When was sidewalk surfing invented

By , over 50 million skateboards had been sold! By , concerns about skateboard injuries caused a big drop in sales. Kids did not wear helmets and pads back then, and the wheels were made of baked clay that skidded easily. But in , a young surfer named Frank Nasworthy came up the idea of using wheels we have today, made of soft polyurethane.

They gripped the ground like crazy! This created opportunities for a new generation of skateboarders. This trick, called the "Ollie," is now the basis for most skateboarding tricks today.

Skating had repaid its debt to the surf world, and surfing has tried, in vain, to catch up ever since. They are now different sports with different risks and rewards. No surfer will ever know the thrill of launching 30 feet into the air, and no skater will ever be completely surrounded by water without being wet. Surfers may collide with rocks, reefs and hard sand bottoms, but there are very few bones broken after slamming into solid objects like there are in skateboarding.

Then again, skateboarders have little fear of drowning while riding the deep end of a pool. If I fell, I would simply roll over on the turf. But even that proved difficult after not stepping on a skateboard for some years. Primary Menu. In a southern California surf shop, Val Surf, began making its own brand of skateboards and struck a deal with Chicago Roller Skate Company for the wheels. Additionally, skateboarding gained popularity when Larry Stevenson, publisher of Surf Guide, promoted it in his monthly magazine.

In , Stevenson made the first professional skateboards using the Makaha brand and organized the first known skateboarding contest. That same year saw an evolution in skateboard design with the use of clay also known as composite wheels that replaced treacherous metal ones.

In , the skateboarding sport peaked as manufacturers tried to keep up with the demand, cranking out an estimated 50 million skateboards between and However, by the end of , the high number of skateboard injuries seen in hospital emergency rooms nationwide led to many cities banning skateboarding.

Some city officials went further, urging stores not to sell them and parents not to buy them. Skateboarding developed a reputation as a public health hazard.