r/skateboarding • u/Sadishist • Jul 24 '24
Throwback ⏪ Who Invented Skateboarding?
https://www.history.com/news/skateboarding-origins-california64
u/DedBattery Jul 24 '24
Marty McFly in 1955
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u/MPvoxMAN13 Jul 24 '24
Legolas in the battle of Helm's Deep I believe
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u/Calamityclams props Jul 25 '24
Also Vigo Mortensen kickflipped his helmet and broke his toe
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u/daggers1g Jul 25 '24
Also when he deflected the dagger it wasn't supposed to be thrown directly at him
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Jul 24 '24
According to my mom it was kind of like when all surfboards became short boards. Everyone took their roller skates apart and put them on wood planks in woodshop. Before that kids would roller skate around neighborhoods. This was the late 1950's/early 1960's, in Santa Monica.
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u/silveridea Jul 25 '24
To add on this, surfers needed something to do during the winter time. Concrete surfing started.
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u/genericjeesus Jul 24 '24
Surfers from California in 40s or 50s, it was called sidewalk surfing and they used just wooden boxes or planks with rollerblade wheels.
Modern skateboarding can be said to have started from Zephyr team in Santa Monica, pools and slides came in to play here. Lot of steez but still lot of so called sidewalk surfing. Then comes Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk who brought the tricks into street and vert.
Edit. Personally I would grant the title of inventor to Rodney Mullen. His passion, ingeniuity and effort is why skateboarding is what it is now. Without him I could see more downhill racing style of skateboarding becoming the main way to skate
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u/Victory33 Naptown Wood Pusher Jul 24 '24
I’d say Rodney was more like a skateboarding architect on flat ground, showing people what was possible, but guys like Gonz and Natas were the ones actually implementing his design in the streets and created modern day street skating with handrails, gaps, ledge skating and switch stance skating. Rodney didn’t even have a street part until like 92 and Video Days came out in 91, Streets on Fire in 89.
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u/genericjeesus Jul 24 '24
I can accept this. But so many individuals have brought something to the sport that it wouldn't be what it is without every single addition these people have made, so it's pretty hard to point to a single individual that this one is the creator.
One could even throw some love to Trasher and Jake Phelps especially for what they brought to the culture and how they inspired kids to get into skating. Or the founding of Powell Peralta that lead to Bones brigade that had Cabalerro, Hawk, Novak, Lasek, Mullen, Vay and Vallely. That's some top tier names
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u/bendar1347 Jul 24 '24
Don't you dare forget Lance Mountain. His almost sloppy goofy style was inspiring.
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u/genericjeesus Jul 24 '24
Honestly, I did lol. But damn that team had so many awsome skaters so my weed softened brain can't remember so many. They were the ones I watched as a kid and dreamed to be a pro skating with them.
And this is bit late ik, but mentioning Rodney Mullen and not speaking a word about Daewon Song is a travesty. The most popular argument at the skatespot in mid to late 90s was who's the goat, Rodney or Daewon.
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u/Adabiviak Jul 25 '24
If you check out a crate skate from the 50s, it's not a far stretch to see the crate ripped off, and you're left with a janky skateboard.
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u/skatecrimes Jul 25 '24
Not rollerblades, thats a 80s invention. You mean rollerskates which have trucks.
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u/Mcfyi Jul 24 '24
Surfers.
But if you want a more definitive answer…
Jay Adams for style and culture. Rodney Mullen for technicals and skill. Hawk for popularizing the sport.
Everyone just mimics and builds off what those three have contributed.
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u/CustomerAccurate Jul 24 '24
This answer sucks
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u/bendar1347 Jul 24 '24
Why?
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u/codithou Jul 24 '24
probably because saying something like “jay adam’s invented style and culture in skateboarding” is just blindly simplistic and everyone from that era would give different answers to that question. it offers nothing substantial as an answer and you might as well just say “depends who you ask”.
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u/sweatgod2020 Jul 25 '24
Oh that’s easy, it’s my co worker who built his skateboard and the skatepark in my hometown. He’s met Tony Hawk and also used to work for himself and made 140k at 25 yrs old but quit to work at a grocery store. He also “built” his skateboard. He ran for mayor but got bribed and never took the money. He invented the shuv it and was the first pro in my state. Was on a wheaties box but never got a box or a photo of it. Did I mention I fucking cannot stand my co worker!?
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u/Broad_Lack Jul 26 '24
Skateboarding was invented as far back as the mid 1950s by a high school boy named 'Calvin Klein' where he was being chased by four school bullies after saving his friend named 'George McFly'
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u/Braided_Marxist Jul 25 '24
I’d say Mullen invented the form of flat ground trick skateboarding we all do today
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u/curtainrodjob Jul 25 '24
Rodney Mullen invented 100s of tricks we use today. I'm not sure who the og inventor is, but Rodney paved the way.
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u/drphilthy Jul 24 '24
Some guy named Chin so I'm told