Today, the surf culture is everywhere in California and worldwide – in music, marketing, fashion, arts, style, attitudes and behaviors of the ...SkiptomaincontentSurfWhatisthesurfculture(therealone)?ByDavidBiger08·15·2018Whatissurfcultureexactly?Howwasitborn?Inthisblogpostwe’llgobackintimetoexplorethelongandcompellingoriginsofthisancientHawaiiansport.InarecentautobiographythatwonthePulitzerPrizein2016,WilliamFinnegancamebackon50yearsofsurfing,travelsandobsession.“BarbarianDays:ASurfingLife”isthestoryofamenwhoconsidersurfnotonlyasanextremesportbutasawayoflife.Helefteverythingforitandbecameaddictedtowaves.Morethananyone,WilliamFinneganknowsabouttherealsurfcultureandphilosophy.You’lldiscoverhowcinema,musicorfashionhaveframedthesurfhistoryforever. AbriefhistoryofsurfanditsoriginsThehistoryofsurfingtakesitsrootsfromthetestimonyofaBritishexplorerwithamythicalname:JamesCook.Itwasin1778inHawaii–thebeginningofagreatsportiveadventurebutalsoaculturaladventure.Hisdiarytellsusthatheattendedasurfingsessionandconsidereditonlyasawildgameforsavages.Itwasonly100yearslaterthatJackLondonandMarkTwainexploredthePacificislandsanddiscoveredthisincrediblesport.Theytolditintheirstoriesandbroughtthelightonsurf.Experiencingtheauthenticsurfcultureisfarfromtheoneweknowtoday!“Surf”didn’tevenexistasawordandthelocalswerecallingit“he’enalu”(whichmeansformingaunitwithwaves).WhentheUSAinvadedthePacificislands,theyencouragedtourismtoHawaiiandfrom1930to1960,thenumberofsurfershasincreasedfrom500to150000!Andthat’smainlybecauseoftheprofessionalswimmerandsurferDukeKahanamokuwhopopularizedsurfinCalifornia.Thewestcoastidentitywasshapedbythissurfingcraze–specializedmagazineswereborn,surfshops,etc.Inthefaceofthissuccess,Hollywooddecidedtoproduceanewgenreoffilm:the“beachmovies”. TheemergingCaliforniansurfpopcultureinthe60sIt’sreallythankstothecinemathatthepopularityofsurfconsiderablytookoffintheUSA.In1959,themovie“Gidget”cameout,arathersoppyfilmthatmetaconsiderablesuccessandlaunchedthewaveofbeachmovies.Gidgetwas