Pre-1950 Australian photos



Duke Kahanamoku at Freshwater - 1915.
Three handboards and a possible bellyboard can be seen in the crowd.

Dr. Huntly Gordon Higgins with fellow Scarborough Scouts (1932):
H. Gorham, Higgins, R. Royce, C. Moore, C. Spivey, G. Knapton, Smith and Hosking.
Recorded as absent were B. Forster and J. Atkins. Photo courtesy Robert Hosking.

Pre-1950s



On-line photo archives are a rich source of information about early surfing, with libraries and museums having on-line photo collections, both in Australia and New Zealand.


New South Wales

Interestingly there are very few photos of prone surfing or boards in NSW, prior to the 1950s. In the 1915 photo with Duke Kahanamoku, small handboards are evident and possibly a longer board. It may be the case that the popularity of surfboards, then surfoplanes negated interest in wooden boards. NSW surfboard collectors have old wooden boards in their collections, though the origin of these boards is often difficult to establish.




Australian redwood board found under a house at Umina Beach
Photo Wayne Priestly



Fanny and Ellie Cook, from Failford with cedar boards
Photo from Doust, J: Past days around Wallis Lake, its rivers and villages. c. 1999

Grays brand wooden bellyboards bought out to Australia by a Mr and Mrs Milne when they moved out to Australia in the 1950s.
When visiting Port Macquarie they used their boards at Flynns beach.
Photo courtesy Port Macquirie Surfing Museum

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is not known for surf and little is known about indigenous surfing in Australia, prior to the 1950s. The US documentary excerpt, narrated by Ray Forrest demonstrates there might be a lot more to the story.



Excerpt from Aborigines of Arnhem Land

Bill Gordon, 30-40s. Arnhem Land

Queensland


Greenmount 1912
Baker, T. Australia's Century of Surf

Winnie Moore 1924, Kirra
Photo courtesy Mooloolooba Surf Museum


Ted Crease 1920s, Main Beach
Photo Karen Wright

Ted Crease 1920s, Main Beach
Photo Karen Wright


Main Beach c.1922.
Longhurst, R (1994). Southport images of Yesteryear 1880-1955

Maroochydore c. 1924
Photo courtesy Gary Clist.

Wood boards from different eras.
Currumbin Surfworld museum.

Wood skim boards (2'10" x 13 3/4" and 2'6" x 14") occasionally used as bellyboards on Stradbroke Island and Dicky Beach.
Made c. 1930s by Samuel Blunt , a Brisbane cabinet-maker. Grandson Harold recalls riding them as a child.
Photo courtesy Gary O'Donnell

Flippers paved the way for bellyboards to be more than a shorebreak adventure.
"Young Surfers Paradise Life Savers preparing for the first ever flipper race at a Broadbeach Surf Carnival, 1947".



Photographer unknown


Source: City Council, Local Studies Print Photographs LS LSP013723.

South Australia


Graham Avery -Pt Elliot 1947.
Source: Reid, C. Cactus

1940s 4'6" South Aust. Hire board.
SDR -Surf Dumper Riders.
Mike Brown collection.

1940s 4'6" South Aust. Hire board.
Bottom view
Mike Brown collection.

Although poor quality these two photos depict early surfing at Victor Harbour. Surfing near Victor Harbor 'Surfers using wooden planks, near Victor Harbor. Petrel Cove and Rosetta Head (the Bluff) are behind the surfers. Circa 1926. Photographer: Barnes, Doris Constance, 1894-1994. Victor Harbor Collection, State Library of South Australia. Favourite Summer pastime In the surf at Victor Harbour, South. Australia. Evening Post , Issue 57, 7 March 1936, Page 23. National Library of New Zealand.


Victor Harbour, 1936. Doris Barnes photo.

Jack Holder- 1944 in Bougainville.
".. it was safer lying down"
Tracks Oct 2003, p. 41.

Victor Harbour c. 1926

1930s 5' oak and maple board.
Deck view
Mike Brown collection.

1930s 5' oak and maple board.
Copper plates fasten the board.
Mike Brown collection.


Lamaroo reported to have been rented by Victor Harbour Hotel 1930-40s
Red Robo photo

Lamaroo bottom
'Red Robo photo'

Lamaroo nose
'Red Robo photo'


Victor Harbour
Photo courtesy surfresearch.com.au Picturesque Australia c.1930. Insert by South Australian Government Publicity and Tourist Bureau, Adelaide.


Six foot, 1940s board
Mike Brown photo

5'5" board
Mike Brown photo

Mike Brown advised: "Story goes the guy who made them was a Patternmaker for Holdens down here at Peterhead Factory. This was in the 40's. The Yanks used to send down car parts for re assembly at this place Packards Caddys etc. Anyway he was a "Surfer" as was his wife The parts for cars came in wooden boxes. They were made of Cherrywood a hard timber ... He painted them "Holden Blue" ... Vee in the nose as you can see, 6' one for him, 5'5" for Mum. He made the brackets to clamp on the passengers side of his car. Very clever guy except his wife couldnt open her door as it was clamped with the board carrier."


Photo at Henley Beach. The boards were made (1939 and 1941) by the man on the far right (on war leave), next to his wife to be.
Simon McLean sold the boards and a copy of the letter by the board maker at the first Mick Mock auction

Tasmania

Despite very cold waters, surfing was popular in the 1930s. Surfing featured in newspapers of the day and at least one time merchant did a sideline in selling wooden boards. For more photos and information about early Tasmanian surfing see the Paipo interview with George Bills which includes photos of the Bill's family and other boards and as well as newspaper photos.

On 23 May 2013 Elizabeth Adkins, Maritime Heritage Coordinator (Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts) advised: "As for when these boards were first used in Tasmania? That's a tricky question to answer for certain. I think I mentioned a photograph in the Tas Archives & Heritage Office collection that shows three young men with two approx. 5-6 ft paipo style boards on a rocky beach in Southern Tasmania. That photograph is dated to between 1924 and 1927, so about the same time that the Thompson family were surfing at Clifton. I've not found a photograph in the newspapers earlier than 1928, which was a young boy holding a short belly board in the surf at Burnie in the north west. But by 1930 people were surfing on boards from the north west to the south and photographs of surfboards during the summer months were quite common as it became very fashionable. My best guess is that during the period of about 1910-1920, when 'surfing' is frequently mentioned in Tasmanian newspapers that this was a combination of surf-bathing, body surfing, a few belly boards and general messing about in the water. Tasmanians who went to the mainland could have surfed when they stayed at beach cottages and brought it home individually, but the Thompsons and Canes were the first known and named so far."


Elizabeth Adkins provided information regarding a J Fotheringham & Co., Launceston bellyboard from the 1930s-1940s, from the Low Head Pilot Station Museum. The board is described as follows: "Construction: Single plank of Huon pine, with two nailed battens on bottom, steam curved nose, square tail with hole for a rope. This board has a small metal maker's badge near the nose on the deck that reads 'J Fotheringham & Co., 118 Charles St. Launceston'. Fotheringham & Co Sport Store made and sold 'surfing boards' of Huon pine in Launceston and advertised them in the Examiner from the 1930s to the 1940s. These boards were made from 4 to 6 ft., were painted in a variety of colours, and would have been enjoyed from Bridport to Burnie along the North Coast, by men, women and children".



J Fotheringham & Co board, 118 Charles Street, Launceston, Tasmania

Hobart Mercury, Risby advertisment

Hobart Mercury, Risby advertisment

'Surfboards for Summer'
Hobart Mercury Supplement, January 13, 1937, page 11.


Solid slab of Kingbilly pine bellyboard
Photo Wayne Priestly

Bellyboard Von Weirdos Surf Shop, Bicheno.

Bellyboard Von Weirdos Surf Shop, Bicheno.
Telfords was possibly a guesthouse

Tasmanian bellyboard
Murray Walding photo


Clifton Beach, late 1930s
Photo Dianna Gee

'Miss Gwen Fitzgerald, her brother, and friends enjoy some good waves'.
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, Christmas Special (November 12, 1930), p.36. Photo W. Fellowes.

'Mr Cedric Cane and others in the surf at Clifton'
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, January 14, 1931, pages 34-35

'Happy holiday-makers on the beach at Burnie'. '
Weekly Courier, February 15, 1928. Photo M.F Nichols

Three happy surfers at East Beach, Low Head. Weekly Courier (Tasmania), February 19, 1930. The Courier Pictorial, p. 27.

'How they spend the summer'. Mr Harvie Thomson's family at Clifton Beach.
llustrated Tasmanian Mail, December 31, 1930, p. 29.



'How they spend the summer'.
llustrated Tasmanian Mail, December 31, 1930, p. 29.



'Snapshots that are winning "Weekly Courier" prizes: 'The Joys of Surfing '.
Five shillings awarded to Miss J. Lade, Box 191 Burnie.Weekly Courier, March 5, 1930, p. 34.

'Waiting for the next breaker'
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, Christmas Special (November 12, 1930), photo W. Fellowes.
1

The photo below was taken 1948-1950. From the left: Pat Sharp (became a Carmelite nun), Val Feltham, Mary Allen and Bev Wright. The photo was taken at Dodges Ferry. Cliff's sister, Bev was about 5'4" so the board is appx 6'. Cliff's father had an upholstery business and the board was made by one of his contacts. Cliff's brother, Rex had been to Lorne for an interstate Commonwealth Bank swimming carnival and seen similar boards. His was the small board on the left (coloured red and cream). The other two boards were coloured blue, with a white boarder and black pinstripe. On each board is the respective owner's name - Bev and Sue. These boards were used at Park Beach in the 1950s; "Mr Tom and Miss Gwen FitzGerald and Miss Betty Risby with their surf-boards".



Bev Wright and friends
Photo courtesy Cliff Wright

'Surfboards and Beach Pyjamas': 'Mr Tom and Miss Gwen FitzGerald and Miss Betty Risby with their surfboards'.
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, Christmas Special (November 12, 1930), p.39


E.H Thompson on cedar board
Gee, Diana (1997). To Clifton or bust: a review of eight decades at Clifton Beach in Tasmania. Sandy Bay, Tas

Alan White's car. The board has an interesting sun design on the deck.
Photo from Gee, Diana (1997).


'Good surfing'. "As the picture above shows, there was fine surf at Kingston Beach on Sunday last.
Many people took out their surfboards...'
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail (1930, January 15), p. 37.

'Mr Cedric Cane and some young friends going down to the beach with surfboards and boats'
Illustrated Tasmanian Mail (1931, January 14), p. 34


Marion and Charlotte Smith in the foregorund with their surfing parents.
Photo from Gee, Diana (1997).

Bellyboard display - Carnegie Gallery in Hobart, Tasmania. Photo George Bills

Left to right: (1) Made for George's Bill's son, David, c. 1960s. (2) Nigel Bills ply bellyboard made for wife, Sue, c. 1960s. (3) Harvie bellyboard, hoop pine, made for his daughter Sue, c. 1925. (4) Harvie Thompson for his daughter Sue - 1940's (5) Harvie Bellyboard - solid timber, c. 1940. (6) and (7) - unidentified.


Victoria


Grace Wooton, 1915 Pt. Lonsdale
Source: Wells, L. Sunny Memories.

Grace Wooton, 1916 Pt. Lonsdale
Source: Wells, L. Sunny Memories.

Grace Wooton, with friend W. Harrison 1915
Source: Wells, L. Sunny Memories.

Lorne c. 1918-19

Lorne c. 1918-19.
Photos courtesy Henry Marfleet.

Walding (2012), the author of Surf-o-rama (Walding 2008) describes the boards below, as follows: "The longest (green and cream) board is 1440 x 330 and appears to date from the late twenties. It has a metal plate slotted into the nose and held with brass nails. This board came from under an old holiday home and had been there since the house was built. Its solid timber as are all the others except the blue Hotel Pacific board which is ply and is the youngest of them. Underneath the Pacific wording, the words Kia Ora can be seen. This was an early Lorne guest house which no longer exists. The red board is from the Carinya - another long gone guest house. It's solid timber with metal nose plate. The red and yellow boards also came from under an old house and although they are made from solid timber the nose 'plate' is ply so I'm guessing they are WWII vintage to early fifties.




Photo by Murray Walding.

From the film Wonderful Warrnambool, c.1921
National Film & Sound Archive

From the film Wonderful Warrnambool, c.1921
National Film & Sound Archive

From the film Wonderful Warrnambool, c.1921
National Film & Sound Archive

Warrnambool, Unknown


On the East coast surfing was also popular. Two Girls and Three Men with Home Made Surf Boards, Cowes Beach, Phillip Island, 1934 Photograph shows Ivy Russell, Jimmy White, Frederick Russell, and friends, with home made wooden surf boards. Photograph copied from Mrs Nola Jones. Photographer unknown.


Cowes Beach 1934. Museum Victoria collection.

Surfing, Summerland Beach, Phillip Island. Six photos of bellyboards in the surf: December 1947. Item held by State Library of Victoria. Collection or series is part of Victorian Railways collection.










Phillip Island 1934
Phillip Island Historical Society. Photo courtesy Laurie Thompson

Phillip Island 1950s.
Photo courtesy Laurie Thompson

Summerland Beach
Phillip Island Historical Society. Photo courtesy Laurie Thompson



While the origins of the boards below are not specifically known, they are located in the Torquay area.



Victorian bellyboard
Photo courtesy Bryan Hayden

Victorian bellyboard
Photo courtesy Bryan Hayden


The original Lightning Bolt
Photo courtesy Bryan Hayden

Nose with double reinforcements
Photo courtesy Bryan Hayden

Protective brass insert in nose area.
Bryan Hayden collection.



Bellyboard
Photo Laurie Thompson

Boards: 4 to 5'6 x 11 -15" used at Lorne andTorquay guesthouses
Photo BobSmith



Laminated hollow bellyboard
Photo Laurie Thompson

Laminated hollow bellyboard
Photo Laurie Thompson


Terry Klemms 1934 whitewashed Tasmanian redwood board
Photo courtesy Laurie Thompson

Western Australia

Rodney Hounslow recalled, surfing at age 7, around 1941 on boards like ironing boards (which they called surfboards) and catching waves off Big reef at Cottlesloe. They'd "crack" the whitewater and ride it to the beach, to calls of "beacher". The boards were reported to be made of pine, about 3' long, an inch and a half thick and narrower than a surfboard, with a square tail. He thought these boards wouldn't have survived as they were used for kindling in winter. These original boards were homemade as Rodney said there was no money to buy things after the war. He said over time boards got shorter like a bread board and handplanning took-over. These shorter boards would be swum out with the head down, while the longer boards were swum out, with one hand stretched out on the board and the free arm paddling. (Hounslow 2016).




1940s Wards Boat Builders (Cottesloe) 4'6 x 17 bellyboard. McKenzies Auction 2015

Rod Hounslow believed the board belonged to John Jarrott.

The surfing Scarborough scouts -1932.
Photo courtesy Robert Hosking.

Scarborough beach hire board - early 20th century
Photo courtesy Rhys Jones

Scarborough beach hire board - early 20th century
Photo courtesy Rhys Jones

The Scout photo was noted to be taken at Manton Beach - January 1932. The Scarborough scout photos were made available by Robert Hosking. Robert made and rode ply bellyboards in NSW, in the 1960s. His Uncle, Dr. Huntly Gordon Higgins, died aged 94 in December 2011. These photos were from a family photo album and indicate a family surfing connection.





"Riding the Surf" and "Swimmers with the type of board used at Scarborough"
The Western Mail (1929, 24 January), p.63. On the far left are the Kurvil brothers and opposite end is Freddy Bartlet.

These photos are reproduced in more detail in the Chris Holyday book Old Scarborough with photographs published on Jim King's Surfing Down South site


'1929 Bodyboard surfing at Scarborough'.
Originally in the Western Mail (1929, 24 January), p.63
republished in Old Scarborough by Chris Holyday,

'1929 January. Bodyboarders at Scarborough WA. Bros Kurvil & Freddy Bartlet on ends, others unidentified. Bob Brown pic'.
Originally in the Western Mail (1929, 24 January), p.63
republished in Old Scarborough by Chris Holyday,


McGovern's store c1932, with boards to the left
Photo source Surfing Down South

Surfers at Scarborough - 1948
Photo courtesy CBreez Kiosk Scarborough and Surfing Down South.

1932-Scarborough Beach, Geoff's mum 4-5 years
Photo courtesy Geoff ODwyer


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