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.
Midget Farrelly cutback during a World Surfboard Titles heat
Ron Perrott, 1964
Courtesy and © Estate of Ron Perrott
Surfer figurine
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Surf beaches of Australia’s east coast
Jeff Carter, Angus & Robertson, 1968
Courtesy David Platt
This well-known book by Australian photojournalist Jeff Carter
managed to capture the vitality and ‘groove’ of surf culture
just as V-bottom surfboards, ‘involved’ surfing, hip fashions
and paisley prints were taking off.
Surf International
Edited by John Witzig, Sydney, vol 1, no 1, December 1967
Mick Mock Collection
Writer, photographer and surf culture stirrer John Witzig left
Surfing World in 1967 to set up Surf International, a magazine
that mirrored surfing’s emerging psychedelic consciousness and
revolutionary spirit. For two years, this colourful magazine
captured the latest in board design, surfing fashions and alternative lifestyles
Bikini Professional
Mid 1960s
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
Midget Farrelly spray jacket
Mid 1960s
Mick Mock Collection
Whitestag short-legged wetsuit
Mid 1960s.
Mick Mock Collection
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, painted oak deck and tubby surfer logo
– were churned out before the company closed in 1974.
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.
EH Holden Station Wagon advertisement
1st World Surfboard Titles program, 1964
Courtesy Manly Library and GM Holden Ltd