Norm Casey and Steve Core

Steve Core remembers his early days…..”Kogarah High School. Established 1920. I graduated from there in 1964 – so almost 50 years ago. Brings back some interesting old memories of my early St.George roots in the ’60s when I was in my early teens. This is where I was first introduced to surfing by school mates when we were inspired by the original ‘surf boom’ of the eary sixties and ‘Beach Boys’ music. We used to catch the train from Kogarah to Cronulla to go surfing in the early ’60s and leave our boards at the Cronulla Stor-A-Board for .40¢ a week. I had my first job after school in 1963 working at the Norm Casey Surf Shop on the Princes Highway in Rockdale – about 2Ks away”. Below Norm Caseys Rockdale store logo.

 

Bobby Brown Quasimodo

This shot of Bobby taken at North Cronulla in ’62 by Jack Eden is one of the most iconic Aussie surf pictures of all time. It captures the sixties  in an era known for pulling silly stunts and having a good time. Today this might look ridiculous to the groms but it shows that surfers wernt taking themselves to serious back then and were having a lot more fun. Photos like this by Jack Eden are available to buy online.

 

Midway Shack

Bob Weeks photos captured the lifestyle as well as the action in the 60’s. This is Midway with a surfers shack roughly built on the beach.Many of Bobs classic pics are available on the internet to buy.

Keith Paull

Qld translant Keith Paull was one of the highest profile and hottest competition surfers of the 60’s. Keith moved to Cronulla and began shaping boards for Peter Clarke between ’63 and 65 before moving north. This classic image of Keith surfing Sandshoes was taken by Bob Weekes.

Something Incredible Surfboards ’68

Something Incredible Surfboards Logo. 20 Woodfield Boulevade Carringbah Phone : 525-3737 circa 1968. Darrell Eastlake and John Rhodes. Info from Surf Research.

Alan Doorman.

Alan Doorman better known as Doormouse was one of the early Cronulla Point pioneers. Back  then there was no legropes and duck diving hadnt even been invented. Wipeout and your board was getting mashed on the rocks  or swept out to sea in the Voodoo express. Photo 1961 from Dags Collection.

Norm Casey and the V-Jet Boards

A 1963 Surfabout ad for the Norm Casey V-Jet, tailored especially for discriminating Qantas staff, in transit at Waikiki, suggests that the surfer market was still an unformed and unknown entity, or at least far from the unruly, hooligan image emerging in the tabloid press.  Taren Pt based Norm Casey supplied these boards exclusively for Qantas crew on stop-overs in Hawaii, who stayed at the Ilikai Hotel at Ala Moana, where a stash of boards and the odd Hobie Cat were readily on hand. Courtesy of Surf City Museum and extra info by Steve Core.

Peter Clarke Surfboards

Advertisement for Peter Clarke Surfboards around ’69.The guy hanging over the back of the train carriage looking at the camera is Glynn Ritchie who was the Shaper at Peter’s Brookvale factory. The boards had dropped to under the 6 foot mark and it was also when Mitchell Raye was learning to shape under Glynn , great days ,great boards… within 6 months they were making full concave boards.

Ken “Major ” Williams

One of Cronullas most talented surfing identities of the sixties was Ken Williams. Here the Major shows off his 1947 Prefect at The Point in ’61. Photo by Jack Eden.

Keith Paull ’68

 Steve Core  did this trippy psychadelic paint job for Keith Paull in the late 60s when both of them were working for Peter Clarke. Around the same time Paull beat Nat Young and Midget Farrelly in the 1968 National titles, held at Long Reef. Photo by Jeff Carter