1960s California was one of the most desirable places to be and live in. There was a thriving economy of both white and blue-collar jobs, and that year-long, summer climate. After World War II and during the late 1950s-early '60s, people came in groves for sun, fun, and jobs.
In 1940, the state's population was about 7 million. By 1950, it was 10.6 million, due to many Texans and Olkahomans who came seeking wartime employment in government factories. By 1960, California's population grew to more than 15.8 million. By late 1962, there were more than 17 million and still growing.
And a new indigenous sound was born; bright, bouncy, "sunny" music about beaches, bikinis (and the girls in them), and recreational activities. One of these activities widely sung about was surfing. Originally the sport of Hawaiian kings, it was introduced to California at the turn of the 20th century.
The Gidget movies greatly popularized the sport. Actor Cliff Robertson, who was in the 1959 version, was one of the first people (along with a business partner) who started a surfboard business (At the time, there wasn't a local manufacturing company. All the movie's surfboards were shipped in from Hawaii.)
Later, two other companies, Hobie Surfboards and Sweet's Surfboards, further popularized the sport by making an important innovation: They replaced the traditional heavy board with a lightweight material that could be handled more easily. And surfing took off. A new sub-culture grew out of this, with its own vocabulary, fashion, print media, and of course, the music. (At the time, surfers were predominantly male teenagers and young adults.)
Pendleton shirts, sandals, white, tight, somewhat short Levis, and baggies (very large, loose boxer-style shorts) were the standard and epitome of surfer cool. Some surfer terms were: kooks and gremlins-beginners, the poorly skilled, or phonies bunnies-girls going over the falls-being caught in a breaking wave woodie-station wagon with wooden sides Ho-Daddy-an intruding wise guy soup-foaming water near the beach big guns-surfboards designed for riding tall waves hot-doggers-surfers and hot-dogging-performing tricks, among many others. (Don't forget the saying, "Cowabunga! Surf's Up!"? )
There were new magazines such as Surfer and Surfer Illustrated. Early surf movies were Slippery When Wet (1960) and Barefoot Adventure(1962). And then there were the fun, hilarious Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, and a somewhat regular ensemble cast that included : go-go dancer Candy Johnson, singer Donna Loren, pretty boy Aaron Kinkaid, "bonehead" Jody McCrea, sweet, earnest Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig, Bobbie Shaw (she was the Nordic-looking blonde with the big chest who often played variations of "Inga from Sweden." Yah Yah!), and Harvey Lembeck, who played Eric Von Zipper, leader of the Rat Pack, (the motorcycle gang or bikers, another Californian subculture) who regularly threatened the surfers.
In 1940, the state's population was about 7 million. By 1950, it was 10.6 million, due to many Texans and Olkahomans who came seeking wartime employment in government factories. By 1960, California's population grew to more than 15.8 million. By late 1962, there were more than 17 million and still growing.
And a new indigenous sound was born; bright, bouncy, "sunny" music about beaches, bikinis (and the girls in them), and recreational activities. One of these activities widely sung about was surfing. Originally the sport of Hawaiian kings, it was introduced to California at the turn of the 20th century.
The Gidget movies greatly popularized the sport. Actor Cliff Robertson, who was in the 1959 version, was one of the first people (along with a business partner) who started a surfboard business (At the time, there wasn't a local manufacturing company. All the movie's surfboards were shipped in from Hawaii.)
Later, two other companies, Hobie Surfboards and Sweet's Surfboards, further popularized the sport by making an important innovation: They replaced the traditional heavy board with a lightweight material that could be handled more easily. And surfing took off. A new sub-culture grew out of this, with its own vocabulary, fashion, print media, and of course, the music. (At the time, surfers were predominantly male teenagers and young adults.)
Pendleton shirts, sandals, white, tight, somewhat short Levis, and baggies (very large, loose boxer-style shorts) were the standard and epitome of surfer cool. Some surfer terms were: kooks and gremlins-beginners, the poorly skilled, or phonies bunnies-girls going over the falls-being caught in a breaking wave woodie-station wagon with wooden sides Ho-Daddy-an intruding wise guy soup-foaming water near the beach big guns-surfboards designed for riding tall waves hot-doggers-surfers and hot-dogging-performing tricks, among many others. (Don't forget the saying, "Cowabunga! Surf's Up!"? )
There were new magazines such as Surfer and Surfer Illustrated. Early surf movies were Slippery When Wet (1960) and Barefoot Adventure(1962). And then there were the fun, hilarious Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, and a somewhat regular ensemble cast that included : go-go dancer Candy Johnson, singer Donna Loren, pretty boy Aaron Kinkaid, "bonehead" Jody McCrea, sweet, earnest Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig, Bobbie Shaw (she was the Nordic-looking blonde with the big chest who often played variations of "Inga from Sweden." Yah Yah!), and Harvey Lembeck, who played Eric Von Zipper, leader of the Rat Pack, (the motorcycle gang or bikers, another Californian subculture) who regularly threatened the surfers.
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