Tom Blake Paddelboard "Kook Box" shape
ClassificationsPaddleboards
Credit LineTom Blake
Object numberPAD.5
DescriptionManufactured by Rogers beginning in 1932, Blake's chambered hollow boards were no longer cigar shaped, but rather a lighter, point-tailed model, built up of hollow compartments. Because of its ease in paddling and in catching waves, it became a favorite in Hawaii and California, especially among beginning surfers. This refined hollow compartment board was used until the late 1940s. “After development of the hollow boards in 1929,” Blake wrote in Hawaiian Surfboard, “an acquaintance of mine advised me to have the idea patented. He unwittingly opened up a new field of experiment in the construction of a board of light pieces of lumber, instead of hollowing out of the solid timber. The first one appeared late in 1929. Although being allowed a U.S. Patent on the hollow surfboard, it was 1934 before a really good model of that [light wood pieces] construction was perfected.” Also known as a kook box, Blake’s most significant invention was the rescue paddleboard which has saved tens of thousands of lives.
On View
Not on viewCollections
c. 1935
