Category: Mystery
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Resistance
On a day like today, it’s tempting to be consumed with disgust, rage, and fear. My heart breaks for those who are being targeted specifically for their immigration status, their race, sexuality, gender, and those brave individuals who chose right over wrong in relation to January 6th in condemning terrorist behaviour, now deemed permissible. How…
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Shaunda Shane
Filling a void in the representation of black female skaters in skateboarding history is critical, and it helps when you’ve got Clyde Singleton, Tony Hawk, journalists, newspapers and public librarians collaborating! The search for Shaunda Shane of Fayetteville is seriously the most heart-warming story. It all began when The Black Archives published a batch of…
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Halloween 1977
This little badass Skate Witch is 6-year-old Erin Oakes from Vancouver, Canada who ripped around on her skateboard on Halloween in 1977!! The photo was taken by her dad, Ken Oakes and published in The Vancouver Sun newspaper (Nov. 1, 1977). Ken Oakes was a photographer who worked for the newspaper, as well as contributed…
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Yuka
This is Yuka [ ゆか ] skating freestyle in Japan in 1990, and I’m determined to learn more about her! Using Google translate and google.jp I stumbled upon this photo from a Japanese skater’s blog from 2006-2011. The caption under Yuka’s photo translates to: “Yuka is a genius female freestyler… She also won top prizes…
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Child Prodigies 1970s
Child prodigy skateboarders are fascinating, especially today in this highly visible realm of competition leading up to the Olympics. Back in the 1960s, since skateboarding was essentially branded a child’s toy, the majority of skaters were kids, while in the 1970s most of the sponsored pros were teenagers. There’s several names of youngsters that appear…
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1970s News Clippings
Just like the 1960s New Clippings feature, all of these skateboarders are “mysteries,” so please reach out if someone is familiar as I’m always grateful for a little backstory. Names, newspapers and dates all listed below. Back to Top
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New York mystery 1978
In Skateboard World magazine for December 1978, there’s an article about the scene in New York called, “Skating in the Big Apple” by Mark Diamond and Charles Feldman. In Brooklyn, there was a team called “Performance Skateboard” which met up at Prospect Park, even though it wasn’t an actual skateboard park, and more of just…
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Badass Barefoot skaters
It takes a certain level of confidence to skateboard barefoot, but back in the 1960s and 1970s many preferred it, especially those with a background in surfing. This era was also pre-grip tape, so it was more likely that surf wax or adhesive spray was applied to boards, as described in this article by Jenkem…
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Francine Hill
Francine Hill was one of the photographed skateboarders who appeared in Cindy Berryman’s fantastic article, “Let’s hear it for the ladies” which was published in the August 1976 issue of Skateboarder, rallying for support (including equal contest pay) for the growing talent of female riders. Francine is taking a tight turn in a 9-foot deep…
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Amy Paul
Back in the 1980s, when a female skater heard rumour of another girl who skated, they were destined to meet! This was the situation for KZ Zapata, author of the zine Push, Push, then Go! when she first met Amy Paul in San Francisco, at a famous spot called “The Dish” in Hunter’s Point which…
Womxn Skateboard History 