point for the modern era of skateboards.

Gotta love the old pics!

Alva was king for me and my friends back then.

The problem up here was that we just don't have the good weather long enough each year for the sport to really have taken off. Yes, a lot of us had the itch for a while, several years in the 70's in fact, but we were also caught up in our other sports, especially hockey. Only a handful of kids actually got good at stakeboarding, and when the city built a little cement curvy skate bowl thingy near the local arena no one really knew what to do with it. ha ha.... there it sat, empty for the most part.

But at least we got in a few good years of it.

Skateboarding Is Not A Crime!

Here's another pic which I took and I'd say this is around 1980. It's at a skate park that was in Melbourne FL. As you can see from my first pic things have been progressing. Riders have protection and the bowls now all have edges built for grinding.

A lot of riders wore gloves as the big moves then were low sweeping slide turns and you used your hand to pivot. Up until then everyone was just doing kick turns off the banks and stuff and then somebody decided to take to the air.

This picture here is of some rider pushing the limits and taking to the air when most people were just seeing how high they could kick turn on the ramp. Getting air was just beginning then and NOBODY even dreamed that some day a skater would jump the great wall of China. I used to have slide show parties back then and this pic always got a big hoot. Now it's just a little piece of history.

http://www.julie-clarke.com/public_h...ges/skate2.jpg

This thread rocks! Skateboarding used to rule my life back in the day. Many moons (and pounds) ago, I used to be sponsored by this deck/truck company called Motobilt. They actually had some pretty sweet boards and trucks.

Anyway, man... the Bones Brigade is what really got me started. I loved the style of Caballero and Guerrero (The Gonz was another favorite). Plus, watching Tony Hawk even back then was awesome. But to this day, I don't think anyone impresses me more on flatland or street tricks than Rodney Mullen. Here's a video from youtube -> https://youtube.com/watch?v=PcbCCFb0zXI

For hours every day/night, my friends and I would do tricks off the "launch ramp". Things like Judo's, Madonna's, 360's, Method Air (with a tweak, of course). Then we'd just go hit the spots, grind some curbs, slide some railings, kickflip ollie's, shove-it's, etc... man, those were the times.

I bet if I stepped on a board right now, I'd break two things... the board and my ass.

I was more of a street skater back then, I never really got into the whole half pipe craze.

- PornAddict

Here's my old board

http://www.k9tim.com/skate/vsjx.jpg

I sucked at skateboarding but love to watch it :)

DH

I've got some video I took of Rodney Mullen doing an exibition back in 83 or 84. I remember how he blew the crowd away with what he was doing. He is a perfect example of someone who is way, way ahead of his time.

I guess I'm going to have to start digging out all this stuff :)

Skate Or Die was the shiznit I rocked at the pool joust

Ahhh this is taking me back! My 2 boyfriends in high school were skaters, when they outlawed it in the town I grew up in (no joke) we spent the entire summer running from cops and sliding under cars to hide. Living a life of crime for skating, ridiculous! The yuppies said they were pissed off at the "marks they leave on the curbs and railings" :1orglaugh

It's great to see all the kids in the skate parks they have in Vegas!

Actually I got an Independent tee shirt as a gift a few years back, but I have a feeling that was more for the "Built to Grind" logo on the back :1orglaugh

Thanks for the memory jog Boneprone!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALVA-Fred-Smith-...QQcmdZViewItem

greatest board ever, ALVA - Fred Smith Punk Size.... damn to bad they dont ship to Australia

hell yeah man

Holy crap man.. where were all these parks when I was growing up in that area? Damn we got jipped because there was nothing around in the mid to late 80's.I would have killed to have a place like that to skate at when I was a kid.

Yeah good memories buddy!

Tight jeans, fat cocks, and lots of pot to numb the feeling of me sucking skater cock.

Ah the good old days :pimp

Great thread and brings back some good memories of being a kid.
Here's a couple of me and my pal and the mini ramp we built out of crappy wood:)

http://www.realsexcash.com/skate1.jpg

http://www.realsexcash.com/skate2.jpg

Sure makes me feel old now

ghey thread

Same here. Got mine at this small shop on Santa Monica Blvd. Man, I can't remember if it's still there or not, but it was around SM & 26th IIRC. I only used the board once and I think it's still at my moms house.

I was a skater in the end of the 90's

I grew up in Cocoa Beach.:thumbsup

OH SHIT.... that is the JINX board, for Marty Jiminez. His parents lived down the street from me (Ohio) and when he would come home to visit (from Cali) I would skate with him almost every day.

He is the guy who taught me how to ollie. I went from hardly being able to ollie over another skateboard to oillieing over park benches. He would always bring decks, shirts and stickers for all of us kids every time he came. What a cool fucking guy he was.

I had this board http://www.bakerpools.net/collection/nataspanther.JPG after it got stolen I stopped skating and become a computergeek and gained like 700lbs.

I was a bit too young in the 80's, but I did pick it up in the 90's. Got sponsored by a local shop actually. Wish I didn't quit! Damn computers!

dam i miss the 80's :(

My first "board" was literally a board. A piece of plywood with 2 blocks of 2x4. We'd take apart our steel-wheel skates that were made to clamp onto a stiff shoe, and nail them to the blocks. There ya go, circa 1970 skateboard.

OK... answer these questions:

1) How many ramps did you build? (launch, half pipe... whatever)

2) About how many decks did you break?

3) What was your favorite set up? (decks, wheels, trucks, bearings...)

4) Were you ever arrested for skating?

5) Serious injuries?

6) Were you sponsored, amateur or pro?

7) What was the raddest trick you could do?

8) What was the one trick you never was able to do?

9) Do skating rule your life?

10) Do you still skate?

I had this deck for 3 days. Snapped in in half while landing a huge wall ride (on to the wall from a large launch ramp).

off the wall...

MINE:

1) Fuck. I built 4 large half pipes and countless lauch ramps.

2) I was a hard street skater. Lots of hard landings and lots of jumps from ramps. I don't remember the exact number, but I would have to say 100.

3) My favorite was a Sam Cunningham deck (Blockhead). I had about 20 of them. German bearings, Independent trucks with gring kind bolts... Wheels... shit I don't recall what was my fav, but I used them all and coned them out from slides. I liked softer wheels cause they were better for sreet and gripping onto things. NO rail guards EVER... and I always did crazy shit with my grip tape.

4) Yes. Once for skating in a pool, and 3 times for skating in places that did not allow us. Business parks mostly.

5) Broke a few fingers. Dislocated some things and the injury that stopped it all was a hyper-extended knee. OUCH. I could not walk for 2 months and after that I lost my balls to go big.

6) At the time of my injury, I was talking to Blackhead. I had a local skate shop sponorship though. Won a few contests.

7) I was a wall riding nut and ollie freak. I could do HUGE ollies and HUGE wall rides, from any side. The trick that would probably blow the most minds was a switch stance verticle wall ride.

I could either ride to the wall and pump up it like a normal ollie wall ride (but straight at it), pump up about a foot or so and switch stance on the wall and come down backwards. Could also do it with ramps against the wall. Sick shit.

My thing with ollies is that I would go over or onto just about anything. Onto picknic tables, over benches, onto hoods of cars. Then because I could wall ride so well if I came to a small wall that I could not ollie onto, I would wall ride it right up and roll to the top, and onto it. I could handle vert / walls very well and could so some sick shit on them.

8) I could never do a real handplant on a half pipe. I could never land it. Don't know why. On the ground, I could do them all and some insane variations of them, but on vert... forget it.

9) For many years there was nothing else. Every waking moment I could spend on my board was on my board. Even when it was raining I would stay in my garage and practice kick flips.

10) I posted above about the last time on my board. Sadly I do not, however I STILL to this very day get excited when I see a spot I could skate. A rail, a curve, bump, wall... anything that I would have skated, I still have that feeling inside that I want to skate it and go big.

But I would bust my ass I'm sure.

1) My buddies and I had a mini-skatepark deal set up at his house. Quarter pipe, few boxes with grind rails on them, 4ft half pipe, and a handful or regular rails.

2) Broke more out of anger than actually breaking it in process of a trick.

3) Girl deck, Venture/Royal trucks, any 52mm wheels, bearings didnt matter much.

4) Arrested... no. Got a ticket once though for about $100.

5) Not too many serious ones, the usual banging of the shins, few groin shots.

6) Sponsored by a local shop called Active

7) Raddest trick.. hmm. I was more of a technical skater, love grind tricks. I used to do things like: Inward Heel flip to switch 5-0, 180 out. Crook grind shove it out, etc etc

8) Couldn't get hardflips down too well.

9) It ruled it at the time.

We should have a webmaster skate get together at one of the shows. lol

Everyone bring their boards and pain pills.

this thread was a good read.

I'm about to turn 29...I see kids skating all the time and I want to ask them "hey, can I ride your board?"...they have like 20 outdoor free skateparks in Sacramento now, they're practically at every big public park...when I was a kid, there was 1 skatepark and it was indoors and expensive. You should set up a skateboarding event at one of the shows...haha

I had a VISION skateboard.... fun times!!!

I remember when Rodney Mullen was the laughing stock of Powell Peralta because he was "freestyle" and all their other big guys were either "vert" or "streetstyle". He was always at some beach somewhere doing handstands and pogos and kickflips and everybody thought it was lame. Then, when kickflips started becoming integrated with streetstyle, Rodney was in a class of his own (and still is). He invented the Darkslide too....awesome skater:thumbsup

i dont have any talent for this one.. i tried but i suck in balancing my own shit...

You guys talking about the 90's or the 80's?

Precision bearings gullwing tracks and a home made board, out of walnut :))
I can still pull a double 360 at 40 to the shock of many a kid

i am still around the culture all the time...i just dont skate anymore...friends of mine own the Skatepark of Tampa (SPOT) and i still go out for the events...

i have a ton old old boards...i should take some pics...off the top of my head:

Gator Spiral...
Powell Peralta Ripper Skull...
Mike Mcgill with the skull and snake...
Powell Peralta - Steve Caballero - Dragon...
Tony Hawk XT Dragon ('83 i think)...
Powell Peralta - Lance Mountains Future Primitive board...
Sims- Kevin Staab - Pirate board...

my favorite videos were the H-Street videos...the first Plan-B video still blows my mind...:)

FInally, someone gives props to Rodney Mullen. He is my idol, paving the way & creating what skateboarding is today, being innovative and yeah, way ahead of his time. If anyone has any old freestyle videos they wanna get rid of send them my way!

I'm a skater now. Missed out on the 80's cuz I was too young. :(

I was a bigtime Betty. Still love to skate, just never have time with a job and kids and a household. :)

He got sentanced to 25 years in jail, if i remember right.

Remember the big "Skateboarding is not a crime" movement, as cities around the country were trying to ban skateboarding in public places, and on sidewalks etc?