Do you think the Russian woodpecker inadvertently caused the skateboarding craze in California in the 70s?
Because of the drought that led to the pools going empty? Or do you think it was more the invention of the plastic polymers that they used to improve the boards and the wheels?
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ANSWERS: 2
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This question looks familiar.
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No, I think the movie "Jaws" might have played a larger role than the woodpecker.
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Linda Joy How did the movie Jaws have anything to do with skateboarding? Or a drought? -
bostjan the adequate 🥉 The big skateboarding boom started in California in the summer of 1975, and was initiated by surfers (source: https://www.liveabout.com/the-true-story-of-dogtown-3002227). Jaws came out in the summer of 1975 and caused mass hysteria that resulted in diminished beach attendance (source: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jaws-launched-summer-blockbuster-35-years-ago/story?id=10855868). So, as I imagine it, surfers who had been surfing in the summer of 1974 either saw the movie or the advertisements for it (Jaws' advertisements reached a record-breaking number of Americans (source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hollywood/business/jaws.html)), and decided to surf the sidewalks instead (the first skate park in the USA didn't open until March of 1976). Since skateboarding was accessible to people who didn't live along the coast, it was possible for it to spread to the midwest, but without a spark, there is no combustion, as they say, and "Jaws" was the spark that started the skateboarding craze.
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