Check my Instagram feed (ThePastParticiple) for assorted visual references of 1980s skating. It’s all raw photos (e.g. not professional pics) of average, everyday skaters. The ramps from that time period are nothing short of horrifying death traps.

Check my Instagram feed (ThePastParticiple) for assorted visual references of 1980s skating. It’s all raw photos (e.g. not professional pics) of average, everyday skaters. The ramps from that time period are nothing short of horrifying death traps.

I really enjoy your IG, thanks!

there's an archive up of early Skateboarder magazines if you're interested. i think it's worth checking out for the old gear alone but some of the photography is great too

https://www.skateboarding.com/tag/skateboarder-magazine-archives

Insane that TWS is hosting this, but they can't/won't get TWS archives posted.

Quote from: funeral_tuxedo on August 26, 2023, 03:33:36 PM

Expand Quote

there's an archive up of early Skateboarder magazines if you're interested. i think it's worth checking out for the old gear alone but some of the photography is great too

https://www.skateboarding.com/tag/skateboarder-magazine-archives

[close]

Insane that TWS is hosting this, but they can't/won't get TWS archives posted.

@Sedition I hope they finally do but TWS might not currently have the rights to their magazines to post an archive because of the of Men’s Health thing.

Basically if you skated in the 80s you were a “punk, drop out, gay, burnout, useless waste of space”. Expect to get jumped by stoners, metal heads, gangsters, jocks, preppies, rednecks, cops, and everyone else that didn’t skate for the most part.
 Skating wasn’t something many were doing, so when you did see someone skating it was automatic brotherhood. Didn’t matter if they ripped or sucked, they were in the battle with you. If they came to your town or vise versa you’d have spots, a crew, and more likely than not, a place to stay.

A skateboard was a big, blaring sign saying ‘harass me’.

At the time, team sports were kinda the highest ideal for a kid. The whole ‘teamwork, sportsmanship, being in a group and most of all, RULES’.
All of this was HEAVILY pushed in all media.

Skateboarding was a reviled subculture specifically because it was that antagonistic to team sports, and was anti-rule. That’s exactly why you had it attract all these people who felt they didn’t fit into regular society. Especially the anti-social, emotionally self-destructive ones. They were the gnarliest skaters. And we celebrated them.

Of course, you weren’t expected to skateboard past high school-it was strictly a kids toy, not something adults did.

But it took dedication. Skateboards weren’t easy to come by, you found about boards from the one bookstore in town that some a skateboard magazine, and you’d stare are the mini catalogs of boards in the back of the mag that the shops would post. Then, if you were lucky to go to a big city and your parents had enough money, you could get one of those rare set-ups and hold onto it for years.

The other part of the dedication was the ostracizing. The low-level stuff AND the threat of violence. It was not accepted , It was serious, and I even got jumped once or twice.

It was a weird time. The 90’s changed in significant ways I might get into later.

But the kids now have it good, I’m happy for them.

FACTS.

Check my Instagram feed (ThePastParticiple) for assorted visual references of 1980s skating. It’s all raw photos (e.g. not professional pics) of average, everyday skaters. The ramps from that time period are nothing short of horrifying death traps.

Yo, love your insta even though you never posted any of my sick photos I sent through.  Can't win em all.


Love looking back at how much has changed as skatings aged.  I distinctly remember talking to my mum & sister when I was probably around 14 and they were saying I wont be skating when i'm 50, to which I replied 'there's only no old dudes skating because there's no generation before that grew up skating'.  I'm pretty close to proving them wrong.  Skating was so maligned and lumped with something you should stop doing when you're 10 back when it started that it'd be hard to relate to the shit you were given as a teenager in the suburbs skating in the 80s or even 90s.  Guys throwing stuff at you out of cars, chasing you through the neighbourhood, old people abusing you, not for skating a spot, just for skating at all. 


I have a distinct memory of me and my friend sitting on our boards outside of McDonalds and it was an endless parade of people giving us shit, and we kinda loved it.  I'm sure that's relatable to teens of any generation, but it was pretty over the top back then.  Other kids at school hated you for skating, and it really didn't help with the girls.  But, it was ours and we took ownership of it and it helped define who we were in a beige landscape of surburban dudes playing football.  So many great memories, such a great way to spend your childhood. 


Anyway, i'm still doin' it, still dogshit, still love it.

Quote from: Sedition on August 24, 2023, 06:13:33 AM

Expand Quote

Check my Instagram feed (ThePastParticiple) for assorted visual references of 1980s skating. It’s all raw photos (e.g. not professional pics) of average, everyday skaters. The ramps from that time period are nothing short of horrifying death traps.

[close]

Love looking back at how much has changed as skatings aged.  I distinctly remember talking to my mum & sister when I was probably around 14 and they were saying I wont be skating when i'm 50, to which I replied 'there's only no old dudes skating because there's no generation before that grew up skating'.  I'm pretty close to proving them wrong.  Skating was so maligned and lumped with something you should stop doing when you're 10 back when it started that it'd be hard to relate to the shit you were given as a teenager in the suburbs skating in the 80s or even 90s.  Guys throwing stuff at you out of cars, chasing you through the neighbourhood, old people abusing you, not for skating a spot, just for skating at all. 


I have a distinct memory of me and my friend sitting on our boards outside of McDonalds and it was an endless parade of people giving us shit, and we kinda loved it.  I'm sure that's relatable to teens of any generation, but it was pretty over the top back then.  Other kids at school hated you for skating, and it really didn't help with the girls.  But, it was ours and we took ownership of it and it helped define who we were in a beige landscape of surburban dudes playing football.  So many great memories, such a great way to spend your childhood. 


Anyway, i'm still doin' it, still dogshit, still love it.

WELL SAID.

^^^^ Great post.

Great thread,  great posts, I just found out that it exists. Thanks y'all for sharing those stories.

I started around 92-93 in a small German town far away from anything Californian, no skateshops, ramps/obstacles, nothing. My first skateboard was a hand me down from an older local, must have been between around 10inch width, square tail, and the best bearings ever, wheels would spin for minutes (shout out Max). I landed my first kickflip on that board and I am still proud of that. Next thing I know is my older brother brought home a catalog from a sports shop somewhere in Germany that carried skateboards (Gerich). We would order our first 'new school' boards, I got a Martinez Element and I think my brother got a Gino 101, but could also be that he got that later. Shit was exciting, we were outcasts but a real band of brothers. One time the homie broke his leg on a schoolyard and the janitor, who was also my neighbor, refused to call an ambulance because he hated us so much. Good times.

Anyway, for me the change from wide to narrow deck came just as I started skating. I barely witnessed it and did not have to adjust my skating much. I am wondering how that change was for you guys that were into skating a bit longer already. Did you welcome the change to smaller boards or did you hold on to your big boards as long as they were available? 91-93 seems like such a radical change to skating and I would love to hear some experiences of that time.

I started around 92-93 in a small German town...

I run that ThePastParticiple feed on Instagram...and my most favorite pics there are the ones that come out of Germany. They are so raw, real, and pure.

I started to peep your feed recently, so much good stuff. Hope you keep it up, it is such am incredible archive of us normies.

Thank you for the kind words!