Since 1987 there has been a search going on for the quasi-mythological godfather of skating, Won Ton 'Animal' Chin. It has become the stuff of skateboarding legend and inside jokes. As for Animal Chin himself, we are only given brief views of the shadowy figure of t…
Animal Chin Has Finally Been Found (and it's Craig Stecyk)
Since 1987 there has been a search going on for the quasi-mythological godfather of skating, Won Ton 'Animal' Chin. It has become the stuff of skateboarding legend and inside jokes. As for Animal Chin himself, we are only given brief views of the shadowy figure of t…
Locals Only: The Origins of the Iconic Dogtown Cross
Few logos rank as high up on the index of the culture of skateboarding than does the famous Dogtown cross. The logo itself is made up of a simple cross and frequently emanating from behind it are wings, rays of light, sometimes lightning bolts, a sun-like disc, and other su…
Converse Chucks -- An Iconic Skate Shoe of the Eighties
For whatever reason I have been thinking a lot about Converse Chucks lately. Now everyone knows the place that Vans and its shoes have in skate culture; it is uncontested and goes back to skateboarding's roots. (Certainly, when I was a kid, the iconic Vans logo was bur…
Review: A Secret History of the Ollie. Volume 1: The 1970's
For the past while now I've been working my way through the weighty tome, A Secret History of the Ollie , written by Craig B. Snyder. The book caught my attention early on when I heard various skateboard pros make reference to it in interviews.
Now the present rediscover…
The Most Culturally Important Skateboards of the 70's, 80's and early 90's
In a previous article on the subject of the Most Iconic Skateboards of the 1980's , I tried to come up with a rationale and list of those boards that had the widest popular familiarity and thus could be considered iconic. As noted then, this wasn't to say that these …
Vintage Skaterock
I had the distinct pleasure of being sent a copy of Dr. Skaterock's Vintage Skaterock book that was released a few years back. To be honest I had really no idea what to expect from the book. The subtitle of the book is, "Skateboard Music of the 1960s and 1970s.&qu…
Pushead and Zorlac
When I was in the seventh or eighth grade I used to draw this graphic over and over and over. It must have appeared in every binder I had and also some of my friends lockers. I was always interested in drawing and art from a young age, and I think the way it got started i…
Vintage 80's Roskopp
One of the aspects I used to really appreciate on a number of older online skate sites was their "eBay watch" feature. I'm not even sure anyone is doing these anymore. Maybe things have moved far enough along beyond the initial collecting craze -- when these …
Rare Non-Dogtown Wes Humpston "Kona Boys" Deck
The following images present a view of one of Wes Humpston's rare, non-Dogtown designs of the 1970's: a "Kona Boys" deck art ridden by and made for Gunmar Haugo. The image quality is unfortunately not that great as it comes from a video still from the 1980…
Jay Adams by Glen E. Friedman
Typically I have used the site proper here for written pieces and social media for photo posts, but when it comes to the photos of Glen E. Friendman, that's a whole other story because they are a story in and of themselves. Glen's Instagram page is sharing some amaz…
Not Quite Bootlegs
Back in the day, we didn't have internet so you couldn't just pop online like you can now and check out the latest offerings of skateshops from Venice Beach to Europe -- and it was the same for punk albums and the like as well. (I remember how big of a deal it was …
80's Skate Punk Posters
Skate Culture is so rich. Here are some old zine like concert posters from the 80's Venice Punk Rock Facebook page, showcasing some of the early promotional posters for punk shows in the Venice area. Most are from the epic skate punk band, Suicidal Tendencies but other…
Sean Cliver "Unless II" Deck from Paisley Skates
There is some really great new skate art coming out these days. We recently showed Andy Jenkins new Jason Lee 'Grinch Feast' deck put out by Primewood L.A., and continuing on with this Dr. Seuss theme, Sean Cliver and Paisley Skates have now released this little g…
Grind: The Graphics and Culture of Skateboarding (1995)
When did the first exhibitions of skate art and skate culture begin to take place? I don't proclaim to have the answer to that -- though it would be interesting to research it. However, one thing that can be said for certain is that it was at least as early as the autu…
Old School Dogtown Decks
Sometimes you don't need much in the way or words. Just images. Here are some old school images showing old school Dogtown Skates boards as designed and drawn by Wes Humpston and Jim Muir.
Early 1980's Skate Punk from Oxnard: Agression
It has been awhile since we have covered off any skate music, so let's remedy that right now. Agression was originally an Oxnard, California based skate punk band that started up in the early 1980's. Three of their members originally skated for Sims.
The cover of …
Impressions of "Made in Venice"
I was privileged to receive a copy of Made in Venice today. As many will know, Made in Venice is a recently released documentary film which chronicles the rise of the Venice Beach skate-park with a particular focus on the efforts of pro-skateboarder and Venice local, Jesse…
New Board Art: Jason Lee 'Grinch Feast' by Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins was responsible for the art and design of the original Jason Lee 'Grinch' board which needs no introduction here. It is one of the most iconic boards of the 1990's -- and also one of the most collectible today. Interestingly, Jenkins himself consid…
Treasures of the NHS Secret (Skateboard) Archives: Natas Art
Everyone knows Sean Cliver. Sean was one of the artists who came on board with Powell Peralta in the late 1980's and is responsible for graphics like the Ray Barbee "Rag Doll" and Steve Cabellero's "Ban This" deck -- not to mention numerous othe…
Most Iconic Skateboards of the 1980's?
There have been others who have created lists (always a risky business) of the most iconic skateboards of the 1980's of course, but let's face it, these things are rather subjective -- and I am going to put it out there right from the get-go: my list will be no dif…
