The Hermosa Bun Board Story

Bun Board beats Roller Derby by 2 years but was short lived and not patented.
Anybody interested in vintage skateboard history ?

Letter from Don Guild

Having lived my whole life (80 years) in Hermosa, I had a lot of personal experience beginning with the old skates we attached to a 2 by 4 and nailed to a wooden box, all the way up to selling what I do believe was the first commercial skateboard in the US, right here in Hermosa at Guild Drug on the NE corner of Pier Ave and Hermosa Ave. Here is what happened:

In 1957 a retired gentleman by the name of Alf Jensen approached me at the Guild Drug store and under his arm he was carrying a red board with skate trucks attached to it. It was very well finished and painted. On the top surface of the board he had professionally silk screened the words "Bun Board". It looked super but I turned him down when he wanted to sell me 6 of them for $2 each. I knew that they would not retail for $2.88, so I passed. He was back 2 more times and said that a couple of kids had bought them from him and liked them. On his third return trip he said he would leave 6 of them, and I could pay him if they sold. "OK" was my answer, he went back to his garage on 15th street and in 20 minutes I had 6 shiny red skate boards sitting on a counter for sale. Well, a couple sold the first day and by the end of the week they were all gone. Jensen then brought me 12 and they sold out fast. Pretty soon I had kids calling from Torrance, Hawthorne, Inglewood, and other towns. Alf brought in a few of his cronies to help him, as he was a retired person, and the group of old ducks churned out as many a week as they could, but he was never able to supply all the orders on my "WANT LIST". Jensen was not suited to handle the pressure and it drove him nuts. After about 3 months of no sleep and numerous anxiety attacks, he sold the business to a fellow in North Redondo.

So, why the name "Bun Board"? At that time, next to the Bank of America on Pier Ave. was a Bakery and they used a hickory board for baking their buns. The boards became a bit charred after many firings and Alf fished them out of the trash weekly, and gave them a new life. That is it, and I sure wish I had saved a couple.

Don Guild
Hermosa Beach
http://www.hermosabeachhistoricalsoc...g%20Guild.html

First introduced in 1959, the Roller Derby skateboard was the first mass-produced skateboard. It was basically a one-tip wooden plank with modified roller skates attached to it. Completely lacking features which nowadays are common for skateboards, the Roller Derby had no concave or even kicktails, not to mention grip tape, and like all early skateboards, it featured steel wheels which offered little to no grip on most riding surfaces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_Derby_Skateboard

Skater Dater : Filmed in Torrance Hollywood Rivera, PV, Crenshaw & PCH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfjsKzYCFEc
Classic Pic with steel wheels, cut off jeans and dirty tee shirt. Nova or Chevy II wagon ?