The History of Surfing - Part 3 - The Innovators

Part 3 - The Innovators

In part two of the series we saw the revival of surfing, emerging from obscurity to germinate new surfing communities around the world, primarily in Hawaii, America and Australia. These small pockets of surf culture began to grow, naturally taking on characteristics of their own, morphing to suit the local coastlines and customs.

As Earth rotated onwards into the 1920’s surfing began to revolutionise itself. The invention of the motor vehicle birthed the (now classic and well documented) idea of the Californian road trip. As surfers became mobile enough to travel up and down the State, exploring the coastline and discovering new waves, the culture evolved and took on it’s own character and meaning. Groups of surfers began to turn away from traditional societal expectations in favour of exploring, travelling and surfing. Tom Blake and Sam Reid, both Santa Monica lifeguards, took a trip up north to Malibu where it was rumoured there was a stretch of coast where waves were going unridden. They jumped fences in order to ride the steeper, faster waves of Malibu for the first time in modern surfing history.

Blake travelled to Hawaii for the first time in 1924 where the locals had heard of him, as, like Duke Kahanamoku, he was a relatively famous competitive swimmer. Through swimming he knew the Kahanamoku family, including Sam (Duke’s brother after a very brief marriage at age 23) and had few friends. A quiet and damaged figure he introduced the idea that surfing could be a refuge and relief from the big bad world. He introduced the idea to surfers of the time that you could live a healthy and fulfilling life by doing what you wanted, by living simply, by exploring, by going surfing. Arguably that is a greater contribution to surfing and it’s history than any of the above.

The History of Surfing Series

This article is the third in a series that we are penning about the history of surfing and the surf industry. Stay tuned for the next instalment...

Part 1 - Origins
Part 2 - Growth and Spread  
Part 4 - Technology 
Part 5 - Maliboom
Part 6 - An Industry? 
Part 7 - Culture Shock  
Part 8 - Going Global  
Part 9 - Trust the Thrust  
Part 10 - You Should Have Been Here Yesterday 
Part 11 - About Time 
Part 12 - Bigger, Better, Slater