HISTORY OF SKATE SHOES - PT 2

I guess a lot of the shoes were just thrashed and disposed of? How did you collect all the old shoes?
We announced a campaign called ‘Made for Trade’ in magazines, skate forums and blogs, where people could exchange their old thrashed shoes for new ones. The rest came from companies, friends and everyone we ran into we asked for their stinking relics. The boards are from friends, former pros, Urban Supplies distribution and the SKATELAB skateboard museum from Todd Huber in Simi Valley CA is a big supporter.

I’m interested in how deep you go back in time. Which model do you regard as the definitive and first skate shoe?
It started with boat shoes and then in 1965 the ‘Randy’s 720’ entered the skateboard scene!

I know Randy’s. We have some very early advertising here for their ‘720’ shoes... do you know much about the company?
On the first Randy’s ad you see Mark Richards from Val Surf spinning a 360. Val Surf was the first skate shop in the US. They opened their doors in 1962 and in 1965 you could buy the Randy’s skateboard shoes there. They were an advanced design of the common boat shoes – they had a thicker toe and heel sole backing for nose and tail spins. On the cover of the third issue of Skateboarder Magazine you can see a guy in the background wearing Randy’s – and you can see the red and blue part of the sole. The red was the ‘Randyprene’ also known as the ‘rubber with TUFFNESS!’