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 surfing images : illustrations, 1788 to 1930
Surfing Images : Illustrations, 1788 to 1930.
Introduction
Illustrations
Photography
Postcards
Introduction
In the period leading up to the revival of surf-riding in the early twentieth century, images in common circulation (books, magazines or newspapers) were confined to two-tone wood blocks and etchings.
This was because of the great expense in printing colour images and the technical problems in reproducing photographs.
The etching or woodblock processes were made obsolete with the successful printing of photographs, becoming common from about 1895 to 1900.(Concise History of the British Newspaper)
 
Most illustrations were printed in conjunction with published reports of surf-riding, which are generally brief but rich in detail and often enthusiastic.
In only one case is the author and illustrator the same, see Ormsted (1841).
For other early written accounts of surf-riding, see Source Documents.
Utlimately, these published works could be considered as part of a developing Pacific tourist industry, exposing Western readers to the pleasures of Hawai'i.

Images printed by  etchings or woodblock and are usually the work of two artists which can lead to some confusion in attribution.
I have been unable to credit some of the works below to my satisfaction.

In many cases the images were printed in a number of editions and in various subsequent publications.
They are often cropped or resized and appear with different captions.
This is particually the case in modern printings, see Finney and Houston (1966) et. al.
For the images I have attempted to select the earliest printed version.
Alternatively, when available, coloured images have been selected or an example that shows the least evidence of cropping.

It is often difficult to determine the location (which may not be the same as the accompanying report) and whether the image is constructed from the artist's personal observation or a reconstruction based on eyewitness reports.

Images of surfriding were of varving quality and accuracy - most artists struggled with presenting the essential dynamics of the activity.
This is most commonly seen in the difficutly of locating the board and rider in a realistic position on the wave face.
Bolton noted in 1891 ... "Some pictures ...  represent the surf-riders on the seaward slope of the wave, in positions which are incompatible with the results."

In images that were probably drawn from personal observation, some allowance must be made for a failure to comprehend the dynamics of wave-riding.
The riding (compared with the paddle-out) was rapid, the nature of the wave changed dramatically and it did not resemble contemporary Western activites.
These difficulties were circumvented with the development of surf photography, which would play a major part in the spread and evolution of surf-riding.

Most of the early images have some common features ...
- surf-riding is represented as a community activity.
- the riders adopt a variety of riding positions and significantly they  illustrate stance - a feature not noted in the early written accounts.
- the artist makes a significant attempt to accurately portray the wave shape and action and there is often an indication that the activity is in off-shore conditions - considered best by surf-riders.
- in most cases the wave size is less than six foot and board length is less than seven foot.
This is probably a result of observing a large number of riders close to shore.
In some instances, other riders are located much further from shore than the central figures, probably indicating they were riding larger waves and possibly with larger boards.

Some images feature bare female breasts, undoubtedly of interest to 19th century readers.
Generally, the more this feature is detailed then the less informative the illustration.

Although not in common circulation, the significance of unpublished paintings and drawings should not be overlooked.
It is possible that the artists responsible for the printed images had some access to the former, and may have been influenced by them.
This may be of extreme importance to some artists who apparently never visited Hawaii and their work, unless taken from a previous work, can only be a construction from a published text, field notes and/or verbal input.
For example, see Bayard (1873) and Riou (1873), below.
The second in particular, has some significant inconsistencies.
- Click images for full references and notes. -



H.D. Sporing : 
Breaking Wave, Matavai Bay,Tahiti, 1769. 

Detail from Purea's canoe, Tahiti, 1769. 
British Museum, Add. MS 23921-23a
Printed in Sporing in Cook: Voyages (1991),
Volume 1, Figure 31, between  pages 112-113.


This illustration of a breaking wave clearly shows the conical wave face that is integral to the dynamics of surf riding.
This would gain international fame when it later appeared in the work of Japanese artists.
See: Hokusai :  Under the wave, 1825.
The Wave in Art

It is probable that Sporing was able to capture the wave contours so accurately because there was a consistent ,
if small, swell running down the beach.
The image was thus constructed from many similar waves breaking regularly while he completed the principal image of the canoe.
Campus Beach, Santa Barbara.
When it moves out it is just the same.
A long winding wall.
Photo: Woody.
Surfer
v15 n4 1974 November, page 77.
John Webber:
Surfboard paddler, Hawaii, 1778.

The first known image of a surf board.
Detail from
John Webber:"A View of KaraKakooa, in Owyhee, 1778." 

Later printed in
Twombly, Alexander S.: Hawaii and Its People
Silver, Burdett & Co., 1899, New York, 1899. 
Charles Gold:
Catamaran surfer, Madras, India, 1800.
(detail)

The earliest known image of surf riding.

Colour aquatint on paper
Australian National Maritime Museum.
Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds.

 
Alphonse Pellion : 
The Houses of Kraimokou, circa 1819.

Often cited as "First image of an olo surfboard."

Published in 
Freycinet, L : 
Voyage autour du mode, 1817-1820. 
(Voyage Around the World,1817-1820.) 
Chez Pillet aine, Paris, 1825.
Volume 2, Part 2, Book 4, Chapter XXVII.
 

Colourised version from the 
           Mr. and Mrs. Severson Collection. 
Lueras: Surfing (1984) page 35.
 

The sheen on the left hand side is a scanner imperfection.
Jacques Arago  : 
"Wahine, Hawaii, circa 1819."

Decorative, rather than informative.
It may or may not be intended to illustrate surf riding.

Possibly printed in 
Freycinet, L : 
Voyage autour du mode, 1817-1820. 
(Voyage Around the World,1817-1820.) 
Chez Pillet aine, Paris,1825.
Rev. Isaac Taylor :
Surf Swimmers, (Sandwich Islands), 1830.
 .
The earliest known image of Hawaiian surf riding. 

 Illustration by the author from 
Taylor, Rev. Isaac: The Ship.
 John Harris, London, 1830.

 
 
 
 

 
F. Howard :
Sandwich Island Surf-riders, 1831.

Often cited as "The first Western image of surf-riding."
It correctly identifies stance.

Illustration from 
Ellis, Rev. William: 
 Polynesian Researches: Hawaii.
Fisher, Son and Jackson, London, 1831, frontpiece.

 
F. A. Olmsted  : 
Sandwich Islanders Playing in the Surf, 1841.

First image of surf riding by the same author and artist.
Lithograph by Endicott, New York.

Illustration from 
Olmsted, Francis Allyn: 
Incidents of a Whaling Voyage.
Appleton and Co., NY, 1841, facing page 223.

 
Anonymous : 
Hawaiian Surfing, Hilo Bay, Hawaii, circa 1850.
[detail]

The painting is reproduced in
Lueras : Ultimate Pleasure (1984) page 48.

Mr. and Mrs. Don Severson Collection. 
Lueras notes: The oil painting ... was painted on a biscuit tin ... by an unknown artist who visited Hawaii about 1850.
The work was recently discovered in a New York art gallery by a Honolulu antiquarian who has since returned it to Honolulu. -page 49.
Anonymous : 
Hawaiian Sport of Surf Playing, 1851.
First surf riding illustration published in a magazine.

Published in
Cheever, Rev. Henry T. :
"The Sandwich Islands Today" 
The International Monthly Magazine of Literature, Science and Art. 
Volume IV, Number III, October 1851.
Stringer and Townsend, New York.
and
Cheever, Rev. Henry T.: 
Life in the Sandwich Islands.
A.S. Barnes and Co. New York,  1851,
facing page 68.
James Gay Sawkins  : 
Surfboard, a bathing scene, Lahaina, circa 1855.
Water colour, 
National Library of Australia. 

The painting is reproduced in
Thom: Surfmovies (2000) page 5.
 Harden S. Melville :
Surf Swimming off the Coast of Hawaii, 1863.

 Woodcut and design by Harden S. Melville.
Engraved by Newsom Woods.

Printed in
Greenwood, James:
Curiosities of Savage Life.
  S.O. Beeton, London, 1863, page 96.
Anonymous : 
Surf swimming at Hawaii, 
Sandwich Islands, 1866.

Most likely a copy of Harden S. Melville's 
Surf Swimming off the Coast of Hawaii, 1863,
above.

Printed in
Leslie's Illustrated Weely, 
Arkell Weekly Co., New York 
7 April 1866, page 37. 
 


(From a painting by) Winslow Homer : 
Low Tide, 1870.
Wood engraving by W. H. Kingdon.
Published in Every Saturday, Boston, 6th August 1870.

 Children play at the beach at Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts.

See:
Brooklyn Museum
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/160021

Also see High Tide, 1870:
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/2503

“Sea-bathing,” as it was called, was an activity to be approached with caution at this time.
Although popular illustrations exploited the titillating aspects of lightly clad females on the beach,
Homer’s subject was a daring one for an oil painting.
[Wallis McKay] : 
Surf-swimmers, 1870.

A highly detailed image denoting riding positions, stance, 
duck-diving, waves in sets, off-shore winds and significant wave height.

This is very similar in composition and style to Wallis McKay (1873), see below. 
Either McKay was responsible for this illustration, 
or this artist was influenced her work.
Printed in
Wood, John George: 
The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the World.
 Volume 2
G. Routledge and Sons, London, 1870.
First published in 1868 
Anonymous :
Surf-bathing Success, 1872.

One of two illustrations to accompany Mark Twain's account of 
surf riding in Hawai'i and printed in:

Twain, Mark: Roughing It.
American Publishing Company, Hartford, 1872. 
Anonymous :
Surf-bathing Failure, 1872.
Second of two illustrations to accompany Mark Twain's account of 
surf riding in Hawai'i and printed in:

Twain, Mark: Roughing It.
American Publishing Company, Hartford, 1872. 
Wallis McKay : 
Surf Riding, 1873.
First book with a surf-riding illustration on the cover.

Cover of
William Charles Stoddard : 
Summer Cruising in the South Seas.
Chatto and Windus, London. 1873. 

Although not accredied in the text, the book's illustrations are recognised as by Wallis McKay.
See DeLaVega: Surfing Bibliography (2004) page28, and below.
Wallis McKay : 
Surf-swimmers, circa 1873.
Highly detailed image denoting riding positions, 
(sitting, drop-knee and standing, but not prone)
stance, duck-diving, waves in sets, off-shore winds 
and significant wave height.
This etching is initialled W M in the left corner.

Published in
William Charles Stoddard : 
Summer Cruising in the South Seas.
Chatto and Windus, London. 1873, frontpiece. 
Unaccredited: 
Surf-Swimming, Norfolk Island, circa 1873.

Published in
Yonge, Charlotte Mary:
Sketches of the Life of Bishop Patteson in Melanesia.
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
London, 1873, facing page 64.

The  image has some similarities to the work of 
Wallace McKay, see above
Com. William Bainbridge Hoff :
Surf Bathing, 1873.

First printed in 
Nordhoff, Charles: Hawaii Dei.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 
August 1873. 

Accredited as
"Woodblock by Commander William Bainbridge Hoff
(of the flagship California)." 

The article and the image, but without 
accreditation, were reprinted in
Nordhoff, Charles : 
Northern California, Oregon 
and the Sandwich Islands 
Harpers and Brothers, New York, 1874. 

Considered an unrealistic representation by Bolton (1891)
Emile Bayard : 
"Jeux Havaiens"
(Hawaiians playing), 1873.

First printed in 
de Varigny, Charles : 
"Voyage Aux Iles Sandwich (Iles Havai)" 
Le Tour du Monde
(A French magazine)
Volume II, 1873, page 224.

.Probably reconstructed from  reports or sketches.
E. Riou  : 
"Jeux Havaiens" 
(Hawaiians playing), 1873.

First printed in 
de Varigny, Charles : 
"Voyage Aux Iles Sandwich (Iles Havai)" 
Le Tour du Monde
(A French magazine)
Volume II, 1873, page 237. 

Probably reconstructed from reports or sketches.
Note that some of the surfers appear to be riding away from the beach.

 



R. Richardson: South Sea Islanders in Canoe.
Engraving: W. Jackson.

Published in
Ballantyne, R. M.:
Man on the Ocean; A Book about Boats and Ships.
London, 1874.

Note that this is not, as would be expected, an outrigger canoe.
Also note the untypical double bladded paddle
and the crew member facing to the rear.
Clarke :
Surf-bathing, 1874.

Published in
Bookwalter, John Wesley:
Canyon and Crater;  
Republic Printing Company,
Springfield, Ohio, 1874.

From a definitely elevated perspective.

Jay Charlton : Natives Bathing In The Surf Near 'Newport' Three Miles From Honolulu, Towards Diamond Head, 1875.
Printed with the article "King Kalakaua at Home"
Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, 23 January 1875.
[The text is a reprint of Ellis's account of surf-riding from Polynesian Researches1831.]
Anonymous : 
Wahine and surfboard, circa 1875.

This important early board portrait image is only preceded by 
Pellion's The Houses of Kraimokou, (circa 1819), see above.

The dating is speculation, and the image is only know to appear in 
Young: History (1983) page 18.

Any further information would be greatly appreciated
[R.M. Ballantyne] :
The Natives Playing in the Water, 1880.

Cover paste down and frontpiece to
Ballantyne, R.M.:
The Cannibal Islands - 
Captain Cook's Adventures in the South Seas.
Nisbet and Co. Ltd., 22 Berners Street, London, circa 1880.
Karst: 
Scene in Polynesia,
1881.
The illustration appeared in Swinton, William: Grammar School Geography, Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, and Company, New York, 1881
It is possibly the geography book illustration recalled by John R. Musick on observing the surfboard riders at Kailua, Hawaii, in 1898, see below..
Perhaps borrowing  from Musick, in 1908 Alexander Hume Ford wrote of a similar geography book inspiring his schoolboy dreams of surf riding in his article, Riding Breakers.
Ford would virtually replicate the scene, including the grass huts, with the establishment of the Outrigger Canoe Club on Waikiki Beach in 1908.
 Unaccredited :
A Coral Island in the South Pacific, 1885.

While not showing surf riding, this is a very dramatic illustration of large waves breaking on a coral reef.
Illustration from:
Gill, W. Wyatt:
 Jottings from the Pacific
The Religious Tract Society, [London], 1885.
Unaccredited:
A Gay Queen Of The Waves, 1888.

Published to illustrate an article, Sandwich Island Girl, 
by a newspaper renowned for manufacturing content. 

Also note the similarity to the female surfboard rider in
Karst: Scene in Polynesia (1881), above.

Front cover of 
The National Police Gazette
August 18, 1888.
Anonymous :
Wahine wave-riding, circa 1890.

This image, its dating speculation, is only know to appear in 
Margan and Finney: Pictorial History (1971) page 25.

Any further information would be greatly appreciated
Schmit Litho Co., S.F.  :
"Hawaiian Surf-Bathing", circa 1890.

Printed in
Stoddard, William Charles : 
A Trip to Hawaii.
Oceanic Steamship Company, San Francisco, 1895, page 35.

Probably the original work from which the colour illustration for the
same publisher, Surf Riding, Hawaii,1890, was cropped.
See below.
Note that the large mountains in the background, right, 
are not evident in the colourized version.

For the cover of the 1897 edition of A Trip to Hawaii, see below.

Decorative, rather than informative.
Oceanic Steamship Company: 
Surf Riding, Hawaii, 1890.

Detail from a colour advertisement for J. D. Spreckles and Co. 
and the Oceanic Steamship Company.

Cropped and hand-coloured from the black and 
white illustration for the Oceanic Steamship Company,
Hawaiian Surf Bathing, circa 1890.
See above.

Printed inside the back cover of:

Whitney, Henry M. (editor) . 
The Tourists' Guide through the Hawaiian Islands,  
   The Hawaiian Gazette Co., Honolulu,1890. 
Joseph Nash - Fred W. J. Airey :
Landing in a Surf boat at Accra, 1891.

Published in 
The Graphic
London, August 15, 1891.
 

The "engraving is from a sketch by Mr. Fred W. J. Airey,
H.M.S. Magpie, Fernando Po."
- page 196.
John La Farge : 
Papara - Surf swimming, 1891.

La Farge wrote of surfboard riding at Papara, Tahiti, 
earlier described by Daniel Wheeler in 1835.

These sketches of prone surfboard riders were included in

La Farge, John: 
South Seas Sketchbooks 1890-1891.
Sketchbook Number 11.

Noted by Herve Manificat, The Surf Blurb, 24th February 2013. 
Unknown:
Sea Sledging, 1891.

In the text the surfboard is called a "sea sledge," 
and this crude representation has been amalgamated 
from several earlier illustrations.

Printed in
Mather, Helen:
One Summer in Hawaii.
 Cassell Publishing Company, New York,1891.
Kelea, the Surf Rider of Maui, 1894.

Illustration accompanying:
Hawaiian Folk Lore
Evening News.
Sydney, 24 March, 1894, page 3.

 
Anonymous  :
Surf-riding, 1896.

Header to the article Hawaiian Surf-riding.
One of two illustrations, and a photograph of 
canoe surfing at Waikiki published in

Thrum, Thomas G. (editor) : 
Thrum 's Hawaiian Annual of 1896.
Honolulu, 1896.

 

 
Anonymous  :
Expert Positions, 1896.

Second of two illustrations published in
Thrum, Thomas G. (editor) : 
Thrum 's Hawaiian Annual of 1896.
Honolulu, 1896.

For the photograph of canoe surfing at Waikiki, see:
Photography
Anonymous :
"Surf-riders at Waikiki, circa 1890s."

George: Surfing (1990) page 20.
Anonymous:
A Trip to Hawaii, 1897.

Cover for
Stoddard, Charles Warren: 
A Trip to Hawaii.
Oceanic Steamship Co., San Francisco, 1897. 

The frontpiece of the 1901 edition included a photograph by Frank Davey: 
Native with Surf Board, Waikiki Beach, circa 1898.
See:
Photography
Phillip E. Flintoff:
Surf Rider, 1898.

Cover [detail] of
Musick, John R..:
Hawaii - Our New Possessions.
Funk and Wagnalls, New York, 1898.

The image was also reproduced in black and white plate, facing page 72.

Impressed by the surfboard riders at Hawaii, Musick wrote:
then my thoughts went back to the old pictures in the geography, 
and I said: "It was true." 

This possibly refers to Swinton's Grammar School 
Geography (1881), see above.

 
Charles Weisser :
Surfers, Waikiki, 1898.
Printed in
La Nature, Number 1330, 
November 26th,1898. 

This image was located by Herve Magnificat and forwarded by email 
and posted on The Surf Blurb, 24 March 2013.

Many thanks to Herve, who notes:
Weisser "never went to Hawaii and apparently was inspired
(in this case) by Charles Kauha photos."
See 
Photography
Charles Weisser :
Surf Riding, Waikiki, 1898.
Printed in
La Nature, Number 1330, 
November 26th,1898. 

This image was located by Herve Magnificat and forwarded by email 
and posted on The Surf Blurb, 24 March 2013.

Many thanks to Herve, who notes:
Weisser "never went to Hawaii and apparently was inspired  (in this case) by  the 1892 Oceanic steamship brochure A Trip to Hawaii, written by Charles Stoddard," see above.
British Museum : 
Surf-board of hard, blackened wood; 
length 71 inches, 1899.
Printed in
Culin, Stewart: Hawaiian Games
American Anthropologist
Putman, New York, April 1899.

John F. Campbell: The native surf-riders [Nuie].

Although the illustration accompanies text describing surfriding in Nuie in 1867, it was almost certainly drawn from an early Hawaiian photograph, with what is clearly Diamond Head in the background.

Printed in
Hall, A. Gratten: James Chalmers
George Dorian Company, New York, [1910], page 21.

Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/jameschalmers00hall

Identified by Herve Magnificat, The Surf Blurb, May 5, 2014.


John C. Gilbert : 
A Hawaiian Surf-Rider, 1900.

Printed in
George, Marian M.:
Little Journeys to Hawaii 
A. Flanagan Company, Chicago, 1900.
Gleeson : 
Swimming with Boards, 1900.

Printed in
Krout, Mary H.: 
Alice's Visit to the Hawaiian Islands.
American Book Company, New York, 1900. 
L. Fillol  :
Hawaiian Surf-riders, 1905.
in
Henry Coupin: 
Les Bizarreries de la Race Humaine
Vuibert and Nony, Paris, 1905.

Identified by Herve Magnificat and forwarded by email and posted 
on The Surf Blurb, 24 March 2013.

Many thanks to Herve, who notes:
"The illustration by Fillol, a French illustrator of popular books, ... is a combination of both Charles Weisser’s pictures shown above."
Viggo Jacobsen : 
Design forCounty of Oahu Seal - 
Surf-riding at Diamond Head., 1905.

Featuring an outrigger canoe surf riding under Diamond Head, 
this design was adopted by the County Board of Oahu in July 1905.

Noted in
The Hawaiian Gazette.
Honolulu, July 14, 1905, page 2.
Hitchcock: 
The Favorite Sport of Surf-Riding, 1907.

Printed in 
Thrum, T. G.:
Hawaiian Folk Tales.
Honolulu, 1907, page 131.

Identified by Herve Magnificat and posted with notes 
on The Surf Blurb, 4 June 2013.








???: 
A sufer photographed sitting astride a surfboard in the foreground
amongst a large crowd of beach-goers at Wrightsville Beach, USA. 1907.
Noetzel, Gr :
Winter Sport in Hawaii, 1908.

Advertisement for Hawaii Promotion Committee.
Honolulu, Hawaii.

Published in
National Geographic Magazine
April 1908 Vol. XIX No. 4, page 309.
Unaccredited : 
Canoe Surf Riding, 1908.

Cover illustration (detail) from
 Hawaii Promotion Committee:   Hawaii- A Primer
Hawaii Promotion Committee, Honolulu, 1908, 4th Edition.

 
. 
Unaccredited:
Canoe and Board Surf Riding, 1908.

Cover illustration (detail) from
Noddway, Max:
Rollo in Hawaii.
Thompson and Thomas, Chicago, 1908.

 

John Prendergast : 
Surfboard Riders, 1910.

Printed in
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 
The New Hawaiian Girl; a play. 
London, Gay & Hancock, 1910.
and 
Norman Lindsay : 
The South Pacific Heroine, 1911. 
Two illustrations accompanying
(Ralph Stock): The Recipe for Rubber - A Romance of the South Pacific.
The Lone Hand
Sydney, 1st June 1911.

The surfing illustration was reproduced in Stock's novel published
under the same title by Lynwood and Co., London, in 1912

In 1922 it was adapted, with a change to the surfer's gender,
for a coloured illustration Surf-riding in Fiji in
The Boy's Own Annual.
Boy's Own Paper Office, London, 1921-1922.
Volume 44,  page 215.
Percy Spence : 
Surf Bathing - Shooting the Breakers, 1911.

Printed in
Fox, Frank:
Peeps at Many Lands- Australia
Adam and Charles Black,
London, 1911.




Agnes Gardner-King:
Riding the Surf at Honolulu, 1912.

Sydney Mail
25 December 1912, page 30.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158479458
Randal Borough: 
A Summer Surf-boarder, 1912. 

Colour cover illustration of

Sunset- The Pacific Monthly.
Southern Pacific Railroad, 
San Francisco, June 1912.
Editor: Charles K. Field.
by 
  From > 
Unaccredited : 
The Surf Board, 1912. 
The illustration was printed in
Alexander, Mary Charlottee:
The Story of Hawaii
American Book Company, New York, c1912.

It is a direct copy of a photograph, attached, and later published in

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum:
Bishop Museum Handbook,
Part 1 : the Hawaiian collections.
Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1915.
Surf-rider:
"I'm almost sure this isn't a bit the way its done in the illustrated papers!"
- "London Punch."


The World's News
Sydney, Saturday 22 August 1914, page 15.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131500745
Lowell L. Morrill : 
Hawaii, 1915.

A chapter heading printed in
Morrill, G. L.:
South Seas Silhouettes
Lowell L. Morrill: Illustrator and Photographer
M. A. Donohue and Company, Chicago, 1915.
Popular Mechanics : 
Toboggan-shaped Surf Coaster, 
California, 1915.

Printed in
Surf Coasters.
Popular Mechanics Magazine
May 1915, page 671.
Hawaiian Almanac : 
Surf Riding at Waikiki, 1919.

Detail from the cover of
 Thrum, Thos. G.:
Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1919
 Thos. G. Thrum, Honolulu,1918.

Surf-riding on the South African Coast.
By permission of The Sketch and the High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa, London.

In the Track of the Sun
Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, London, [1920],
Centrefold

Also see: 1930  A.V.N. Jones : Surfing Jigsaws.

NO TRAINING NECESSARY FOR DUKE KAHANAMOKU,
AMERICA'S SWIMMING ACE
The Evening World.
New York, July 17, 1920, page 8.
A. G. King :
Surf-riding in Honolulu, 1921.

Illustration by the author, from 
Islands Far Away
1921 (2nd edition),

Identified by Herve Magnificat, and posted 
on The Surf Blurb, 4 June 2013.

The nose-riding surfer is an abberation, resulting from King's misreading of a hand-coloured photogragh postcard of the era.
P. J. Rennings:
Ski-ing the Waves of Waikiki, 1921.

Surfboard riders displaying their skill in the always summery waters of Honolulu's world famous beach resort.

Printed in
Sabin, Will:
  Hawaii, U.S.A.
A Souvenir of "The Crossroads of the Pacific."
 [Honolulu], 1921.

Hathitrust
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015027035784


Advertisement for
Rogers Peet Company, New York.

The Evening World
New York, June 28, 1921, page 17.
Anton Otto Fisher :
Surf Riders, 1922.

Valentine and Company:
Valspar Varnish Advertisement
[featuring Duke Kahanamoku].
Printed in
The Literary Digest
April 1, 1922, page 45.

The advertisement included a widely published board portrait photograh,
and was printed in several magazines during 1922.

See:
Photography
Unaccredited : 
South Sea Sport, 1922.

Published in 
Around the World and what Alice Found
(Chappter IX)
The Evening World. 
New York, June 10, 1922, page 15.



Charlie and Ambrose on the surf boards
with two damsels at Waikiki.

Sunday Times
Sydney, Sunday 1 January 1922, page 1.


Felix tries the surf-board at the beach of Waikiki.
Sent in by one of our readers, who attended
the Radio Adventure talk at Farmer's recently.


Sunday Times
Sydney, 22 August 1926, page 2.
Lucille Holling:
Kimo - The Whistling Boy, 1928.

Cover illustration for

Bailey, Alice Cooper:
Kimo - The Whistling Boy
Wise-Parslow Company, New York, 1928.
Illustrated by Lucille Holling.

There are two other surf riding illustrations within the book.
Jocelyn Harrison Smith :
Surf Riding, New Zealand, 1929.

One panel from
The Adventures of Dickey Possum, Chapter IV.
Auckland Star
Auckland, Volume LX, Issue 93, 20 April 1929, 
Supplement, page 3.
Unaccredited : Surf Riders, 1929.

Cover of 
Young England - Fifty-First Annual Volume
The Pilgrim Press, 1929.

Newspaper Column Header.


The Sun
Sydney, 16 October 1929, page 9.







Hawaii - The Island of Dreams, circa 1930.
Illustrated Luggage Label



Ida Rentoul Outhwaite : Surf Riding Fairy and Flying Fish, 1930.

Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul: Bunny and Brownie, Black, London, UK, 1930, page ?.

Australian Children's Literature 1830-1950.
http://www.australianchildrensliterature.com/1830-1950.htm

Elizabeth F. McCrady: Kala of Hawaii
The Platt and Munk Co. Inc., USA, 1936.

Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/kala-of-hawaii
Page 6.





Myhre, Ethelyn: Hawaiian Yesterdays
Alfred A. Knopf, New York,1942.
Woodblock illustrations by the author.


Hawaiians find time for play, 1945.
Illustration from photograph.

Armitage, George T.:
 Long before Pearl Harbor; Hawaii's Historical Highlights.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu,1945, page 36.

Hathitrust
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t5hb1n65m






Irwin Greenberg: Surfboard Riding.
from
Spinner, Stephanie:
Water Skiing and Surfboarding.
A Golden Pocket Guide
Golden Press, New York, 1968; page 18


Introduction
Illustrations
Photography
Postcards
The British Library : Concise History of the British Newspaper in the Nineteenth Century
"1889 - March 30 : Early use of photographs: Cambridge and Oxford boat crews, in Illustrated London News."    - http://www.bl.uk/collections/brit19th.html

The British Library : Concise History of the British Newspaper in the Twentieth Century
"1903 - Nov 2 : Daily Mirror launched by Harmsworth. First daily illustrated exclusively with photographs."

"1934 - Oct 18 : Daily Mail publishes the first photograph to be transmitted by beam radio (from Melbourne to London)."
- http://www.bl.uk/collections/brit20th.html#from1901

Dr. Henry Bolton
Bolton, Dr. Henry Carrington (1843-1903) : "Some Hawaiian Pastimes"
Journal of American Folklore, Volume 4, Number 12, January - March, 1894.  Pages 21-25.
Originally presented at the annual meeting 11/28/1890, along with "projections of the original photographs."
No photographs in the article.
Dr. Bolton documented and photographed surfing, as well as surfed on Niihau.
Of note is that he noticed how different surfing actually was from its popular description.
"As commonly described in the writings of travelers, an erroneous impression is conveyed, at least to my mind, as to the position which the rider occupies with respect to the combing wave."
(Bolton quotes and compares Jarves, Isabella Bird and G. Cummings and points out the impossibility of the surf-riders position in Nordhoff's etching.) - see 7 below.
"Some pictures, too, represent the surf-riders on the seaward slope of the wave, in positions which are incompatible with the results.
I photographed the men of Niihau before they entered the water; while surf-riding, and after they came out.
The second view shows the position taken (Photographs exhibited)..."
Referred to by Tom Blake in Hawaiian Surfboard.
DelaVega (ed, 2004) page 12.
Main
1788 - 1870
1870 - 1890
1890 - 1910
Extras


surfresearch.com.au
home catalogue history references appendix
Geoff Cater (2000-2022) : History : Images : Illustrations 1788-1925
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/z1788_Images.html

HARPER'S WEEKLY. LONG BRANCH: THOMAS NAST BEACH SCENE. An original 16-inch by 22-inch, hand-colored print- drawn by famous illustrator Thomas Nast- from the August 26, 1865 issue of Harper's Weekly magazine. Entitled: "Our Watering-Places- Views At Long Branch." The double-page engraving depicts seven separate scenes, among which are the sea side, pavilions, lovers on the beach, children in the surf or playing, and an evening in the parlor.




Scientific American, A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures [VOL. LVII, No. 1-26]

. Highlights include, type composing machine, New York fire department, early motion picture camera,War Ship Chicago, Ceylon Surf Boat (catamarran),