Skateboarding

Since its invention in the late 1950s, skateboarding has had several separate waves of popularity. The style of each wave may have been slightly different, but they all share a youth culture of rebellion and stylish feats of physical skill and daring. Although some parents and coaches tried to make skateboarding a Little League (see entry under 1930s—Sports and Games in volume 2) sport in the 1970s, and others have tried to have


it outlawed, "boarders" are a highly independent group who have resisted attempts to take their sport from them. Marty McFly, from the 1980s film series Back to the Future, and cartoon brat Bart Simpson of The Simpsons (1989–; see entry under 1980s—TV and Radio in volume 5), are two of the media's best known flashy skateboarders.

The first skateboards were made in California by surfers who attached roller-skate wheels to short boards and learned to maneuver them. They rode their skateboards the way they rode their surfboards through the waves, shifting their body weight and moving their feet along the board. Soon, boards were being manufactured and sold to children as toys, but the danger involved in rolling at high speeds on concrete sidewalks caused skateboarding to be forbidden in most towns by the end of the 1960s. The 1970s, however, saw an improvement in the design of the original board. Urethane wheels gave boarders more control, and a new generation of young people joined the skateboard craze, performing more acrobatic feats than ever before.

Skateboarding's popularity rose again in the 1980s and in the 1990s, as each new generation of rebel athletes has taken to the boards. Since the 1970s, many communities have tried to improve the safety of skateboarding by building skateboarding parks where boarders can practice their moves away from both traffic and pedestrians. Still, some skateboarders are rebels who often choose to break the rules for late night skates on the concrete ramps of empty parking garages and swimming pools. These boarders are viewed by the police as troublemakers.

Perhaps as a result, skateboarders have created their own subculture, with its own slang, uniform, and magazines. "Thrashers," as skateboarders call themselves, wear baggy shorts, T-shirts (see entry under 1910s—Fashion in volume 1), and high-top sneakers, and they read Thrasher, Warp, and Skateboarder.

In the 1990s, skateboarding, as well as other extreme sports (see entry under 1990s—Sports and Games in volume 5) such as snowboarding, was given a professional outlet at competitions such as the X-Games, created by ESPN (see entry under 1970s— TV and Radio in volume 4), where thrashers compete in downhill racing, slalom racing, and freestyle.

—Tina Gianoulis

For More Information

Burke, L. M. Skateboarding! Surf the Pavement. New York: Rosen Publishing, 1999.

Cocks, Jay. "The Irresistible Lure of Grabbing Air." Time (June 6, 1988): pp. 90–95.

Martin, Michael. History of Skateboarding: From the Backyard to the BigTime. Mankato, MN: Capstone High-Interest Books, 2001.

Thatcher, Kevin J., and Brian Brannon. Thrasher: The Radical SkateboardBook. New York: Random House, 1992.