Skateboarding History




The earliest known precursor to the modern skateboard is the crate scooter, which was similar to modern designs, but had a wood crate attached to the front to form handlebars. A crate scooter appears in Back to the Future, in a scene in which Marty McFly takes one and removes the crate to make a skateboard.

The first skateboard appeared in California sometime in the 1950s. Home made from flat wooden planks and rollerskate trucks and wheels, early skateboards were used for surfing-type moves rather than the modern tricks seen today.

The 1960s would see skateboarding becoming mainstream. Manufacturers sprang up and created teams, and Skateboarder Magazine became a national publication. In 1965, the international skateboarding championships were on national television. However, the success would be short-lived. In 1966, skateboarding's popularity waned and would remain low until the 1970s.

With the invention of the polyurethane wheel in the 1970s, skateboarding would skyrocket in terms of popularity and sales once again. The newfound popularity led to many developments, such as the first modern trucks, created in 1976. The ollie was invented in the same years by Alan Gelfand in Florida. Skateboarders began skating in pools, beginning the trend of vertical tricks, and slash grinds and frontside/backside airs became possible.



From the eighties to the early nineties, skateboarding's popularity was fueled by companies run by skaters. The kickflip, heelflip, 360 flip, and many other freestyle tricks were developed, although the public focus was on vert ramp skateboarding. However, as people in the U.S. opposed skateboarding in public, and skate parks were generally unprofitable, skateboarding would again lose popularity.

Modern trick skating, whose popularity has been most famously brought back by athletes such as Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, has seen modern technology's advantages. Boards are lighter, and modern wheels allow higher speeds than in the past, offering significant advantages for vert skateboarders. Today, skating is seeing a surge in popularity in urban areas, and street skating is on the rise.

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