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Have Board Will Travel

The Definitive History of Surf, Skate, and Snow
by Jamie Brisick
Harper Collins

This book tries to tackle the history of surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding in a timeline fashion, starting with the introduction of surfing to Hawaii by the Polynesians in 500AD. That sounds pretty overwhelming, but it’s not…this is just a really a photobased coffee table book, and it goes though the basics very quickly.

By page 20, we get to skating, and the standard story is told…surfers put rollerskate wheels on a 2’ x 4’ when the waves were flat, urethane wheels are created, Dogtown takes over, skateparks explode, tricks are invented, and the whole movement goes underground. You know the drill. Snowboarding is brought into the picture around 1980 (although, some props for having a Snurfer ad sneak in around 1964) and quickly takes the standard route as well.

There are a few great photos (nice sequence of Alan ‘Ollie’ Gelfand, some great mid 80’s Natas and Gonz shots, and a classic early 90’s group photo featuring huge pants, bearing cover size wheels and a pre-teen Andrew Reynolds). Past that, this book is probably too basic for most skaters to really get stoked on. If you’re looking for a gift to give to a young kid just starting out, you might consider this book. But I’d just get a copy of Dogtown and Z-Boys instead.

A small logo on the top left corner of the book’s cover proclaims “Quiksilver Limited Edition”. My guess is that this book will be on the front counter of every Quiksilver store in the country, an impulse buy for the trendy kid or older hipster who just picked up a new T-shirt for casual Friday. That sounds about right.

by Chris

08/15

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