Surf N' Wear Online
Tom Blake Surfboards: A Classic 1940s Rogers and Blake Mahogany Paddle Board
Tom Blake Surfboards in Surfing History Thomas Edward Blake (1902-94) was a pivotal figure in surfing history, and possibly the most influential individual in the history of wooden surfboards. He was an accomplished swimmer and surfer whose experiences with ancient Hawaiian surfer culture blended with his background in Malibu water sports to produce unprecedented surfboard designs. In the 1920s and 30s, Blake's experiments and innovations resulted in lighter paddleboards and surfboards, as well as alternative construction techniques, the introduction of the fin, and a basic leash. Tom Blake surfboards and the designs they influenced are credited from advancing surfing from its Polynesian origins to a national ocean sport in the US.Blake's significant contributions began in 1927 when he and Sam Reid pioneered surfing in Malibu, California, while at the same time working on a replica Olo surfboard in Hawaii. This massive fifteen-foot board, weighing approximately 150 pounds, underwent extensive modifications by drilling hundreds of holes through the deck to reduce weight, a technique that enabled Blake to win numerous paddleboard races. His experimentation progressed to chambering solid boards, carving out internal sections, and eventually developing a skin and frame construction method, revolutionizing the industry with significantly lighter boards, as light as 40 pounds. Although construction techniques have evolved over the years since Blake patented his design in 1931, his original concepts endured for decades, used globally as lifeguard rescue boards and commercially produced by various manufacturers.Blake pushed surfboard innovation further in 1935 when he added an aluminum skeg salvaged from a speedboat to the bottom of his cedar surfboard, encasing it in wood for protection. This precursor to the surfboard fin was a modest one-foot-long, four-inch-high addition provided Tom Blake surfboards with directional stability, enabling surfers to navigate tighter angles on waves and initiate turns effectively. Blake's relentless quest to improve surfboard design forever altered surfing, and modern surfboard shapers owe a significant debt of gratitude to his pioneering spirit and innovative techniques. Tom Black Rogers Co. Mahogany Paddle Board circa 1940 This hollow paddleboard circa 1940 in the Surf n' Wear classic surfboards collection was designed by Tom Blake in partnership with The Thomas Rogers Company of Venice, California, which also manufactured airplane wings. Blake patented his designs, which were produced by the Rogers Company, and exhibited similar design attributes with airplane wings. Most significantly this design approach reduced the weight of solid-wood surfboards, making surfing accessible to a broader audience. This board has a hollow structure with a ribbed interior, reinforced transversely. Blake, in close collaboration with Rogers, oversaw the production of some of the earliest commercially manufactured surfboards and paddleboards. Lifeguards and racers mostly used paddleboards, which they also used for leisure surfing. You can just picture it, gliding across the waves in Malibu... Come on down to the Beach House board room to check out more classic boards in our surfboard collection. Shop our in-house collection of surfboard shaper apparel and stickers, including Yater, Santa Barbara Surfshop, Andreini Surfboards, and Greenough Designs.
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Mr. White Owl: Tales of the Incomparable Jeff White, Founder of Surf n' Wear
Surf n’ Wear surf shop founder Jeff White (1938-2010) is remembered in the history of Santa Barbara surfing as a wise mentor with a golden heart whose steadfast support of local innovation in the craft of surfing elevated the careers and lives of many. White glossing a board at the original White Owl Surf Shop in Summerland, 1962 White moved to Santa Barbara in 1956 from Hermosa Beach to study engineering at UCSB. He lived at Miramar, near Hammonds, where he earned the nickname “White Owl” when a friend saw him puffing on a White Owl cigar at a college party on Miramar Beach. During his time as a student, White worked as a lifeguard at Carpinteria State Beach and took up dory racing. White surfing Hammonds in 1964 In a 2008 interview with local Santa Barbara surfer and filmmaker David Pu’u, White recounts getting his first surfboard at the age of 12 in 1951 in Venice Beach from shaper Bob Simmons. He and some friends bought some old World War II balsa life rafts in San Pedro and brought them to Simmons to shape for $5 a piece. The boards were about 8’ or so. White and his dad glassed the boards themselves at home. He bought his next surfboard a year later from Dale Velzy: a redwood board with a detachable fin. The Summerland White Owl shop in 1962 (Brian Bradley, Stan Veith, Jesse, Jeff White, and Steve Scofield) In 1961, White set out to launch a boat-building business. He used a small business loan to rent shop space at 2320 Lillie Avenue in Summerland, next to Renny Yater’s shop. The space was attached to Shanty, a popular local burger joint. Instead, he enlisted Brian Bradley, and local Carpinteria grom surfer Stan Veith, to help him use the space to shape surfboard blanks. And so White Owl Surfboards was born, with the tagline “Fine surfboards by craftsmen who care.” Other local shapers soon joined the team, including Bruce Fowler, Curtis Jackson, Tom Rowland, Brian Bradley, and eventually Marc Andreini. By 1963, the name evolved to become just Owl Surfboards. In 1964, White opened a second Owl surfboard shop in Santa Cruz, California, at 24 Front Street. Veith moved up to Santa Cruz to run the shop, which began to sell more and more boards and rent boards for $5 a day. White Owl Surf Shop Summerland in 1966 Meanwhile, White expanded the Lillie Avenue shop to include surf apparel and wetsuits for sale. The shop grew as a hangout spot for young surfers from Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito. Local Hammond’s surfer Greg Tally tells a story about his mom dropping him off at the Owl shop as a kid, where he would hang out with other local surf groms, Peter and Marc Andreini. White taught the kids how to do ding repair and recruited them for an informal White Owl surf team. Marc Andreini recounts, “Jeff was so good to us... We were just little kids finding our way. But he took us in and made us a part of his deal. He really cared about people and about kids. When somebody has that kind of outlook on life, it makes things happen.” Marc Andreini surfing in a White Owl surf contest at Stanley's in 1966 In 1965, White made his next enterprising move in the local Santa Barbara surf scene when he founded a downtown surf shop named Surf n’ Wear on Carrillo Street, which focused on selling surf apparel and accessories as well as surfboards. By 1974, Jeff had opened Surf n’ Wear surf shops in San Luis Obispo, San Jose, and Goleta. Around this time, he asked Marc Andreini if he would shape boards under the Owl label. In 1975, Roger Nance started working at the Goleta Surf n’ Wear shop and eventually became manager. Nance had moved to Santa Barbara from Santa Cruz to attend UCSB. He remembered White with admiration from the Santa Cruz shop. Nance and White formed a partnership in 1978, which led to the opening of new Surf n’ Wear shops in Thousand Oaks and Santa Maria. They also briefly partnered with Matt Moore of Rincon Designs to run a shop in Carpinteria. That same year, Nance and White kicked off the annual Rincon Classic surf contest. A few years later, all Surf n’ Wear shops except for the flagship downtown shop were sold. Roger Nance at the Carrillo St. Surf n' Wear in the 1970s In 1987, White and Nance seized on a timely opportunity to open another downtown store on the waterfront at 10 State Street. The stars aligned at this spot in 1991 with the return of Marc Andreini, who resumed shaping boards under the Owl surfboards label to sell in the new Surf n’ Wear’s Beach House location. By 1993, White and Nance had bought Williams’ share of the business and expanded the board room at the shop to sell Yater surfboards as well as some Bradbury boards. In 1999, Surf n' Wear's Beach House became the official Yater Surfboards showroom. Jeff White soaking in the ocean air circa 1985 White’s love of swimming and ocean sports ultimately had a profound healing effect as White began to suffer from multiple sclerosis. With his characteristic positive and grateful spirit, White defied his physical limitations to swim in the ocean in front of his Carpinteria home every day. His love of community and the ocean lives on in the surfing history legacy he created through the simplest of things. As White recounted, “I really liked making surfboards. It wasn’t like going to work. It was like playtime. You liked the people you were surrounded with, you liked what you were doing. It’s a thrill to sell a surfboard.”
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Surf n’ Wear’s Beach House History
A History of Surf n' Wear's Beach House from the Early Days of Surf n' Wear and White Owl Surfboards In 1961 Jeff White and Brian Bradley opened the Owl Surf Shop in Summerland, California, at 2320 Lillie Ave, next store to the Yater Surf Shop to the present-day shop on State St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
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Al Merrick and Channel Islands Surfboards
Al Merrick is a renowned surfboard shaper from Santa Barbara. Merrick’s Channel Islands surfboard shop was at the forefront of revolutionary advances in the sport of surfing during the 1980s.
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Marc Andreini and the Evolution of Surfboard Shaping in Santa Barbara
Marc Andreini is a renowned Santa Barbara surfboard shaper who has been creating boards locally for over five decades. His designs are known for their unique shapes, high-performance capabilities, and innovative construction techniques.
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Riding the Waves with Tom Curren, Santa Barbara Surfing Legend
Tom Curren is a legendary pro surfer from Santa Barbara, California. He is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and stylish surfers of all time. His contributions to the sport have had a lasting impact on surfing around the world. Curren has won three world championships (1985, 1986, 1990).
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Ike Surfboards Shaper John Eichert
John Eichert and the History of Ike Surfboards John Eichert of Ike Surfboards is a renowned surfboard shaper who has spent his life riding waves and shaping boards. Born and raised in Montecito, California, John developed a passion for surfing at a young age and quickly became enamored with the art of board shaping.
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