Edgewood circa 1986
Photo Jason Oliva
Happy Holidays to all 201 skaters currently listed in The House of Steam archive also Happy Holidays to all the readers and supporters of THOS.
Best Wishes
guy picciotto of Fugazi… A classic
Photographer (If you are he/she please email me so I can give credit)
OK this is one of my favorite rock pics of all time. I was even thinking it is up there with Hendrix burning his guitar and then I thought I like Guy’s even more then that…Hendrix doesnt sing or play his guitar while its burning…look at Guy!! Singing his guts out…too cool. Another reason for posting this pic on THOS is that we get Fugazi traffic mostly due in part to a post I did on DC and my Fugazi pics:
If you google Guy Picciotto you can see THOS photo I took features prominently
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=guy+picciotto&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g9g-m1
So I thought I would add this basketball hoop gem of Fugazi Guy to the site and see if we can push it up the ranks a bit. Guy is cool and I have had a bit of a back n forth with him here and there and he digs my pics too.
Hey while we are at it we should get these two up the google ladder as as well:
Guy Picciotto of Fugazi St. 1990 St. Augustines School
photo by Jason Oliva
Guy Picciotto of Fugazi St. 1990 St Augastines School
photo by Jason Oliva
Mid 80′ Blue N Black Air Jordans
Foot Armor -Jason Oliva
Photo by -Jason Oliva
So I thought I would start a new category in the Archive called Weapons of Choice, a place to document all the armor and tools of the trade. SO send me some pics!
Back in the day you didnt have to be Sherlock Holmes to tell who skated vert. One glance at the feet and the jig was up, no need to even confess. Vert shoes would cause murder mystery wonderment amongst the uninitiated, racking their brains for the answer as to how you wear out the tops of your sneakers even to the point your big toes were visible!(some Chuck taylor wearers even had big toe holes in all their socks as well, too funny)
During the 80’s there was a shoe shop in South Plainfield , NJ that we would hit up while en route to the Salvation Army looking for clothes. The shoe shop was great, they had one shrink wrap shoe on the wall and they brought out the other one if you wanted to buy them, and that was that. No selection of sizes at all. I cleaned em out of over sized Air Jordans for a couple years. Red Black n Blue(x2), Black n white (wore those only one time to the prom) , metallic blue and white, then one day I scored a pair of Red n Black and Blue n Black (both a perfect fit) I think they cost $18 as well. I wore the blue n blacks skating for over 20 years (the last time was 06-07 at the Battery Park skate park) My blue n black and Red n blacks look like they have been blasted by a shot gun under the duct tape…I even took a 12 inch splinter (which I kept forever in my skate-bag) through the top between my big and second toes through my sock and out the sole-lucky that time.Unfortunately over time the foam in the ankles would rot, but they still look good. I always kept em in my bag too and would wear my Puma cats (another life altering score from the shop, for you FaceBook Users you can see em here: http://tinyurl.com/opkxux) for walking and street skating. It was often a bit of muddy/snowy mess out to the Barn. Most NJ/PA ramps required a traipse through the woods or snow and I think that alone started the habit of having two pairs of sneakers, it was never the hi performance issue that shoes seem to garnish these days. You just needed to keep your “Wednesday best” sneakers outta the muck.
Ok send some gear pics, boards, sneakers etc whatever is lying about. I know I have a pair of unused Texas Pads up in the attic…Are they still around?
Jason Oliva (Ben Cornish looking on) 1987 NJ McDowells ramp.
Sporting said ‘Air Jordans’….and some Jay Henry drawn/Tom Groholski skate shorts!
Members of the 4 Wheel Warpony skate team (White Mountain Apache). Photo courtesy of Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo), 2008.
Smithsonian
National Museum of the American Indian
“Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America” Opens at the National
Museum of the American Indian
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will open “Ramp It Up:
Skateboard Culture in Native America” Friday, June 12, in the Sealaska Gallery. One of the most
popular sports on Indian reservations, skateboarding has inspired and influenced American Indian and
Native Hawaiian communities since the 1960s. The exhibition celebrates the vibrancy, creativity and
controversy of American Indian skate culture and will be on view through Sept. 13.
The exhibition includes 28 objects and 45 images, including rare archival photographs, film of
Native skaters and skate decks from Native companies and contemporary artists. Highlights include a
never-before-seen 1969 photograph taken by skateboarding icon, Craig R. Stecyk III, of a skate deck
depicting traditional Native imagery and 1973 home-movie footage of Zephyr surf team members
Ricky and Jimmy Tavarez (Gabrielino-Tongva).
“The museum is eager to show how Indian Country has embraced and changed skateboard
culture in America. The exhibition honors tribal communities’ efforts to connect with their young
people through a positive activity like skateboarding,” said Kevin Gover (Pawnee/Comanche) director
of the National Museum of the American Indian. “It is a vibrant visual documentation of an emerging
culture unique to Native American youth.”
The exhibition features the work of visual artists Bunky Echo-Hawk (Yakama/Pawnee), Joe
Yazzie (Navajo), Traci Rabbit (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) and Dustinn Craig (White Mountain
Apache/Navajo) and highlights young Native skaters such as 20-year-old Bryant Chapo (Navajo) and
10-year-old Augustin and 7-year-old Armondo Lerma (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians).
As skateboarding continues to rise in popularity in Indian Country, Native skaters and
entrepreneurs have combined core lessons learned from the sport: strength, balance and tenacity with
traditional tribal iconography and contemporary art to engage Native youth in their history and
culture. “Ramp It Up” examines the role of indigenous peoples in skateboarding culture, its roots in
ancient Hawaiian surfing techniques and the visionary achievements of contemporary Native skaters.
Skateboarding combines demanding physical exertion, design, graphic art, filmmaking and music to
produce a unique and dynamic culture. “Ramp It Up” illustrates how indigenous people and tribal
communities have used skateboarding to express themselves and educate their youth.
So how cool is this! Not only a first for American Indian skate culture but a first for skate culture in general being recognized by The Smithsonian. Jim Murphy will be a big part of this due to his years of activities with American Indians and his Wounded Knee skate company. In addition who do the major museums call when they need a “rare archival photograph” of Jim Murphy for a world class exhibit? Well they call the ultimate online skate Museum…The House of Steam! That’s right folks (thanks Jim & Betsey!) we have contributed to the 45 images that comprise the exhibit…A fine hour for the THOS community, a fine hour indeed. Whether or not I will be donning a Tux and attending the shindig in July remains to be seen but if anyone in the D.C. area does head out to see the exhibit please email me some pictures. Hopefully they found a great place to Honor Team Steam member Jim Murphy with this gem….
proud to be involved,
Jim Murphy 1986 Edgewood
Photo by Jason Oliva
Dave Nunn Watchung NJ circa 84
Photo Jason Oliva
Here is Dave Nunn a great childhood friend of mine sporting a silver Cab (The early 80’s weapon of choice, I was a Hawk man myself). Dave operated a typical NJ Driveway Skatepark (see also McDowells, Padulo’s, Hanley’s,Pruskowski’s) with a wedge ramp. Dave was obsessed with hand stands (I remember later this day one of these ended badly with a bloodied face) While this was going on David Lackland had an 8 foot wide ramp, The Padulo Brothers and The Mcdowells were building, Tag had an 8 foot wide ramp, Jeff Roenning was building his 2nd or third monster ramp the Barn was up and running, Groholski’s was towering over his neighborhood and there where plenty of ditches to ride. All in Central N-Jay.In a couple years a younger generation would be convinced to join the fray and start building (Klein, Foncek, whoever owned The Girl Ramp)…. It was just a waiting game to grow up get a car and start hopping around.
Click photo to enlarge
Edgewood 1986
Photo Jason Oliva
That last photo of Rocky inspired me to add a touch of art to some pics, here is one that has undergone some photoshop hero’ness.
Jason
Brian “Kentucky” Boyd CCCC Virginia 1986
Photo Jason Oliva
Hey look…Its Kentucky!
True that I live in Tennessee. No longer skate. I am a Certified Hand Therapist. I specialize in physical rehabilitation of the UE extremity ; fractures, burns, grafts, tendon or nerve injuries, rotator cuff repair, labral injuries etc…I live, eat, breathe physical medicine of the upper extremity…can be found on myspace….
I wonder if he still kills it on the fussball table?
Jason