Old School Skateboards

Old School Skateboards by Frank Freund Sr.

Vintage skate­boards from the old school skate­boarding era are very colle­ctible. The earliest are from the 60s and have clay or metal wheels. They were only six or seven inches wide, shaped like surfb­oards and were const­ructed of wood.

Skate­boards from the 70s featured urethane wheels and most had poly or fiber­glass decks. The popular decks were made of maple plywood. These skate­boards started incor­porating trucks and are similar to today’s styles.

The 80s brought creative artwork to the boards and are very popular with colle­ctors today. Top skate­boarders of the time designed their own skate­boards and even produced some in limited editions. These obviously are harder to find and the most sought after.


Look for skate­boards that were popular in their era. Stacy Peralta was one of the early skate­board pros and sold his designs under the brand Powell Peralta. These boards are very popular with colle­ctors but very difficult to find.

When purch­asing skate­boards as colle­ctables, condition is very impor­tant. The most prized are those that can still be used and have clean bright graphics. If you like the look and feel of vintage skate­boards used during the old school skate­boarding era but just can’t afford the high price; you might want to consider purch­asing a reissue skate­board.

A Bit of Skate­boarding History:

• ’60: Surf Guide actively promotes skate­boarding while surfers skate­board in the streets when surf is down.

• ’63: Makaha, Larry Steve­nson’s company, designs the first pro skate­board. He forms a skate­board team to promote the sport.

• ’64: Skate­boarders start using empty swimming pools as bowls and Hobie skate­boards are intro­duced to the public.

• ’65: Quarterly Skate­boarder magazine creates pheno­menal interest in skate­boarding. Team demos and inter­national contests are created.

• ’65 – Early ‘70s: Due to the number of accidents skate­boards are banned in most cities.

• ’73: Better products are intro­duced creating a second boom.

• ’75: There are now millions of skate­boarders and new magazines hit the newss­tands. Precision wheel bearings are invented.

• ’76: Cool graphics are used on skate­board decks and skate parks are devel­oped.

• ’78: The infamous OLLIE is invented by Alan Gelfand.

• ’80: Skate parks start closing due to high insurance rates. This inspires backyard half pipes and ramps.

• Late ‘80s: Skate­boarders start their own corpo­rations and new pros start earning big bucks.