The history of surfing in Huntington Beach goes back to at least 1914 when George Freeth entertained the spectators who'd come to see the opening of the "new‚" pier in that year with a surfing demonstration. In the 1920's local boys Bud Higgins and Gene Belshe fashioned their own cumbersome boards and learned to surf with the encouragement of the legendary Duke Kahanamoku. As the years progressed, the sport was championed as a hallmark of Huntington Beach. Soldiers returning from WWII popularized the sport, having learned it first hand while stationed in the Pacific Islands. Board shops and board shapers proliferated as more and more people came to surf the waves in Huntington Beach. Jan and Dean's huge hit "Surf City‚" was written about Huntington Beach. Numerous surfing events were held. Duke Kahanamoku presided over at least five of them and the ABC channel's Wide World of Sports covered many. Eventually, Huntington Beach was recognized as "Surf City U.S.A.‚" on the floor of Congress in 1991. The title was officially registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Today, the world's "first and only Surfing Walk of Fame‚" is a hallmark of the downtown community and the national U.S. Open of Surfing is just one of the important surfing events held in Huntington Beach.
Canadian immigrant and non-surfer Natalie Kotsch, recognizing surf culture and its role in Huntington Beach history conceived of the idea of a surf museum. Collections were gathered and supporters banded together to create the first International Surf Museum in 1987. The mission of the non-profit group was "preserving the past, participating in the present, and influencing the future of all aspects of surfing culture worldwide.‚"
The International Surfing Museum was located in its permanent home in the historic art deco/moderne building that had once been the office of early Huntington Beach physician, Dr. Hawes. In the 1920s and 30s, with no hospital nearby, it had served as an emergency facility for injured oil workers.
The International Surfing Museum is home to catalogued collections, rotating exhibits, and important artifacts like Kahanamoku's surfboard and the Guiness World-Record Breaking World's largest surfboard.
This film includes interviews about the Surf Museum, especially focusing on the workers, many of whom viewed their efforts as a "labor of love."
This film was professionally produced for the then-active Huntington Beach TV.
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Cat: Surf Museum Construction Surf Museum Construction footage & Interviews Workers (Inside surfing)