[Ads-l] Antedating of "Skateboarding"

[Peter Reitan]

I have a newspaper clipping somewhere, 1890s, 1900s, of a guy in San Fran, using a hooked iron bar to grasp the cable car wire in the street, and letting it pull himself down the road, standing on a flat board. Think it was labeled cable riding.
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2022 9:29:53 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Skateboarding"

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Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Skateboarding"
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On Sat, Jan 22, 2022 at 11:56 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
wrote:

> skateboarding (OED 1964)
>
> 1956 Akron Beacon-Journal 11 Mar. 14 (Newspapers.com)  The British Isle of
> Wight has a riding sport ... They call it skate boarding.
>

Interesting find. From the text and photos (via United Press), it appears
this is somewhat different from "skateboarding" as it developed in
California. The Isle of Wight version involved putting a board on a single
roller skate, sitting on the board, and rolling down a hill as if riding a
sled.

Akron Beacon-Journal:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93192792/skate-boarding/
Philadelphia Inquirer:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93192856/skate-boarding/

As for the Californian variety, Fred previously noted an antedating for
"skateboard" from the May 29, 1959 Pasadena Independent:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100984.html

That same newspaper had "skateboarding" a few days later.

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93193973/skateboarding/
"Skateboard Casualties Mount," Pasadena (Calif.) Independent, June 3, 1959,
p. 11, col. 7
"One fellow had his leg set while his friend waited in my office. Three
hour later his friend came back with a broken ankle. Both of the accidents
were from skateboarding." [quoting an orthopedic surgeon]
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--bgz

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