History of Surfing

The history of surfing is shrouded in the mists of time, as the origins of surfing are unknown.

The art of surfing was first observed by Europeans in 1767, by the crewmembers of the Dolphin at Tahiti.

Later, Jackson Crane, an American serving under explorer Captain Cook, was the first American

to witness surfing, in Hawaii in 1778.

Surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture. The chief was the most skilled wave rider

in the community with the best board made from the best tree. The ruling class had the best beaches

and the best boards, and the commoners were not allowed on the same beaches, but they could

gain prestige by their ability to ride the surf on their extremely heavy boards.

When the missionaries from Scotland and Germany arrived in 1821, they forbade or discouraged many

Polynesian traditions and cultural practices, including, on Hawaii, leisure sports such as

surfing and holua sledding. By the 20th century, surfing, along with other traditional practices,

had all but disappeared. Only a small number of Hawaiians continued to

practice the sport and the art of crafting boards.

Modern Surfing

Around the beginning of the 20th century, Hawaiians living close to Waikiki began to revive surfing,

possibly in protest to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and soon re-established

surfing as a sport. Duke Kahanamoku,

"Ambassador of Aloha," Olympic medalist, and avid waterman, helped expose surfing to the world.

Kahanamoku's role was later memorialized by a 2002 first class letter rate postage stamp

of the United States Postal Service

Author Jack London wrote about the sport after having attempted surfing on his visit

to the islands. Surfing progressed tremendously in the 20th century, through innovations in board

design and ever increasing public exposure.

Surfing's development and culture was centered primarily in three locations: Hawaii, Australia, and California.

Until the 1960s, it had only a small following even in those areas. The release of the film

Gidget boosted the sport's popularity immensely, moving surfing from an underground culture into

a national fad and packing many surf breaks with sudden and

previously unheard of crowds. B-movies and music based on surfing and Southern California beach culture

(Beach Party films) as it exploded, formed most of the world's first ideas of surfing and surfers.

This conception was revised again in the 1980s, with newer mainstream portrayals of surfers represented

by characters like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Regardless of its usually erroneous portrayal in the media, true surfing culture continued to evolve

quietly by itself, changing decade by decade. From the 1960s fad years to the creation and evolution

of the short board in the late 60s and early 70s to the performance hotdogging of the neon-drenched 1980s

and the epic professional surfing of the 1990s (typified by Kelly Slater, the "Michael Jordan of Surfing").

Surfing Documentaries have been one of the main ways in which surfing culture grows and replenishes itself,

not just as a sport but as an art form, the style and quality of surf films have often tracked well the evolution of the sport.