Norm Casey Surfboards

Behind the scenes at Norm Casey Surfboards at Rockdale.From the pages of Surfabout Magazine around ’67.

 

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.

 

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.

Norm Casey

Early 60’s Norm Casey 9ft Malibu with D Fin.

Norm Casey Surfboards

This is a rare Norm Casey Surfboard logo from ’65. The Norm Casey factory at Taren Point ended up becoming the Peter Clarke factory.

Norm Casey Surfboards

One of the original surfboard manufacturers on the south-side. Located at Rockdale in 1960 the factory eventually moved to Taren Point where Gary Birdsall was part of the team. Peter Clarke eventually took over the factory in the mid 60’s and changed the name. Below a 1960 9ft 2 inch Norm Casey double wooden stringer and the board decal from around that time.

Norm Casey Surfboards 60’s

Norm Casey Surfboards at the Taren Point factory eventually changed hands and was to become known as Peter Clarke Surfboards.Logo courtesy Steve Core.