HOBIE SKATEBOARDS

HOBIE SKATEBOARDS TEAM CANADA - Now available at CalStreets Certified Collections VancouverHobie Skateboards: How a Surf Icon Helped Shape ’60s Skate Culture

While Vita-Pakt Juice Company provided the funding and manufacturing backbone for skateboards in the 1960s, it was Hobie Alter who brought a true surf pedigree—and star power—to the table. In late 1964, Vita-Pakt teamed up with the legendary surfboard innovator to create and market a line of Hobie skateboards. Armed with Hobie’s name, they launched a major publicity push that included forming the Hobie Super Surfer team. Skilled riders—often poached from rival Makaha—showed off their moves, helping the Hobie skateboard brand soar in popularity.

To spread the stoke even further, Hobie and his crew embarked on a cross-country bus tour, screening Bruce Brown’s surf film The Endless Summer, hosting demos, and attracting thousands of fans along the East Coast. Their bustling crowds and the widespread press coverage ignited a nationwide passion for Hobie skateboards.

On the innovation front, Hobie was first to launch a pressure-molded fiberglass skateboard and the first to mass-market a truck designed solely for skateboards. He nearly revolutionized skateboarding years before urethane wheels would finally hit the mainstream. Unfortunately, Vita-Pakt hesitated to back Hobie’s vision of more expensive urethane wheels, partly due to concern over raising the price of their boards.