SurfPedia™
History of Surfing
by Skip Snead
1961
*Airfare to Hawaii cost $75.00
*United States Surfing Association (USSA) is founded.
*Gidget Goes Hawaiian is released.
*John Severson's Big Wednesday is released.
*Dick Dale is well on his way to becoming King of the Surf Guitar.
1962
*Surf-O-Rama, the first-ever surf industry Trade Show,
is held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and showed the world
there was a marketplace for surfing goods, equipment and apparel.
*John Severson's Going My Wave is released.
*Bruce Brown's Surfing Hollow Days is released.
*Walt Phillips Psyche Out is released.
1963
*Surf bands, inspired by the Beach Boys and Dick Dale,
pop up everywhere across the United States.
*The Chantays most famous song, Pipeline, races to 4th on the Pop
Charts.
*Hobie releases the first "signature" model surfboard and
surfer Phil Edwards is credited for being the first professional surfer.
*Foam "popout" model is introduced.
*Bruce Brown begins working on a surf movie project called The Endless
Summer.
1964
*Frankie and Annette star in Muscle Beach Party.
*Time Magazine runs an article called "Shooting the Tube"
that's about surfers as their own breed with their own style of dress
and lingo.
*Surfing Magazine is born.
*The Beatles spearhead the British Invasion and surf music rapidly
declines in popularity.
*"Trestle Special" surfboard is introduced by Rich Harbour.
*Ride the Wild Surf is released.
*November. Greg Noll rides one of the most famous waves ever caught
at Pipeline. He takes off way outside, rides all the way through to
the inside and falls flat on his face. A photo of Noll is taken as
he stands on the beach with his patented black and white striped trunks
and quickly becomes one of the most famous surfing photos in history.
*Midget Farreley wins the First World Contest held at Manly Beach,
Sydney, NSW, Australia to become the sport of surfing's first world
champion.
*Jim Freeman's Let There Be Surf is released.
1965
*World Contest held at Punta Rocas, Peru in 10- to
12-foot waves. Aside from the fact that this woke the world up to
large surf outside of Hawaii, a Peruvian surfer named Felipe Pomar
beat then-legend Australian Nat Young by one point.
*Teen surfing sensation Jeff Hakman, from California, wins the Duke
Invitational in Hawaii.
*Hollywood reaches ridiculous new heights with the release of Frankie
and Annette in Beach Blanket Bingo.
*Bing "Pipeliner" surfboard model introduced by Hawaii's
Dick Brewer.
*Hanson "Hustler" surfboard model is introduced.
1966
*January 23. Damien Hardman is born in Australia.
*Nat Young from Australia wins the World Surfing Championships in
San Diego, CA.
*June 16. Professional surfing champion Mark Occhilupo is born in
Australia.
*Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is released nationwide.
*Greg Noll introduces the "Da Cat" surfboard model by Miki
Dora.
1967
*Australia's Nat Young ignites the shortboard revolution
after being photographed ripping on a chopped-down version of the
longboard at Honolua Bay on Maui.
*Australia's Bob McTavish introduces his patented "Deep V"
surfboard design.
*Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing and Olympic gold medallist,
dies at 76.
*Miki Dora makes his final appearance at a surf contest during the
Malibu Invitational Surf Classic. On his final wave, he drops his
shorts and BA's the judges and entire beach, becoming the first real
rebel of the sport of surfing. The rebellion also sparks an underground
anti-media movement within the surfing world.
1968
*In one short year, the Shortboard Revolutions hits
full speed, as longboards become a thing of the past.
*Twenty-year-old Gerry Lopez starts surfing Pipeline regularly.
*Fred Hemmings Jr. edges out Midget Farreley to win the World Championships
in Puerto Rico.
*Corky Carroll wins inaugural Smirnoff Pro-Am in Santa Cruz, CA.
1969
*President Richard Nixon occupies the Western White
House overlooking Cottons Point at Trestles, and the military declares
surfing off-limits to the public. Although a few lucky surfers freely
ride the waves, hundreds of surfers have their boards confiscated
and/or are arrested.
*Hobie Surfboards introduces the "Formula 1" model by Malibu
great Johnny Fain.
*Rolf Aurness, son of TV's James "Gunsmoke" Aurness, is
the hot new thing at Malibu.
*Dick Brewer releases his "Rhino Chaser" gun and the boards
are quickly accepted by Hawaii's growing big wave surfing population.
*Big swell hits California and Hawaii that all other swells will be
judged by.
