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the catalogue #166

1950 Lamaroo Belly Board 5ft 1"

#166

MANUFACTURE
MANUFACTURER: Unknown
SHAPER: Unknown
DESIGN: Lamaroo/Paipo/Belly Board
DESIGNER: Unknown

SPECIFICATIONS
CONSTRUCTION
Redwood ? board with turned up nose - either sidecut from oversized timber or steamed. Painted.

DIMENSIONS

*Length :*	5	ft	1	inches	*L2:*
*Width :*	11 3/4	inches		*Wide Point :*		inches
*Nose :*	11 3/4	inches		*Tail :*	11 3/4	inches
*Thickness :*	1/2	inches		*Pod :*	11 3/4	inches
*Nose Lift :*	2	inches		*Tail Lift :*		inches
*Weight :*		kilos		*Volume :*		litres
*Other :*		inches

FEATURES
Nose: square
Tail: Square
Deck:
Bottom:
Rails: rounded square
Rocker: substantial nose lift, flat

FINS: none

DECOR
DECALS:
Deck: none
Bottom:
MARKINGS
Deck: none
Bottom:
COLOUR
Deck: blue with offset white nose
Bottom: blue with offset white nose

NOTES
HISTORY
Dimensions and photographs Sydney Surf Auction, Royal Antler Hotel, Narrabeen, 21 October 2001.
Lot No. 112
"Ply/Wooden Bellyboard Style 4'6'' c. 1950's
Very unusual, accentuated nose lift, approx 12'' wide, approx. 1/2'' thick, good condition."
Thanks to Mick Mock.
COMMENTS
Solid timber handboards/bellyboards were in use on Sydney's beaches before the visit of Duke Kahanamoku in 1914 - see History/Duke/Detailed Analysis. The enthusiasm generated by this visit saw Sydney surfers persue the developement of the standing board and prone craft were dominated by the Surf-o-plane, circa 1933.These boards were in Victorian use as early as 1915, by a Mr. Jackson and Mr. Goldie at Point Lonsdale, after a visit to Hawaii. They were either imported or homemade adaptations and in 1915 they encouraged a local girl, Grace Smith Wootton, to take up the sport. Plans of solid timber prone boards were pulished in Popular Mechanics magazine July 1934 and Popular Science magazine August 1935.These illustrated that such boards were already in use in the USA and publication in such magazines probably saw these plans distrubuted world wide. The design was popular in the southern states of Australia and in New Zealand, South Africa and UK. Although many were probably home made, this and several New Zealand examples were probably factory made - note regular shape, nose lift and paint decor.
REFERENCES
Other Boards
Surfworld Museum, Torquay Victoria. : Lamaroo # 26
Also see Paipo Catalogue
Books
Wells pages 157 - 159
Edmunson pages157 - 167, note Figures 51 and 52.

CONDITION: 7.5

Prout brand solid wood belly board, New Zealand 1940's 5ft
from Longboard Surfshop (NZ) On-line Auction catalogue, 1999.

Boy with bellyboard, UK circa 1960
from Edmunson ; page 162
Text reports dimensions as 4 ft x 12'' x 3/8''
Waterproof resin-bonded or marine plywood.
Commercially available, cost up to 30 shillings ($3.00)

Grace Smith Wooton and Win Harrison
Point Lonsdale Victoria, circa 1915.
from Wells page 157
The board was made by a local carpenter, cost 12 shillings ($1.20), with her initials carved in one end.

Lamaroos at Phillip Island, Victoria 1935.
Note that two boards to the left appear to be laminated sections.
from Two Hundred Years, No. 47 page 1124

Postcard : Timber prone boards, Durban, South Africa circa 1950.

Surfresearch representative and Colour of Thought Spoon by Peter Glasson
Sydney Surf Auction, Narrabeen, 21 October, 2001
Photo by John Read, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 October 2001, page 5.