In 1958 the skateboard is made from roller skates attached to a board. This is really where it all starts as surfing becomes more popular, skating becomes a way to surf when there are no wave as they would call it “sidewalk surfing.”  In 1959 the company “Roller Derby” mass produces a skateboard with metal wheels. In 1963-66 Surfboard companies like Makaha and Hobie start making better-quality skateboards with clay wheels and trucks that are made for skating. The first skate contest is put on in Hermosa Beach, California, in 1963. In 1964, the musical group Jan and Dean appear on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and sing “Sidewalk Surfing.” Dean does a few simple tricks and rides the board across the stage.

Around this time Surfer magazine puts out a quarterly magazine called Skateboarders. Only four issues are printed. This same year ABC Wide World of Sports broadcasts the Skateboarding Championships. In 1973 the invention of urethane wheels new possibilities emerge. What once was a noisy bumpy ride is now smooth and silent. Banks and ditches become skateable as these new wheels can grip the concrete. Surfers like Larry Bertlemann inspire a new and radical form of skating, as surfing begins to turn toward a shorter board with more fluid moves. From this point on, skating will never be the same 

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