By L. Winslow
No doubt if you have kids you might be a little considered about them getting hurt and when they say that they want a skateboard, it might concern you. Perhaps you might like to know a bit about the history of skateboarding.
You see, there have been some reports that the first skateboards were literally 2 X 4 Boards strapped to wheels back during the turn of the century of the 1900s in the US. Roller Skates, which are a much older concept were used for the wheels, which were removed and re-mounted to the boards.
In the 50's there were actually people who put clay wheels on boards and attempted to ride them in places like California. Street or Sidewalk Surfing it was called. Sometimes people would take food crates and put wheels on them and go for it down paved roads and hills. It is hard to figure out who is the first person to put wheels on a straight board or plank.
Who knows maybe Leonardo da Vinci invented such a thing and it just never made it into one of his sketch books which was actually salvaged?
By the early 1960s skateboarding was becoming pretty popular and there were down hill racing contests like down hill skiing. Kids would practice and look forward to these things. There were free-style contests also and folks would do tricks and there were judges like ice skating. Of course their level of tricks were nothing compared to what kids can do today. Some of these home-made or rudimentary made skateboards were dangerous compared to today's surfboards.
The rubbery-plastic urethane wheels did not become available until the early 70s and in the late 70s skateboarders saw the first curved tails to help in pivoting tricks and maneuvers. The first skateboard parks also came into existence and gave the kids a place to practice and try-out new tricks.
In the 80s skateboarders would use video cameras to record their trick maneuvers and many of the free-style moves got more progressive and difficult. By the 90s it was totally out of control and extreme skateboarding helped increase the popularity. All of this fueled custom skateboard sales, shoe sales, sportswear and accessories. The industry was growing up and getting serious.
Today the modern skateboard is an engineering marvel with racing parts, exotic alloys, awesome graphics and specially designed components worthy of the latest fighter planes. Of course this is still only the beginning, as now there are high-tech skateboard video games and next comes Virtual Reality skateboarding simulators.
All these new technologies will add safety and fun for kids and so you as a parent should support your local skateboard park, the sport of skateboarding and your kid's new favorite pastime.
L. Winslow is a Technology Writer, Futurist Advisor to the Online Think Tank and a retired entreprenuer. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.
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