Category: Mystery
-
Patti – Kanoa Surf
A girl named “Patti” was documented by the photographer Albert Moote on June 20th, 1976 skateboarding “The Channell” in the Hollywood Hills area. She’s cruising around the banks, including one spray-painted with graffiti calling it “The Jammer’s Wall.” Before I noticed Patti’s name, I thought these were photos of Cara-Beth Burnside since she has a…
-
National Skateboard Review Mysteries
The skateboarding publication, The National Skateboard Review (1976-1979) by Di Dootson has provided a wealth of information for sourcing names of female skaters, their contest results, and photos. The challenge with following-up on a lead from the 1970s online and via social media is that it’s highly likely that names and pronouns have changed over…
-
Aina Maria Oliver
Mallorca (Majorca), Spain is a stunning island in the Mediterranean, and turns out there was a female skateboarder named Aina Maria Oliver (Campins) who would skate the local park called Tramuntana hosted by the town Santa Ponça in the municipality of Calvià, built in 1970. I’ve got a Facebook match, so hoping for some updates…
-
Equal Time Mystery Skaters
In the late 1980s, with the skateboarding industry promoting itself as a domain for men and boys, assuming that there was no point in marketing to girls and women, the zine Equal Time (1989 – 1992) by Lynn Kramer and then JoAnn Gillespie, was especially important. The zines were filled with letters, stories, drawings, rants,…
-
Bristol Girls Team
When the first UK National Championships was hosted at Crystal Palace in London (originally planned for July but delayed until August 10th, 1977 due to rain) there was no category for women and the female skaters from Bristol were not impressed. In the Evening News special report that was printed in September 1977 it was…
-
1960s News Clippings
At this point, all of these 1960s newspaper clippings feature “mystery” skaters! Give me a shout if you have more of the back story. Thanks in advance! And check out 1960s News Clippings Part 2 and 1970s News Clippings for more! Photo: found the original of Jim Argo’s photo of Alecia Chalmers and Deborah Martin…
-
Debbie Bragg
Auckland, New Zealand in 1978 opened up a kickass skatepark called Skatopia in the Manukau suburb, which was sponsored by Coca Cola. It emulated the park plans from Skatopia in the U.S. Sadly, it was demolished in 1982 but it was a training grounds for many Kiwi skaters while it lasted. Here’s a promo for…
-
Cheryl Thornton
Cheryl Thornton, age 12 from Fort Worth, Texas was competing against the boys at a skateboard contest in May 1977 and came 2nd in Freestyle! The photo was taken by Rodger Mallison showcasing Cheryl holding onto a laid-back handstand, which she received a trophy for. Photos of her competitors Michael Clay (14) and Jerome Willet…
-
Leigh Zaremba
This photo and article of Leigh Zaremba and Dee Jay Cobb is from spring 1959! Woah! It was featured in the May 29, 1959 issue of the Pasadena Independent, and it is the earliest photo of a woman on a skateboard that I have ever found (let alone anybody on a skateboard!). Found it a…
-
Karen Trimble
Karen Trimble of San Marcos, CA was a competitive freestyle skateboarder in the mid-1980s along with her brothers John and Terry. She was mentioned in passing within Terry’s Freestyle zine called GTurn and he published a photo of her practising kickflips in the November 1987 issue (Vol. 1 No. 2). She was featured in a…
Womxn Skateboard History 