“Gremlins and Sandies in New Craze - Roller Boarding” - 1964

“Dry land board riding – it’s a new twist to the surfing craze.”

 “A tricky corner can be as dangerous as the Banzai Pipeline!”

 “How do you get with the latest surfing craze when you haven’t got a surfboard?”

 A cinema and TV newsreel dug up from the bowels of British Pathé by Ian “Private Eye” Lording – and be sure to turn up the volume for the plummy voiceover.

FROM THE CURATOR’S NOTES:

Australia - Date found in the old record - 30/01/1964.

Various shots of the youngsters showing off their new craze of 'roller boarding' which is good practice for surf boarding. A small piece of wood with two little rollers fixed on the bottom and they just roll down any convenient slope. 

ONE OF THE STARS ADDED THIS COMMENT TO THE BP WEBSITE IN 2004:

This roller boarding footage was shot in Alexander & Kenneth Streets at Bondi (now Tamarama). It is of myself, Joanne Maslin, and my childhood friends Lyn Abberton, Noelene O'Neill, Robyn Hindle, Meryl Shine, John Moore, Tony Atkinson and Kevin Hindle. It was shown on the news on TV and also in cinemas. We had metal roller skates that strapped on over our sneakers and comprised of two sliding pieces joined with a wingnut, which enabled them to be made bigger or smaller depending on your foot size. We would separate the two pieces and nail them to a piece of wood to make what is now known as a skateboard.

CHECK IT OUT HERE