FirstMention.com

Boogie Board

1976

The FirstMention of Boogie Board in 1976 gives me an opportunity to make a point. 

California beach boys and girls were Boogie Boarding at least since 1974, and by some accounts even earlier.  But getting on a Boogie Board, and talking about Boogie Boarding is one thing.  Having the term Boogie Board show up in print is quite another.

It either took a few years for the Boogie Boarding to show up in mainstream publications, or else there's a FirstMention out there I haven't found yet.

Anyway...long story short (Hey!...that would be another worthwhile FirstMention search.  But I digress...), Boogie Boards had their FirstMention on April 13, 1976 in (big surprise!) a California newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.

The fad caught on fast.  By May of '76, the Ventura Holiday Inn was already proudly advertising that they offered Boogie Boards to their guests. 

Numerous other articles offer up a wealth of detail on the aforementioned Tom Morey and Company, including how Morey started up the company in 1974 with his partner, Richard Lawrence, who is credited as the "brainchild"behind the original Boogie Board.

Surfs up!