SURF CITY EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Museum of Sydney
September 2011 – March 2012
Surf City takes to the beaches of the 1950s, 60s and 70s and shows how a scruffy-haired bunch of boardriders and beachgoers left an indelible mark on sun-drenched Sydney. Throughout these 3 decades, surfers, shapers, writers, stirrers and everyday salts upended conservative attitudes and inspired an ethic of freedom and hedonism. As surfboards grew from toothpicks to malibus to arrow-like speedboards, and eventually morphed into radical shortboards, the vibe and vitality of surf culture snuck under the skin of Australian life.
EXHIBITION PRODUCTION TEAM
Gary Crockett
Kate Bruxner
Peter Burne
Kieran Larkin
Rhiain Hull
Beau Vandenberg
Alice Livingstone
Justin Maynard
Caroline Lorentz
Susie Sedgwick
Michael Power
Duncan Harrex
Pat Macan
Tim Girling-Butcher
Susie Sedgwick
1945-1960 : STIRRING UP TROUBLE
At the end of World War II Sydneysiders hit the road and headed back to the coast. Returned soldiers and eager youngsters joined regimental lifesaving clubs, paddling giant hollow longboards, or ‘toothpicks’, and patrolling crowded beaches. A handful of eager ‘boardmen’, however, were surfing for pleasure.
Lightweight and agile American malibus arrived in 1956, bringing a radical change in boardriding and surf culture. Films of surfers on hair-raising waves abroad and the sugary teen-flick Gidget soon followed, stirring up trouble and sparking a hunger for adventure.
Back to the beaches
After World War II Australia’s so-called ‘way of life’ left the outback and headed to the coast. Barbed wire, tank traps and sandbag defences were cleared from Sydney’s beaches and wartime rationing was lifted. The FX Holden, Australia’s first people’s car, hit the road in 1948, and the new 40-hour working week gave many Australians a full weekend off. Almost overnight, leisure and mobility became a cultural birthright.
As surf-starved Sydneysiders drifted back to the beaches, membership of lifesaving clubs increased. The blokey club culture appealed to returned soldiers, while youngsters were drawn by sun-tanned bodies, the healthy lifestyle and new-found freedoms. Throughout the 1950s, magazines, books, tourism campaigns and advertisements shimmered with images of surfers, seaside pleasures and sun-loving families.
Surfing for pleasure
For most beachgoers, surfing usually meant skylarking in waves on rubber surfoplanes or being tumbled in crowded shore breaks along well-patrolled swimming zones. However, around 1945 small groups of dedicated toothpick riders began to ride their surfboards for pleasure and thrills, distinguishing themselves from the revered and heroic lifesavers.
While a breakaway Surfboard Association proved to be short-lived, some lifesaving clubs, including Maroubra, did admit boardriding groups. Not so welcome was the larrikin behaviour of the so-called ‘Cornel Wilde boys’, a mob of surfers who hung around the boardwalk at Bondi. Their flashy suits and bad-boy antics were bound to stir up trouble. But their contempt for rules and love of surfing were an obvious sign of things to come.
‘Done Overnight’
Modern boardriding reached Sydney in November 1956 when American and Hawaiian lifeguards rode the waves from Avalon to Cronulla. Their malibus were made out of balsa wood and coated in a new material – fibreglass. As the visiting surfers flicked, stalled, walked and trimmed their finned boards with astonishing ease, it became clear that the days of the toothpick were numbered. In the words of Sydney board builder Gordon Woods, ‘the 16 footers were done overnight’.
Within a month, local board makers began turning out replica malibus in plywood, called ockanuis. But by the end of 1957, with shipments of balsa arriving from Ecuador, former toothpick builders were glassing up their own versions of the malibu, with far too many orders to fill.
A combined onslaught
In 1956 the Melbourne Olympics and the arrival of television opened Australia’s eyes to the world. A year later the film premieres of Bud Browne’s Surfing in Hawaii and The big surf at Queenscliff gave Sydney boardriders their first glimpse of overseas action. Soon after, a succession of roughly cut Californian surfing films was doing the rounds of local halls and theatres up and down the coast.
But it was the big screen adaptation of Frederick Kohner’s novel Gidget in 1959 that spread the word on surfing. While serious boardriders scoffed at its corny plot, the film took surfing to the masses and inspired almost a decade of ‘beach party’ spin-offs.
1960-1964 : TAKING HOLD
Surf mania took hold after 1960 and the new decade saw Sydney claim surf culture for its own. Tabloids brimmed with stories of bikinied surfer girls, bottle-blonde beach bums and ‘surfie–rocker’ wars. Big wave bomboras and point breaks were ‘king’, but nowhere near as ‘gas’ as local stomps and the primal thud of surf music.
Following their American rivals, local surfers became entrepreneurs, producing Sydney’s first dedicated surf magazines and movies, and becoming the voice of the surfing community. Mandatory board registration was introduced in 1960, angering surfers and leading to ongoing hostilities on the beach.
Surf movies
Surf movies revved up the surfing craze and kept surfers in the loop about the latest action at home and overseas. In 1961 Californians John Severson and Bruce Brown visited Sydney to screen their latest surf flicks and hunt for local talent. The premiere of Severson’s Big Wednesday (1961) at Sydney’s ANZAC House turned ugly when rowdy crowds vandalised the theatre entrance, ruling out further screenings.
A month later Brown’s double bill Slippery when wet (1958) and Surf crazy (1959) premiered at the Doncaster Theatre in Kensington. Both films then toured the coast with local filmmaker Paul Witzig and a gang of Sydney surfers in tow. Witzig captured the surfers in action along the way, and the footage turned up in Brown’s later films, Surfing hollow days (1961) and the internationally acclaimed The endless summer (1964).
Surf mania
At the beginning of the 1960s half of Australia’s population was under the age of 30. Postwar babies were now teenagers with jobs and cars, who were keen to distance themselves from the ways of their parents. Surfing satisfied their hunger for adventure. The rising number of boardriders worried swimmers and lifesavers, and the beach soon became a sun-soaked battleground. Surfers clashed with lifesaving clubs, beach inspectors, disapproving ‘oldies’ and rival tribes of jazzers, bikers and rockers.
Popular tabloids like The Australasian Post, Pix and Everybody’s hopped on the bandwagon, running provocative stories about lax morals, surfer slang, teenage scuffles and the latest in daring swimwear – all accompanied by images of bikinied beauties and scruffy-haired beach boys.
Surf magazines
In the 1950s rock-n-roll had given birth to teen culture, but it wasn’t until the early 60s that the print media got in on the action. In Australia, it all came together on the beach and surf magazines were the first to target young readers.
The Australian Surfer, based on Surfer (US), was launched in 1961 and lasted only two issues. Surfabout and Surfing World both hit newsstands in 1962 and quickly became cultural style guides for the newly mobilised surfing tribes. Eager readers devoured updates on board designs, club meets, techniques and surf scene gossip, along with the latest in pop music, fashion, travel and dance crazes. There was also plenty of room for profiles of rising stars and local beaches.
Surf music
Surf music, with its rumbling drums and shrieking guitars, became the sound of Sydney in 1963. As oldschool rockers like Johnny O’Keefe began to lose their teen credibility, this raucous new musical sensation arrived hot from California, mirroring the explosive craze of surfing. Releases from top local bands – including The Denvermen, Johnny Devlin, The Dave Bridge Trio and The Atlantics – regularly out-charted imported records from bands like The Beach Boys.
Surf music even spawned its own style of dance – the primal and hugely popular stomp. Inner-city nightclubs Surf City, the Beach House and the Sunset Disco were where Sydney’s surf-crazed teens went to dance, while 14-year-old Maroubra girl Little Pattie hit the local charts in late 1963 singing about her ‘blonde headed stompie wompie real gone surfer boy’. But The Beatles tour in the winter of 1964 marked the end of a twanging era; after less than 18 months, surf music was dead.
1964-1968 : PSYCHED UP
Australians dominated the first official world surfing championships at Manly in May 1964. Buoyed by this victory, Sydney’s surf culture entered a new phase of competition, commerce and progressive riding. Surfers wrote columns for city tabloids, and endorsed cars, cigarettes and confectionery. Radios crackled with surf reports and footpaths rumbled with skateboards.
The growth of boardriding associations and fierce interclub competition coincided with rapid improvements in board design, spearheaded by local shapers. On the beaches, tight-turning shortboards replaced the malibu and by 1968 surfing’s ‘endless summer’ was over.
Surf sensation
A massive crowd of spectators attended the 1964 World Titles. The event also enjoyed saturation coverage on radio and television. Of the 200 entrants, only 13 came from overseas including just one woman, Californian Linda Benson. Nonetheless, when local surfers Midget Farrelly and Phyllis O’Donnell won the men’s and women’s events with ease, surfing had its first ‘official’ world champions.
But the real winners were the everyday Sydney surfers, who were thrilled to see a handful of legends up close. The World Surfboard Titles led to major improvements in board design and the public exposure saw surfing’s popularity continue to skyrocket.
Getting involved
In 1966 Sydney surfers took wave riding to another level. Surfing’s new era of ‘getting involved’ was inspired by Nat Young’s powerful, competitive and no-frills riding style and increasingly lighter, manoeuvrable boards such as Midget Farrelly’s wafer-thin stringerless models. But it was Californian kneeboarder George Greenough’s astonishing feats on his fibreglass ‘spoon’ that showed just how involved a surfer could get.
Boards were becoming shorter and plainer, but they promised a far more exciting ride. This new school of surfing meant deep carving turns, powerful cutbacks and lots of action. It also involved freeing up the mind and riding in the wave, not merely on it. Nat Young’s victory in the San Diego World Titles of 1966 was hailed as a triumph of Australian power surfing over the older, smoother, ‘functional’ style favoured by the Americans.
Getting organised
In the mid 1960s surfers became more competitive and organised, forming their own local and regional boardriding associations, independent of lifesaving clubs. Surf wear and boards emblazoned with club colours, patches, badges and competition stripes became highly prized items.
By 1965 the various state branches of the Australian Surfriders Association (ASA), set up in Sydney only two years earlier, boasted membership of 50,000 surfers. Though largely conservative, the ASA championed the rights of surfers. In addition to opposing board registration, the association also battled against hostile councils in their ongoing attempts to restrict or ban surfing on metropolitan beaches.
1968-1974 : THE HIPPIE DRIFT
From 1968 the surfing world was swept up in the countercultural spirit reshaping politics, religion, the arts, music and youth consciousness throughout the West. As the Vietnam War dragged on, long-haired surfers dropped out, abandoned competition surfing and boardriding clubs, and dabbled in drugs, environmental activism and ‘cosmic’ lifestyles. Tracks magazine and a handful of movies tapped this subversive hippie drift and celebrated ‘soul’ surfing.
The sudden change saw many surfers flee Sydney or hang up their boards. But younger surfers, ‘grommets’, took to a variety of shorter, more radical boards with relish. By the end of 1974, mass-produced ‘pop out’ surfboards had reignited surfing’s popularity.
Lost youth
In 1968 Sydney filmmaker Paul Witzig recut his earlier movie Life in the sun to produce The hot generation, including new footage of Australian surfers Bob McTavish and Nat Young riding revolutionary wide-tailed V-bottom surfboards in Hawaii. This was the first glimpse of modern shortboards on screen – old-school nose riding, drop-knee turns and hot-dogging were history.
Surf culture had changed in other ways. In August 1967 young Sydney surfer Bobby Brown died tragically in a bar room fight. Bobby had featured in The hot generation and his death, like the movie, seemed to announce the end of surfing’s youth. Bobby’s life was honoured in a series of memorial contests held around his home breaks of Cronulla.
Art, not sport
The World Titles of 1970, held at Bells Beach in Victoria, marked a turning point in surf culture. There was growing fear of the Vietnam draft, and anger over sand mining and the destruction of pristine beaches along Australia’s eastern coastline. The growing subculture of drug use and a preference for simple living tempted older surfers away from the cities in search of uncrowded waves and so-called ‘country soul’.
Cinema reflected this cultural shift. The innermost limits of pure fun showed surfing as primal and pure – an artistic expression, not a sport with rules, contests and egos. Morning of the Earth struck a deeper chord with its ecstatic vision of surfers in harmony with nature, riding perfect North Coast, Hawaiian and Balinese waves. Despite its escapist, back-to-basics message, Morning of the Earth broke box office records and led a new generation of eager grommets into the surf.
1974-1981 : THE NEW WAVE
In 1973 the voting age dropped to 18, giving Australian kids a more powerful voice. National service ended, along with decades of conservative government. The following year, as surfing brushed off its antisocial image and the smoky haze of counterculture cleared, Sydney staged its first ‘big money’ contest: the 2SM/Coca-Cola Surfabout.
In the next few years a new era of professionalism unfolded, with sponsorships, a fledgling surf ware industry and the development of a world pro tour. It was also the beginning of hardcore surfing. Thanks to a skateboard revival, ‘lay-back’ cutbacks and explosive backhand re-entries were carving up Sydney waves. And girls on the beach began to question their exclusion from the surf. Then along came the three-finned ‘thruster’ …
Surfabout
Competition surfing came of age in 1974 when Coca- Cola and Sydney radio station 2SM co-sponsored the richest surfing contest the world had ever seen. Surfabout was staged annually on Sydney’s beaches from 1974 to 1983 in the low-swell weeks of April.
Devised by Sydney journalist Graham Cassidy, the contest initially used a fairer, more objective, points-permanoeuvre scoring system, and attracted aspiring pro surfers from around the globe. Australians won the first eight titles, with four of those going to Sydney surfers. Surfabout attracted unprecedented media interest and provided some of the most memorable contest moments in surfing history.
Concrete surfing
When the surf was flat or unrideable, Sydney’s boardriders took to the footpaths. Skateboarding, popular in the 1960s, reappeared in the early 70s, but really took off after 1975 when Coca-Cola ran its first skateboard contest in almost a decade. As before, the craze came from California, bringing with it new tricks and equipment such as flexible decks, alloy ‘trucks’ and impact-absorbing urethane wheels that gave skateboards more speed and grip.
Kids assembled skateboards from parts ordered from the United States, or purchased imported Bahne and Hobie rigs. Locally produced models by Golden Breed were equally popular. Flashy antics such as nose turns and ‘tick-tacking’ turned car parks, shopping centres and concrete slopes into thrilling arenas of ‘surf-less’ fun, while radical moves like layback 360-degree turns and aerials fed into surfing.
The end of the beginning
The creation of the International Professional Surfers (IPS) circuit in 1976 didn’t, as many had feared, mark the end of surfing as a simple and soulful pursuit. But neither did it, as some had hoped, bring instant wealth and glory to elite surfers. The IPS era gave rise to hardcore surfing, a new breed of contest-hungry grommets, and a surfing scene swamped with brands, products and sometimes colourful business ventures.
The arrival of the power-packed three-finned ‘thruster’ in 1981 capped off half a decade of innovation in board design and surf ware development. Better wetsuits, boards and leg-ropes had led to more action in the surf, but also more aggression, as surfers jostled for space in the waves. The overcrowding at many Sydney hot spots made it harder for aspiring surfers to join in, particularly women – a grim reality well observed in the 1979 publication Puberty blues.
The 80s and beyond
For the next three decades Simon Anderson’s thruster, a design he never patented, became the worldwide industry standard. The thruster unleashed a new style of surfing that was fast, energetic and exciting – and ordinary surfers leapt on them.
Throughout the 80s Australia set the pace in surfing. Local surf wear companies dominated the worldwide retail boom, while gifted and flamboyant Australian riders, including Cheyne Horan, Mark Richards, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew and Tom Carroll, were international surfing superstars. Role models such as Pam Burridge chipped away at surfing’s macho culture, making it easier for girls to take up surfing, and a longboard revival began to lure older surfers back to the beaches.
Along the way, the hedonism, freedom and sensuality of surfing – a revolution led by a scruffy mob of kids on boards – had merged seamlessly into Australian life.
SURFBOARDS ON DISPLAY
Toothpick
Alan Hinds, Palm Beach, 1944
marine ply and generic timber
Manly Art Gallery & Museum. Gift of Alan Hinds 1984
Palm Beach lifesaver Alan Hinds built this Australian Racing 16, or toothpick, to compete in the National Lifesaving Championships at Coolangatta in 1948. At that time, major lifesaving carnivals tended to favour swimming, reel and rescue challenges over boardriding events. Fortunately for Hinds and his good friend John Stomp, who had also qualified for the event, board races were held at Coolangatta, with Alan finishing fourth and John coming in second. By the 1960s Hinds had moved on to competitive sailing, finding the newer surfboards awkward to ride.
Surfoplane
NARM, Sydney c1950s
rubber
Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club
Bronte doctor and inventor Ernest Smithers first launched the rubber surfoplane at Bondi Beach in 1933. Since then, generations of aspiring boardriders have splashed about the waves on these popular inflatable floats. Many holidaymakers drifted far from shore while riding the ‘surfo’, adding to the work of lifesavers. Smithers died in 1976, about the same time that commercial production of his ingenious surfoplane ceased.
Ockanui
Gordon Woods, Bondi, c1957
varnished plywood with hardwood rails
Manly Art Gallery & Museum. Gift of Mr Crossing 1984
Ockanuis, otherwise known as ‘hollow mals’, were locally made plywood copies of the American malibu. Having seen the latter in action, inventive Sydney board builders were eager to knock off the new design but were initially unable to source regular supplies of balsa wood. While popular at first and a big improvement on toothpicks, ockanuis were soon superseded by Australian-made lightweight balsa malibus.
Pig
Wallace Surfboards, Bronte, c1959
balsa, fibreglass and resin, with cartoon by Rollosmith & Son
Australian National Maritime Museum. Purchased with USA Bicentennial Funds
‘Pigs’, or wide-tailed malibus, were made from balsa wood shipped from Ecuador. Coated in resin to make them watertight, they were light and manoeuvrable. Pig boards were a revelation to local surfers; Bondi’s John Knobel recalls being able to ‘flick, stall and turn the tail like never before’. Pigs were commonly decorated with funky graphics, stylised motifs and their owner’s initials.
Dillon malibu
Scott Dillon Surfboards, Brookvale, 1960
foam, fibreglass, resin, timber stringer and reverse ‘D’ fin
Courtesy Gary Crockett
This malibu was among the first foamcore boards made in Australia. It was built by Scott Dillon, lifesaver and bigwave rider, who started producing balsa boards in Bondi around 1957. Dillon was one of the first manufacturers to shift northside to Brookvale after 1960. The stringer on this model has sunk, indicating the problems that were yet to be solved in blowing and glassing foam.
Jackson malibu
Jackson Surfboards, Caringbah, 1963
foam, fibreglass, resin and timber stringer
Courtesy Brian Jackson
Brian Jackson took up boardriding shortly after joining the Wanda lifesavers in 1950. He founded Jackson Surfboards in 1957 when, as a young engineer, he teamed up with Ron Candsell to produce balsa pigs, ‘teardrops’ and, later, quality foam malibus. The company has been an industry mainstay and a cultural icon on Sydney’s southern beaches for more than five decades.
Ron malibu
Surfboards by Ron, Belmore, 1963
foam, fibreglass, resin, timber stringer and wooden fin
Courtesy Graham Beatson
This board was purchased in 1963 by Graham Beatson and Donald Griggs, both keen Cronulla surfers. Surfboards by Ron produced large quantities of malibus in standard shapes that were distributed mainly through well-known sporting chains and department stores; they were even exported to America. Unlike surfboard factories, department stores offered convenient terms of credit, allowing surfers to ‘play now, pay later’.
Woods malibu
Gordon Woods Surfboards, Brookvale, c1964
foam, fibreglass, resin and triple timber stringers
Courtesy Pete Shiel
Australian Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly’s sensational win in a surfing contest at Makaha, Oahu, in 1963 spurred rapid improvements in board design back home. This included the use of multiple stringers (timber strips) for strength and decoration, clear resin coats and progressive fin shapes. Gordon Woods Surfboards was highly regarded for its cutting-edge shapes and quality finishes.
Bennett malibu
Barry Bennett Surfboards, Brookvale, 1964
foam, fibreglass, resin and timber stringers
Courtesy Peter Francis
In 1964 Brookvale stalwart Barry Bennett returned from California with the latest knowledge in ‘blowing’ foam blanks and set up his own foam production company, Dion Chemicals. This beautifully made malibu combines quality volan resin with racy red panels highlighting its triple stringers and streamlined form.
Jackson malibu
Jackson Surfboards, Caringbah, 1965
foam, fibreglass and resin with triple timber stringer and deep blade fin
Courtesy Brian Jackson
Top Cronulla surfer Bobby Brown rode this striking ‘candy cane’ malibu between 1965 and 1967. Brown and his distinctive board were featured widely in surfing magazines and movies, including Paul Witzig’s The hot generation. According to Brown’s good friend Garry Birdsall, the board’s ‘sharp knifey rails and square-bladed fin may have looked hot, but it was a difficult board to ride. Only Bobby could make it sing’.
Bennett malibu
Barry Bennett Surfboards, Brookvale, 1966
foam, fibreglass and resin with competition stripe and nylon fin
Courtesy Barry Bennett
The thin rails, wide volan rail-laps, deep raked (sloping) nylon fin and blue ‘cigar band’ on this board are typical of the cutting-edge designs from leading Sydney factories in early 1966. Nat Young rode a similar model to victory at the World Contest in San Diego later that year.
Farrelly stringerless
Farrelly Surfboards, Palm Beach, 1967
foam and fibreglass
Courtesy Robyn Harvey
Innovative Palm Beach board maker Midget Farrelly pioneered stringerless models in 1965, creating ever lighter and more responsive surfboards. In 1966 he began experimenting with hull shapes, and variations in width, thickness and tail designs. This board is wider towards the tail, has sharp rails, a narrow and flexible fin, and a squared-off tail – features that would later characterise the ‘V-bottom’ shortboard.
Keyo V-bottom
Shaped by Neal Purchase, Keyo Surfboards, Brookvale, 1967,
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy David Bell
This board helped spark the shortboard revolution. Known as ‘the Virgin’, its unique shape led key designers to develop shorter, wide-backed boards that were fitted with slender and flexible fins. V-bottoms could bank from rail to rail and, unlike the malibu, could be turned and trimmed from a single position on the board. In early 1968 V-bottoms were the hottest things around but by the middle of that year the model was history.
Bennett tracker
Barry Bennett Surfboards, Brookvale, 1968
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Steve Abbott
An evolutionary leap beyond the stocky V-bottom, the torpedo-shaped ‘tracker’ gave the new shortboard much-needed speed.
Farrelly egg
Farrelly Surfboards, Brookvale, c1969
foam, fibreglass and resin
Mick Mock Collection
In early 1970 many top surfers rode stubby, egg-shaped boards that were under 6 foot long. ‘S-decked’ eggs like this model were common on Sydney beaches.
Keyo pin-tail
Keyo Surfboards, Brookvale, 1969
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Rob Hitchens
This ‘transitional era’ Keyo pin-tail belonged to Rob Hitchens. Around 1970 western suburbs surfing mates Hitchens and Steve Abbott began making regular weekend ‘escapes’ to North Narrabeen Beach, hanging out with chums and in their words, ‘surfing from dawn till dusk’. Both resisted moving to the coast until their careers were under way, balancing their weekday grind with regular coastal escapes and extended South Coast trips when possible. Although he no longer surfs, Hitchens enjoys regular ocean swims off the beaches near Stanwell Park. Abbott lives a stone’s throw from Werri Beach and, in addition to hoarding and restoring surfboards, continues to surf regularly.
McCoy twin fin
McCoy Surfboards, Brookvale, c1970
foam, fibreglass and resin
Warner Surfboards
The twin fin was introduced to Sydney by Californian Tom Hoye in 1970. The first generation of locally made twin fins, produced by McCoy Surfboards, were the most popular boards in Sydney for the next two summers.
Bruce Hart Greenough spoon
McGrigor Surfboards, c1972, Brookvale
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Bruce Hart
In 1965 George Greenough, the eccentric Californian inventor, filmmaker and ‘barefoot genius’ created a strange concave kneeboard, called a ‘spoon’. With a clear flexible deck providing exceptional turning ability, the spoon performed like nothing else before. Its fins were also unusual, bending under pressure and springing straight back. These fins triggered the end of longboards and paved the way for future changes in weight, width, bottom shapes and tails that would revolutionise surfing after 1967. But it was Greenough’s uncanny ability to ride deep inside the tube and push his spoon through cranking bottom turns and slicing cutbacks that astonished local surfers. His radical design reappeared briefly in the early 70s, with many Sydney factories producing a spoon-like model. All but the most experienced surfers found them impossible to ride and the design quickly slipped into obscurity.
Winged pin with eagle design
Hot Buttered, Brookvale, 1972
foam, fibreglass and resin
Mick Mock Collection
Hot Buttered was founded by Terry Fitzgerald in 1971. Its sleek and speedy Hawaiian-style boards were at the forefront of board design throughout the 1970s and beyond.
Shane standard
Shane Surfboards, Brookvale, c1974
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Steve Abbott
Generally dismissed by hardcore surfers, mass-produced pop-outs or ‘standard’ models were a cheap and reliable alternative for beginners. They were called pop-outs because their pre-moulded foam core required minimal shaping. In the early 1970s Shane Stedman’s company churned out 200 low-cost standards a week. Despite their poor standing among surfers and some manufacturers, pop-outs were also produced by the Wallace, Keyo and Farrelly factories.
McCoy pin-tail flyer
McCoy, Avoca, 1978
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Pete Shiel
Trailblazing board shaper Geoff McCoy cut his teeth at Rons, Bennetts and Keyos in the 1960s before establishing McCoy Surfboards in 1970. Throughout the decade McCoy twin fins, ‘swallowtails’, ‘pin-tails’ and ‘pin-tail flyers’ – such as this model with its pronounced Hawaiian influences – were among Sydney’s most familiar and respected surfboards.
Energy thruster
Energy Surfboards, Brookvale, 1980
foam, fibreglass and resin
Courtesy Simon Anderson
This is the board that North Narrabeen hot shot Simon Anderson surfed to victory in the Sydney Coke Classic of 1981. Around 1979 Anderson had started working on an alternative to the twin fin, which he found ‘skittish’ and hard to control. A tall surfer, he needed a board that could drive forwards through a turn without skidding. His revolutionary three-fin ‘thruster’ was unveiled in a series of spectacular contest wins throughout 1981, including the ‘Bells’ and the Pipeline Masters.
Energy thruster
Energy Surfboards, Brookvale, c1981,
foam, fibreglass and resin
Warner Surfboards
It seems remarkable that it took us just 15 years to get from the longboard – 10 feet or more, flat, thick, round tailed and blunt edged – to the Thruster, a shift so dramatic that a surfer of 1966 would barely recognise Simon’s invention as a surfboard. Yet the thruster has endured for another 30 years – whittled down, curved, given various degrees of concave, but with essentially the same configuration. Simon’s Thrusters still look strikingly contemporary today…the universal design for waves from one foot to 30, adapted to boards from under 6 feet to over nine feet, from vee bottoms to concaves. It is as if Simon was searching for the cure to the common cold and stumbled upon a cure for cancer.
(Tim Baker from the introduction to Thrust: the Simon Anderson story, Simon Anderson with Tim Baker (ed), 2011. Reproduced courtesy 3 Crown Media Group).
Hot Buttered Drifta III with Phoenix wave artwork, 2009
board based on 1976 design
foam, fibreglass and resin
Hot Buttered International P/L
Hot Buttered Sunset round-tail gun with Introspection artwork, 2004
board based on 1977 design
foam, fibreglass and resin
Hot Buttered International P/L
Hot Buttered Hawaiian gun with Phoenix artwork, 2002
board based on 1978 design
foam, fibreglass and resin
Hot Buttered International P/L
Dynamic power surfer Terry Fitzgerald, the ‘Sultan of Speed’, established Hot Buttered Surfboards in a tiny Brookvale cottage in 1971. His boards were streamlined, sleek and highly personalised. Fitzgerald wanted to give surfers ‘the capacity to bend their surfboard to what they wanted it to be, whether by shape, design intricacies, or colour’. Hot Buttered boards were often spray-painted end to end in spacey dreamscapes by Sydney airbrush artist Martyn Worthington. Like Fitzgerald, Worthington saw surfing emerge from ‘an age where everything was so regimented through surf clubs, so it was good if you could get down a bit of free feeling and creativity on a board’.
SHOWCASE 1
Heading for the coast
Holden, ‘Australia’s own car’, sales brochure
Holden, c1950s
Courtesy Richard Potter
Camping area, Palm Beach Caravan Park
c1950
Courtesy Warringah Library
Sydney is one of only a few capital cities around the world that can boast sandy beaches and lively surf lapping at its doorstep. Since the early 1950s, tourists, holiday-makers and daytrippers have travelled to Sydney’s coast to enjoy its well-known attractions, from idyllic Palm Beach in the north to windswept Wanda to the gritty urban enclave of Bondi in the east.
Sydney souvenir postcard
c1950
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Sea wall and barbed wire entanglements on the beach front at Manly
27 November 1942
Australian War Memorial
During World War II Sydney’s beaches, particularly those closest to the city, faced the threat of enemy attack. Tank traps, bomb shelters and barbed wire fences were built along several city beaches after houses in the Eastern Suburbs were struck by shelling launched from a Japanese submarine in June 1942.
Australian Geographical ‘Walkabout’ Magazine
Australian National Travel Association, Melbourne and Sydney, 1 February 1956
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Wherever you go this summer, you’ll see Holdens sparkling in the sun – at beaches … on long bush roads and beside shady rural streams, in gay and crowded holiday resorts …
SHOWCASE 2
Improved Hollow Surfboards
Adventure story book for boys
Beaver Books, c1950
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Australian Geographical ‘Walkabout’ Magazine
Australian National Travel Association, Melbourne and Sydney, 1944
Mick Mock Collection
Surf: Australians against the sea
C Bede Maxwell, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1949
Manly Surf Museum
Know-how in the surf
John Bloomfield, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1959
Courtesy Geoff Cater
Maroubra boardmen Bruce Devlin, Frank Adler and Vince Mulcay at Bondi, c1945
C Bede Maxwell, Surf: Australians against the sea, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1949
Courtesy Geoff Cater
‘Improved hollow surfboard for all-around sport’
Raymond J Brown, Popular Science, vol 134, no 6, June 1939
Courtesy Geoff Cater
Beach towels
c1950
Manly Art Gallery And Museum
SHOWCASE 3
Hot-doggers of the surf
‘How to make a malibu’
Edna Wood and Matt Kivlin, Mechanix Illustrated, September 1954
Courtesy Geoff Cater
Surfers at Dee Why c1957
Courtesy Gordon Woods
Surfboard rally, Long Reef Beach, 1958
Photographed by Charles ‘Snowy’ McAllister
Wanderers surfboard rally competition guidelines, 1958
Courtesy Surfworld, Torquay
Surf World, Torquay
‘Hot doggers of the surf’
Australian Women’s Weekly, 3 December 1958
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
SHOWCASE 4
Gidget
Gidget
Frederick Kohner, Van Rees Press, New York, 1957
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Watching these guys riding in on waves ten feet high, standing up like bitchen lamp-posts, is something you can’t forget for the rest of your life. I guess that’s a lousy way of putting it but when I think back now to the first time I saw the ‘Go-Heads’ of Malibu dragging to shore, that’s precisely the way I felt … (Gidget, p36)
Gidget goes Hawaiian
Frederick Kohner, Bantam Books, New York, 1961
Courtesy Robyn Harvey
Woosh – I was tossed to the crest of the wave but it was only the beginning, higher and higher I went until the drop before me seemed incredible, unbelievable, staggering. My toes gripped the surface of my board as I went down the crash. Down I went, down and down, and it was not until I felt the crunching sound of the sand under me that I realized I had actually made it. I had ridden the fantastic boomers of Makaha without having been wiped out to smithereens … (Gidget goes Hawaiian, p114)
Gidget films stills
Directed by Paul Wendkos, 1959
Columbia Pictures
SHOWCASE 5
Big Wednesday
Big Wednesday / highlights from Surf safari and Surf fever film poster
Artwork by John Severson (director), 1961/1959/1960
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Surfing the Southern Cross/The Midget goes Hawaiian film poster
Bob Evans (director), 1962
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Surf stomp/Follow the surf film poster
Dennis Milne/Dennis Elton (directors), released 1963,
pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
Hand-drawn poster from pinboard at Narrabeen Boys High School
Artwork by Nat Young, early 1960s, pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
Surfing hollow days film poster
Bruce Brown (director), 1961, pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
Ticket stub for a selection of US surfing films
Surfing Promotions, early 1960s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Long live the waves/ Surf trek to Hawaii film poster
John Williams / Bob Evans (directors), 1961/1962, pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
SHOWCASE 6
Surf culture
‘Surfies v Rockers’
The Sunday Telegraph, 10 March 1963
State Library of New South Wales
Saturday arvo, Cronulla
Jeff Carter, c1960
State Library of New South Wales
Rockers [Wanda Beach]
Photograph Bob Weeks, 1963
Courtesy Bob Weeks
Cronulla Crew, Golf Course
Photograph Bob Weeks, 1964
Courtesy Bob Weeks
PIX magazine cover
Fairfax Magazines, 22 June 1963, pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
Everybody’s magazine
Australian Consolidated Press, 18 November 1964
Australian National Maritime Museum
De Soto Surfmobile [Cronulla]
Bob Weeks, 1962
Courtesy Bob Weeks
Northside surfers at Collaroy
Photograph Baba Looey, 1960
Courtesy Baba Looey
John Knobel and friends changing a tyre on Pittwater Road c1962
Courtesy John Knobel
SHOWCASE 7
Surfing Magazines
The Surfer
Produced by John Severson, vol 1, California, 1960
Courtesy Ron Saggers
The Australian Surfer
Produced by Lee Cross, vol 1, Bronte, 1961
Courtesy Ron Saggers
Bronte lifesaver Lee Cross launched The Australian Surfer, Australia’s first homegrown surf magazine, around August 1961. A second issue came out in December before the operation folded.
Surfabout: Australasian surfer
Edited by Jack Eden, vol 1, no 1, Sydney, August 1962
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
The first issue of Jack Eden’s Surfabout was filled with ads for board makers, tips, news, cartoons and photographs, mostly slanted towards surfing on Sydney’s southern beaches. The magazine closed in 1968, after 23 issues.
Surfing World
Edited by Bob Evans, vol 1, no 1, Sydney, September 1962
Courtesy Ron Saggers
Surfboard wax
Ray Richards Surfing Centre, early 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
‘Bower Boy’ surfboard wax
Bob Brewster, early 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
The Australian surfrider
Edited by Jack Pollard, Sydney, 1963
Courtesy David Platt
Bob Fell, Scott Dillon, Bob Evans and Robbie Lane at North Narrabeen
Photograph Ron Perrott, c1960
Ron Perrott collection, courtesy Ron Saggers. © Estate of Ron Perrott
Interstate Surf Meet North Avalon
Photograph Bob Weeks, 1963
Courtesy Bob Weeks
Interstate Surf Meet North Avalon, poster, April 1963
Mick Mock Collection
Interstate Surf Meet North Avalon, patch, April 1963
Mick Mock Collection
SHOWCASE 8
Surf music
HMV Tropicana Radio
1964
Courtesy Gary Crockett
‘Have you tried the stomp?’
Kerry Yates, Teenagers’ Weekly supplement, Australian Women’s Weekly, 11 September 1963
National Library of Australia
Stomping at Bondi
Photograph Ron Perrott, 1963
Ron Perrott collection, courtesy Ron Saggers. © Estate of Ron Perrott
The Delltones surf ‘n stomp featuring Hangin’ Five
Leedon, 1963
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
The Sun Herald promotional disc
Little Pattie in conversation with Midget Farrelly in
Hawaii/ Surfin’ easy by The Dave Bridge Trio, 1964
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Surfie Stomp, Wanda Surf Clubhouse
Jeff Carter, 1961
National Library of Australia © Estate of Jeff Carter
Bombora sheet music for guitar solo
Peter A Hood and Jim Skiathitis (The Atlantics), Music
Publishing Co of Australia Pty Limited, 1963
Australian National Maritime Museum
Little Pattie and the Statesmen, Australian Invitational Surfing Championships, Bondi, 1963
Photograph Ron Perrott, November 1963
Ron Perrott collection, courtesy Ron Saggers. © Estate of Ron Perrott
Surfstomp ticket, St Ives Masonic Hall, early 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Surf City cloth patch, early 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
‘That TV dance and how to do it’
PIX magazine, 15 June 1963, pasted into 1960s scrapbook
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
SHOWCASE 9
World Surfboard Titles
Midget Farrelly ‘cutback’ during a World Title heat 1964
Photograph Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy Ron Saggers
World Surfboard Titles sticker
Sydney, 1964
Mick Mock Collection
Midget Farrelly and Phyllis O’Donnell holding winners trophies at World Surfing Championships 1964 in ‘Complete World Title coverage’, Surfing World, Sydney, June 1964
Courtesy Robyn Harvey
First World Surfboard Titles contest program
Manly, May 1964
Courtesy Ron Saggers
SHOWCASE 10
Surfing goes pop
Manly souvenir vase
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Surfer figurine
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Surfing figurine
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Manly souvenir teaspoon
Mid 1960s
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Cronulla souvenir teaspoon
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Manly souvenir letter opener
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Souvenir tray
Willow, Australia, early 1960s
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Souvenir pennants, Palm Beach, Cronulla, Manly
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
‘Now the girls are taming the wild waves’
People magazine, 29 January 1964
Mick Mock Collection
Men’s shirt with surfboard pattern
Made in USA, Unknown maker, mid 1960s
Courtesy Naomi Barwick
Surfboard board game
John Sands, c1964
Courtesy Dale Egan
Surfies bubblegum counter box
Scanlan’s confectionary, c1964
Mick Mock Collection
Following the huge success of the world championships at Manly, surfing became even more popular and there soon appeared a lucrative marketing in surfing-related goods. Images and designs with surfing themes proliferated on souvenirs, trinkets, ornaments, postcards and many other products. Surfing kitsch is characteristically nostalgic, evoking memories of sunny beachside holidays. It’s a safe bet that some kind of treasured sandy memento, picked up one summer long ago, is gathering dust in every Sydney household.
SHOWCASE 11
This surfing life
Surf International
Gareth Powell Associates, vol 1, no 1, December 1967
Mick Mock Collection
This surfing life
Midget Farrelly as told to Craig McGregor, Rigby, Adelaide, 1965
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Board wax
BP, mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Board wax
Esso, mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Board wax
Ampol, mid 1960s
Australian National Maritime Museum
Surf beaches of Australia’s east coast
Jeff Carter, Angus and Robertson, 1968
Courtesy David Platt
Surfing World
Edited by Bob Evans, Sydney, May 1967
Courtesy David Platt
World Surfing Championships official program
San Diego, 1966
Courtesy Gary Crockett
SHOWCASE 12
Competition stripes
Windansea Success Story
Surfing World magazine, November 1965
Courtesy Steven Abbott
Manly-Pacific Boardriders Club, North Steyne Beach
Photograph Ray Joyce, 1966
Courtesy John Smythe
Manly-Pacific vs Wind’n Sea contest program
29 September 1968
Australian National Maritime Museum
Manly Pacific Surf Club patch
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Bronte Surfriders Club Annual Report
1965
Mick Mock Collection
Mid Steyne Surfriders’ Club 2nd Annual Report
1966
Mick Mock Collection
Australian Surfriders Association patch
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
NSW State Championships program
NSW Surfriders Association, 1966
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
North Narrabeen Boardriders club patches
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Balgowlah Boardriders patch
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
‘It’s an all girl surf spree’
Everybody’s magazine,13 April 1966, Consolidated Press
Mick Mock Collection
Kurranulla Wahines womens boardriding club
Photographed by Bob Weeks, Cronulla, 1965
Courtesy Bob Weeks
Fight the Warringah Board Ban sticker
1966
Mick Mock Collection
South Bondi Surfboard Riders Club patch
Mid 1960s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
SHOWCASE 13
Bobby Brown Memorial
Bobby Brown Memorial Surfboard Riding Championships poster
1968
Mick Mock collection
Bobby Brown Contest program
1970
Mick Mock collection
SHOWCASE 14
Making tracks
Tracks
October 1970, vol 1, no 1, facsimile © Tracks Magazine
The Australian tabloid Tracks was produced by writer and photographer John Witzig (filmmaker Paul Witzig’s brother) with Alby Falzon and David Elfick from October 1970. Ignoring competition surfing entirely, the magazine gave surf counterculture a voice. In its content Tracks struck an intelligent balance between pure surfing, board design and industry news and politics, pop culture, environmental activism, healthy living, spiritualism, satire and contemporary photography. The magazine is still published today.
SHOWCASE 15
Evolution
Evolution film advertisement
Directed by Paul Witzig. From Surf International, vol 2, no 7, 1969
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham
Shaggy mat with Morning of the Earth graphic 1972
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Morning of the Earth soundtrack, cassette tape
Various artists, produced by G Wayne Thomas, Warner Brothers, 1972. Directed by Alby Falzon
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
The innermost limits of pure fun soundtrack, album
Farm, Rebel Records, 1970. Directed by George Greenough
Mick Mock collection
Sea of joy soundtrack, album
Tully, Harvest (EMI), 1971. Directed by Paul Witzig
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Crystal voyager soundtrack, album
Various artists, Warm & Genuine (Polgram), 1973
Directed by David Elfick
Mick Mock collection
Captain Goodvibes – mutants of modern disco volume 1
Artwork by Tony Edwards. Regular Records (Festival), 1978
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Captain Goodvibes presents handy hints for survival cartoon cell
Artwork by Tony Edwards. From Tracks, October 1973
Australian National Maritime Museum
A pictorial history of surfing
Frank Margan and Ben R Finney, Hamlyn, Sydney, 1970
Courtesy Gary Crockett
School exercise books
Narrabeen Boys High School, c1970s
Courtesy Dale Egan
Dale Egan with his Keith Paull surfboard, artwork by his brother Shane Egan
1973
Courtesy Dale Egan
Improvised marijuana bongs
1970s
Justice & Police Museum, Sydney Living Museums
Surfa Sam skateboard with 2UW stickers
LH Nicholas Pty Ltd, mid 1960s, Tasmanian oak, aluminium, rubber wheels
Courtesy Peter Francis
SHOWCASE 16
Surfabout
Coca-Cola visor
Coca-Cola, c1978
Mick Mock Collection
‘2SM 1270’ sticker
Radio station 2SM, 1970s
Mick Mock Collection
Surfabout book,
1970s
Mick Mock Collection
‘Surfabout’ T-shirt
c1976
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
SHOWCASE 17
Skateboards return
Skateboard: techniques, safety, maintenance
Russ Howell, Ure Smith, 1975
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
T-shirt
Golden Breed, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Shoes
Boards by Dunlop, 1968
Mick Mock Collection
Skater socks
1975
Mick Mock Collection
SHOWCASE 18
End of the beginning
SeaNotes
Edited by John Witzig vol 1, no 1, 1977
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Coca–Cola towel
late 1970s
Courtesy Dale Egan
‘Surf gear by Tracker’ sticker
Tracker, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
‘Bennett Surfboards’ T-shirt
Mid 1970s
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
‘Hobie’ visor
California Headware
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
‘Energy’ surfboard decal
‘Designed and shaped by Simon Anderson’
Graphic design by Hugh McLeod, late 1970s
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
Surf Aids advertisement
SeaNotes back cover, vol 1, no 4, December/January 1977/78
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Platts Surfwear sticker
Platts, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Model car, sea-witch sandman
Ford, mid 1970s
Trax Models
‘Stubbies’ visor
Stubbies by Efco, late 1970s
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Golden Breed label
Golden Breed, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Puka shell necklace
late 1970s
Courtesy Chantal Sneddon
Puka shell necklaces
late 1970s
Courtesy Jenny Olman
Leg-rope
1975
Mick Mock Collection
Bronzed Aussies board shorts
Textile, Adidas, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Surfing World
1978
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Puberty Blues
Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey, first edition 1979
Mick Mock Collection
STUFF ON DISPLAY OUTSIDE SHOWCASES
Surfers at Queenscliff Beach*
Photographer unknown, 1953
Courtesy Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club and Manly Library
Surfboards were heavy and difficult to carry, so many boardriders joined surf lifesaving clubs to take advantage of their handy storage racks and easy access to the beach.
Surf lifesavers racing surfboards at Bondi Beach*
V Gadsby, 1950
National Archives of Australia: A1200, L13332
Sports Illustrated (US) cover 10 March 1958*
Courtesy Gary Crockett. Cover photograph George Leavens 23/5/1957. © SI Covers/ Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
In 1958 Bilgola lifesaver, sports writer, committed boardrider, and future ‘ad man’ Ross Renwick was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated riding a Gordon Woods ockanui.
Surfoplane
NARM, c1950s, rubber
Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club
Bronte doctor and inventor Ernest Smithers first launched the rubber surfoplane at Bondi Beach in 1933. Since then, generations of aspiring boardriders have splashed about the waves on these popular inflatable floats. Many holidaymakers drifted far from shore while riding the ‘surfo’, adding to the work of lifesavers. Smithers died in 1976, about the same time that commercial production of his ingenious surfoplane ceased.
Men’s swimming shorts
Casben, 1955
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Surfboard rally, Long Reef Beach*
Charles ‘Snowy’ McAlister, 1958
SurfWorld Museum, Torquay. © Estate of C J McAlister
Gidget promotional poster Australian daybill
Robert Burton Print Company, 1959
Courtesy Gary Crockett
The sugary ‘beach girl’ story Gidget hit the big screen in 1959 and kick-started a surfing mania.
Homemade bikini
c1950s
Courtesy Naomi Barwick
Crowds at Manly World Surfboard Championships
Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Women’s one-piece swimming costume
c1950
Manly Art Gallery and Museum. Gift of David Jones Collection, 1993
Men’s swimming costume
c1950
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Australian Outdoors cover*
January 1960
Mick Mock Collection
Cover photograph © Estate of Jeff Carter
BMC Morris 850 advertisement*
Surfing World, vol 5, no 3, November 1964
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham (nee Bennett), Surfing World and MINI (BMW Group Australia)
EH Holden Station Wagon advertisement*
1st World Surfboard Titles program,1964
Courtesy Manly Library and GM Holden Ltd
Catalina beach wear advertisement*
Sutex Pty Ltd, 1967, from Surf International, vol 2, no 7, 1969
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham (nee Bennett) and Gareth Powell
Bikini
Professional, mid 1960s
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Beach bag
Mid 1960s
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Midget Farrelly spray jacket
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Men’s swimming shorts
Gold Coast, mid 1960s
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Skimboard
Blue Pacific, Brisbane, mid 1960s,
marine plywood
Courtesy David Bell
Midget Farrelly surf-skates advertisement*
Surfing World, vol 5, no 6, February 1965
Australian National Maritime Museum
Courtesy Surfing World and Midget Farrelly
Surfa Sam skateboard
LH Nicholas Pty Ltd, mid 1960s,
Tasmanian oak, aluminium with rubber wheels
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Leo Kalokerinos knocked up skateboards in his Rose Bay home before founding Surfa Sam in 1965. Thousands of Surfa Sams – complete with Kalokerinos’s unique trucks, ‘Detroit Super’ wheels and tubby surfer logo – were churned out before the company closed in 1974.
Molokai ‘slalom’ skateboard
Makaha Skateboards, Santa Monica, 1965, timber
Courtesy Gary Crockett
Midget Farrelly skateboard
1965, timber
Mick Mock Collection
Midget Farrelly Custom skateboard deck
1965, laminated timber
Mick Mock Collection
Highly sought after, Midget Farrelly skateboards were built locally and distributed by Paul Witzig’s Surfing Promotions. Skateboarding and surfing shared similar moves such as nose riding, ‘soul arches’ and plenty of fancy footwork.
Surfboards, Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross
Wesley Stacey, 1970–71
Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive. © Wesley Stacey
The innermost limits of pure fun *
promotional poster
From Tracks, vol 1, no 1, October 1970
Directed by George Greenough
Courtesy Tracks
Morning of the Earth*
promotional poster
Directed by Albert Falzon, 1972
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Short John wetsuit
Sea Bee, c1970s
Mick Mock Collection
Surfers at Fairy Bower, Manly*
Ron Perrott, c1960
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Surfers at Dee Why*
Bob Weeks, 1962
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Women’s bikini
Catalina by Kayser, US, c1960
Courtesy Kate Bruxner
Men’s sunhat
Early 1960s
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Men’s leisure shirt
Speedo Australia, early 1960s
Courtesy Naomi Barwick
Men’s swimming shorts
Early 1960s
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Graham Beatson (left) and Donald Griggs with their shared ‘Ron’ surfboard at Hurstville
Photographer unknown, 1963
Courtesy Graham Beatson
Teenagers’ Weekly cover*
Australian Women’s Weekly supplement
22 August 1962
National Library of Australia. © ACP Magazines
The cover shows a large group of young surfers competing in a rally at North Narrabeen.
Scuba-diving wetsuit with ‘beaver tail’
Early 1960s
Courtesy Geoff Cater
Little Pattie and the Statesmen, Australian Invitational Surfing Championships, Bondi
Ron Perrott, November 1963
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Surfers on Dee Why Point*
Ron Perrott, c1963
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
T-shirt with ‘Surfboards by Bill Wallace’ logo
Bonds, early 1960s
Courtesy Robyn Harvey
Men’s blue jeans
Levi Strauss & Co, US, early 1960s
Princeton Brooks, Paddington
Beachcomber sneakers
owned by veteran Sydney
surfer Charles ‘Snowy’ McAlister
Dunlop, early 1960s
SurfWorld Museum, Torquay. Gift of C J McAlister
Women’s playsuit
1950–60
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Surf City Sound Lounge*
promotional poster
Early 1960s
Courtesy John Waters
Kids on Manly boardwalk*
Kenneth Clifford, 1960
Courtesy Dale Egan. © Beverley Clifford
Leisuremaster Jeans advertisement*
The Australasian Post, 24 August 1967
Mick Mock Collection
Devondale Cyder advertisement*
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Casben leisure wear advertisement*
Surf International, vol 1, no 5, May 1968, back cover
Courtesy Gareth Powell
The hot generation*
promotional poster
Directed by Paul Witzig, 1968
Photograph Ron Stoner
Courtesy John Witzig.
Poster design © Paul Witzig. Photograph © Surfer (US)
Winning entry, ‘Keyo’s fantastic plastic machine psychedelic colouring contest’*
Ian Jarvis, Lorne, Victoria, from Surf International, vol 1, no 4, April 1968
Private collection. Design © Surf International. Reproduced courtesy Gareth Powell and Denny Keogh
Whitestag short-legged wetsuit
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
John Adrian and Afghan hound*
John Witzig, c1970s
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Maybe only a miracle can save us*
Hugh McLeod, 1973
Courtesy and © Hugh McLeod/Aitionn
Brown suede jacket, belt buckle and desert boots
1969–75
Mick Mock Collection
Men’s jeans
Amco, 1965–71
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Gift of Robert Gillespie, 2000
Western-style shirt
Pumping Iron, mid 1970s
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
A winter’s tale promotional poster
Artwork by Hugh McLeod. Directed by Phil Sheppard, Russell Sheppard and Bruce Usher, 1973
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
Col Smith re-entry
Hugh McLeod, 1975
Courtesy and © Hugh McLeod/Aitionn
Boards sneakers advertisement*
Surfing World, vol 20, no 3, December 1974
Australian National Maritime Museum.
Reproduced courtesy Surfing World and Pacific Brands
Red Golden Breed flex deck skateboard
Bennett Surfboards, Sydney, c1976
Courtesy Duncan Harrex
Yellow Bahne superflex skateboard
Bahne, 1974–80
Mick Mock Collection
Red GX-Caliber skateboard
South Bay Recreational Products,
California, 1974
Private collection
Yellow skateboard with black footprints graphic
1974–80
Courtesy Dale Egan
Surfing World cover Vol 25, no 2, 1977
Australian National Maritime Museum. Courtesy Surfing World.
Cover photograph © Hugh McLeod/Aitionn
Mexican cardigan
Crystal Cylinders, 1974–80
Vintage Surf and Skate Emporium
Jumper with surfer graphic
Speedo, 1975–76
Mick Mock Collection
Men’s board shorts
Stubbies by Efco, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Surfer Joe’s thongs
Beachcombers, 1975
Mick Mock Collection
Simon Anderson*
Hugh McLeod, 1981
Courtesy and © Hugh McLeod/Aitionn
This famous portrait of Simon Anderson sitting in his maroon Falcon at Mona Vale, beer in hand, was actually staged to celebrate Anderson’s first decade in shaping surfboards. The photo shows one of his first ‘thrusters’ (possibly the board on display at right) poking through the car’s back window.
MOS FORECOURT SCULPTURE
Tides Turn
Peter Collins, 2010
eucalypt sticks and steel mesh
Collection of the artist
peterbeatlecollins.blogspot.com
Artist, surfer and former Sutherland local, Peter ‘Beatle’ Collins describes this work as ‘a wave that escaped the ocean, dressed up in sticks and went to shore looking for blood’.
EXHIBITION MURAL
One Ocean
As One, 2011
acrylic paint
By examining surf art, typography and photographs from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and using a variety of techniques such as masking, freehand and digital projection, the artist has created an exciting work that captures the dynamic and vivid nature of Sydney’s evolving surf scene. Scottish-born As One has been a graffiti artist for the last 18 years and is now based in Sydney.
Mural image credits
Brad ‘Pork’ Andersen and Jeff ‘Critter’ Morris
in Long Reef car park (detail)
Chris Seller, late 1970s
Courtesy Warren MacKenney
Boy on surfoplane, Bondi Beach (detail) Valentin Sowada, mid 1960s
© Valentin Sowada
As One working on a piece
at CarriageWorks, Sydney
Brode Compton, 2011
Courtesy Andy Steel
* Large mounted graphic image
1945-1960 : DIGITAL SLIDESHOW
Manly surfboards and barbed wire, photographer unknown, c1945
Manly Library
A North Bondi lifesaver on surfboard, J. Fitzpatrick, 1950
National Archives of Australia A1200, L13161
John Falkner and friend at Bondi, photographer unknown, 1948
Courtesy Lorraine Coan
Boy With Toothpick, Kenneth Clifford, c1950s
Courtesy Dale Egan © Beverley Clifford
John Falkner riding toothpick at Bondi, photographer unknown, 1948
Courtesy Lorraine Coan
Michael McKelvey, Lorraine Kay, and John Knobel at Bondi, photographer unknown, 1960
Courtesy John Knobel
John Knobel With Norm Casey Toothpick, photographer unknown, 1957
Courtesy John Knobel
Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan and Scott Dillon at Bondi Beach, photographer unknown, late 1950s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Surfboard riders on Manly Beach, John Tanner, 1958
National Archive of Australia A1200, L26853 © Commonwealth of Australia
Surf sirens, Manly beach, Ray Leighton, 1938-1946
National Library of Australia
Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan and friends, photographer unknown, c1950s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
‘Cornel Wilde Boys’, photographer unknown, c1950s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan and friend at Bondi, photographer unknown, c1950s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan on a wave, photographer unknown, c1950s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
John Knobel taking a dive, photographer unknown, c1950s
Courtesy John Knobel
Fairy Bower, photographer unknown, 1960
Courtesy John Knobel
Surfers at Queenscliff Beach, photographer unknown, 1953
Manly Library, courtesy Queenscliff Surf Lifesaving Club
South Bondi Boardriders, photographer unknown, c1958
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Gordon Woods making a toothpick, photographer unknown, 1957
Gordon Woods Archive
Gordon Woods, Scott Dillon and friend, photographer unknown, 1957
Gordon Woods Archive
1960-1964 : DIGITAL SLIDESHOW
Barry ‘Magoo’ McGuigan at the Polio Pit, Bondi, photographer unknown, 1961
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Riding the breakers on a surf board at Tamarama Beach, John Tanner, 1960
National Archives of Australia A1200, L34988. © Commonwealth of Australia
Wanda Carpark, Bob Weeks, 1962
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Board Hire, Bob Weeks, 1963
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Unknown surfer, Cronulla Point, Bob Weeks, 1961
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Green Hills Crew, Bob Weeks, 1964
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
High Five Dee Why Point, Bob Weeks, 1962
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
North Narrabeen Surf Club, Bob Weeks, 1963
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Flats at North Bondi, Bob Weeks, 1962
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Surfers at Dee Why Point, Ron Perrott, 1960s
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
North Narrabeen Beach, Ron Perrott, c1960
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Bondi carpark, Ron Perrott, c1960
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Little Pattie concert, Bondi surfing championship, Ron Perrott, 1963
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
North Narrabeen Carpark, Ron Perrott, c1960
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Stomping at Bondi, Ron Perrott, 1963
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Boys demonstrating surfing moves, photographer unknown, 1960s
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
Dee Why surfers, Baba Looey, 1961
Courtesy Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club. © Ron Graham
Club stripes, Collaroy, Ron Perrott, c1960s
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Boys at Dee Why, Ron Perrott, c1960s
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Dancers demonstrating the Stomp and Shake at the Victory Theatre, Sydney, Ern McQuillan, 28 Feb 1964
National Library of Australia. © Ern McQuillan
Frank Latta Sandshoes, Bob Weeks, 1964
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Midget Farrelly at Palm Beach, John Witzig, c1960s
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Board storage, South Bondi, photographer unknown, c1961
Courtesy Barry McGuigan
41 Winborne Road, Baba Looey, 1963
Courtesy Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club. © Ron Graham
Gordon Woods Surfboard Centre, photographer unknown, 1960s
Gordon Woods Archive
1964-1968 : DIGITAL SLIDESHOW
Manly Beach, Leo Duyckers, 12 May 1967 Call number PXA 907 Box 25 no.64
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.
Long Reef, Jeff Carter, c1964
National Library of Australia © Estate of Jeff Carter
Boy at Bondi Beach, Valentin Sowada, late 1960s
Courtesy and © Valentin Sowada
Women at Bondi Beach, Valentin Sowada, late 1960s
Courtesy and © Valentin Sowada
Dee Why, Jeff Carter, 1965
Call number PXD 1070 no.89
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales © Estate of Jeff Carter
Beach culture at Palm Beach, Jeff Carter, 1965
National Library of Australia © Estate of Jeff Carter
Bondi boardwalk, C H P ‘Bill’ Moseley, late 1960s
Courtesy Marilyn Moseley © Estate of the photographer
Sydney beachgoers, C H P ‘Bill’ Moseley, late 1960s
Courtesy Marilyn Moseley © Estate of the photographer
Surfers at Bondi, C H P ‘Bill’ Moseley, late 1960s
Courtesy Marilyn Moseley © Estate of the photographer
Surfers at Bondi, C H P ‘Bill’ Moseley, late 1960s
Courtesy Marilyn Moseley © Estate of the photographer
Green Hills Carpark, Bob Weeks, 1964
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Skateboarder, Bob Weeks, 1965
Courtesy and © Bob Weeks
Unknown surfer, Bruce Usher, c1960s
Courtesy and © Bruce Usher
Sydney surfers, Bruce Usher, c1960s
Courtesy and © Bruce Usher
Beachgoers, South Steyne, L. Nelson, 1967 Call number PXA 907 Box 25 no.73
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.
Teenagers on Manly Beach, Douglass Baglin, 1960s
Manly Library. © Estate of Douglass Baglin
Tony, Nat, Maz, Kerry at Long Reef, photographer unknown, September 1965
Courtesy Marilyn Birmingham (nee Bennett)
Phyllis O’Donnell at Manly World Championships, Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Women surfers at the World Contest, Manly, Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
World Contest, Manly, Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Surfers At Wanda, Jeff Carter, c 1964
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Call number PXD 1070 no.85. © Estate of Jeff Carter
The Card Game, Manly, Jeff Carter, 1964
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Call number PXD 1070 no.84. © Estate of Jeff Carter
1937 Ford with boards and boys, Baba Looey, 1960s
Courtesy Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club. © Ron Graham
Surf wagons, Fordson and Ford single spinner, Manly, Baba Looey, 1960s
Courtesy Australian Surf Museum, Manly Life Saving Club. © Ron Graham
1968-1974 : DIGITAL SLIDESHOW
Brad Mayes, Bondi, John Witzig, c1968
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Dapper Oliver, North Narrabeen, John Witzig, 1974
Courtesy and © John Witzig
David ‘Baddy’ Treloar and Owl Chapman, Fairy Bower, John Witzig, 1974
Courtesy and © John Witzig
George Greenough, John Witzig, 1974
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Max Bowman, John Witzig, 1968-1969
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Ted Spencer and Midget Farrelly, Long Reef, John Witzig, 1968
Courtesy and © John Witzig
Surfer with board, Bruce Usher, c1970
Courtesy and © Bruce Usher
Long Reef Car Park, Jeff Carter, 1968
From Surf beaches of Australia’s east coast, Jeff Carter. © Estate Jeff Carter
Manly promenade, Kenneth Clifford, c1968
Courtesy Dale Egan. © Beverley Clifford
Beach scene, Kenneth Clifford, late 1960s
Courtesy Dale Egan. © Beverley Clifford
Steve Abbott and surfboards, Donna Abbott, c1970s
Courtesy and © Donna Abbott
North Narrabeen, Christmas Eve, Steve Abbott, 1972
Courtesy and © Steve Abbott
Rob Hitchen’s 21st birthday, Donna Abbott, 1973
Courtesy and © Donna Abbott
Transistor Radio, Jeff Carter, c1968
From Surf beaches of Australia’s east coast, Jeff Carter. © Estate Jeff Carter
Dawn surf at Warriewood Beach, Shane Egan, 1972
Courtesy and © Shane Egan
South Bondi Beach, C H P ‘Bill’ Moseley, late 1960s
Courtesy Marilyn Moseley © Estate of the photographer
Old clubhouse, North Narrabeen, Phil Howard, 1970
Courtesy Rob Hitchens © Phil Howard
Typical summer weekend landscape at North Narrabeen, Jeff Carter, c1968
From Surf beaches of Australia’s east coast, Jeff Carter © Estate Jeff Carter
1974-1981 : DIGITAL SLIDESHOW
Terry Fitzgerald, Hot Buttered Surfboards, Hugh McLeod, 1977
Courtesy and © McLeod/Aitionn
Surfboard riders on Collaroy beach, photographer unknown, 1979
National Archives of Australia A6135, K2/7/79/14. © Commonwealth of Australia
Warriewood, Steve Abbott, 1978
Courtesy and © Steve Abbott
North Narrabeen, Steve Abbott, 1978-1979
Courtesy and © Steve Abbott
Steve Abbott, North Narrabeen, Donna Abbott, 1977-1978
Courtesy and © Donna Abbott
Steve Abbott holding Rob Hitchen’s surfboard, Narrabeen, Donna Abbott, 1977
Courtesy and © Donna Abbott
Kay Jarman, John Jarman, 1975
Courtesy David Platt and Kay Jarman. © John Jarman
Dale Egan at Narrabeen, Shane Egan, 1970s
Courtesy and © Shane Egan
Warriewood beach kiosk, photographer unknown, 1970s
Courtesy Dale Egan
Surfing at Collaroy Beach, photographer unknown, 1979
National Archives of Australia A6135, K2/7/79/2. © Commonwealth of Australia
Cronulla surfer, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Cronulla beach, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Surfers in carpark, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Cronulla point, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Shire skaters, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Cronulla beach, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Supermarket skaters, Alistair Waddell, 1970s
Courtesy and © Alistair Waddell
Jim Parkinson (shaper) with a Michealangelo Surfboard design, Tim Vanderlaan, March 1979
Courtesy and © Tim Vanderlaan
Showroom at Jackson Surfboards shop, Tim Vanderlaan, October 1978
Courtesy and © Tim Vanderlaan
Back stairs of Jackson Surfboard factory, Tim Vanderlaan, October 1978
Courtesy and © Tim Vanderlaan
Col Smith re-entry, Hugh McLeod, 1975
Courtesy and © McLeod/Aitionn
Toffer, Magoo, Bunny, Chris and Nick at surfers’ shack, Long Reef, Jeff Morris, late 1970s
Courtesy Warren MacKenney © Jeff Morris
Tony ‘Humph’ Humphreys, Paul ‘Surl’ Goffett, Brad ‘Pork’ Andersen and Jeff ‘Critter’ Morris in carpark at Long Reef, Chris Sellers, late 1970s
Courtesy Warren MacKenney © Chris Sellers
Surf club, Long Reef, Jeff Morris, late 1970s
Courtesy Warren MacKenney. © Jeff Morris