The history of surfing culture in the 1950s and 1960s

Surfing

The Modern History and Cultural Impact of Surfing

Surfing is typically connected in modern popular culture to the surge in visibility which initiated in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and which escalating into the enormous industry which impacts the areas of professional sporting, fashion design and product branding. However, its history stretches back many millennia, indeed well beyond the first recorded history of the activity. It should perhaps not be thought of as surprising that the instinct to surf has come naturally over the course of evolution amongst those civilizations accustomed to coastal dwelling. To this end, an account by one Lt. King, second in command to the recently killed Captain James Cook, records what is generally regarded as the first evidence of surfing as it appeared to the European expedition upon the Hawaiian Islands. A compelling demonstration of the primal simplicity of surfing, King's description of the recreational activity as engaged by the men of the local tribes identifies it as fairly identical to the sport we know today. According to King's report, "the men sometimes 20 or 30 go without the Swell of the Surf, & lay themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about their Size and breadth, they keep their legs close on top of it, & their Arms are us'd to guide the plank, they wait the time of the greatest Swell that sets on Shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top, it sends them in with a most astonishing Velocity, & the great art is to guide the plan so as always to keep it in a proper direction on the top of the Swell" (Marcus, 1)

Most assuredly, this directs our attention to the striking similarities in the activity both during its first discovery by European travelers and during what would eventually be its period of greatest cultural prominence in the mid-20th century. Indeed, evidence demonstrates that the first encounter of the Europeans with surfing in the South Pacific would actually mark the initial decline in popularity of an activity that had thrived in the culture of Polynesia, Hawaii and the ocean-locked territories stretching from the Asian mainland to as far as New Zealand. Indeed, though the arrival of white men would bring massive cultural changes to these places which would reduce the prevalence of surfing, the centuries prior appear to have stimulated a close connection in Hawaiian culture especially between surfing, tribal rank, religious ceremony and even cultural popularity. (Marcus, 2)

It is especially the latter of these opportunities that attracts our interest. This is because in spite of its waning prevalence during the 19th and early 20th century, America's passion for the sport would achieve its greatest levels just as America itself had its first encounter with a counterculture. Indeed, those who gravitated toward the activity on the coasts of California garnered a certain reputation that would help to refine the image of the American surfer. According to Gault-Williams (2005), "although traditional Hawaiian surfing had been thoroughly integrated in that society prior to European contact, the surf culture that came over after surfing's revival at the beginning of the century was outside mainstream America. Mainland surfing in the 1920s and '30s attracted the same kind of rogues, rascals and rebels that it continues to attract today." (Gault-Williams, 1)

It is thus that surfing would initially begin to gain in prominence in connection to a rebellious younger generation already noted for its excesses of loud jazz music and defiance of prohibition. Surfing would be an only quietly noted distraction for the youth culture now coming to demonstrate America's first generation gap. Thereafter, with the return of soldiers from World War II and their initiation of the baby boomer generation would instigate yet another generation gap, this time coinciding with America's 1959 acquisition of Hawaii as the 50th state. This would be perhaps the single most catalyzing event by which surfing came to be viewed as a distinctly American popular cultural phenomenon.

The internal focus on America's economy at this juncture also produced a new inflection point where mass production, consumerism and technology were concerned. The mounting preoccupation of America's youth with surfing would, for the new generations coming of age at this time, become less a counterculture and more mainstream as a recreational activity. As Eglington (2004) would remark, "the sport exploded in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when cheaper, more maneuverable, and lighter boards made of fiberglass and foam became available and the teenaged baby boomers headed to the beach in droves to enjoy the maneuverability and stunts made possible by the new boards." (Eglington, 1)

The result was what could be regarded as a momentary fixation on surfing and all of its cultural conceits. During the earliest part of the 1960s, surfing could even be thought of as a fad for those in the mainstream who were inspired by its fashion and its rebellious attitude. Among the features of the culture that would be embraced were new styles of bathing suit, including longer 'board shorts' amongst men and bikini tops amongst women. Another feature distinct to the culture would be the adoption of the 'Woody' as the car of choice for transporting surfers and their boards to the beach. The long, wood-paneled station wagon facilitated the roof-racking of boards and could seat upwards of 6 passengers.

Beyond these features, surfing seems most to have left its stamp from this era for its prominent role in a series of kitschy films that, though dated, are still affectionately perceived for their part in helping to extend the visibility of the sport. This is a part that would be initiated with a film that perhaps by no coincidence was released in the same year as the acquisition of Hawaii. Marcus (2003) tells of "a young surfer girl named Gidget who was immortalized in a book by her father and then in the movie that bears her name. Gidget the movie brought surfing to international attention for the first time. Then came the Beach Blanket Bingo movies." (Marcus, 1)

The beach party movie become an important popular film category for this brief time, with such movies generating considerable youth interest. To the point, it may even be said that such movies helped to touch of a brief surfing craze. The films placed the fashion, lingo, hand-gestures and especially the music of the surfing culture into a place of greater visibility, extending the appeal of this artifacts outside of the sport itself. The music is perhaps the finest example of this, with surf music coming to occupy an important part in the popular sound of the time. Musicians such as Dick Dale and his Deltones, the Surfaris and the Ventures would emerge from the surf culture as progenitors of a tubular, eastern inflected guitar style that would influence a great many rock virtuosos in the years to follow. And combos like the Beach Boys used the cultural conceits and topical interest of surfing to drive an identity which would thus function as a pointedly American counterpoint to the Beatles.