As Cool As It Gets

by Mr Christian on April 22, 2009

On The Edge|By Peter Pan

Younger readers will probably find this story bizarre and possibly out of their realm of reality. Older dudes might not. First, we must wind the clock back to the early 1960’s, when surfing became a phenomenon that swept across the country. Every teenager wanted to be a surfer, regardless of where they lived. A new surfing band produced a new surfing tune, just about every day, and you could hear it on your AM Transistor Radio.

This was life without cell phones, Ipods, computers, and other electronic gizmos. The majority of Americans owned black and white television sets and had a choice of three channels to watch. Local surfers could only get updates on their world through Surfer Magazine, International Surfing Magazine, or Surfing East Magazine, all of which came out once a month at the closest news stand or book store.

Famous lines such as “If you don’t dig surf, you’re a clod,” from the forgettable hit song called “Surfing East Coast,” were heard on radios across America. There were also a slew of other great and mindless surf lyrics from songs such as “Surfing Bird,” “Surfer from New York City,” “Surfer Girl,” “Ride the Wild Surf,” “Surf City,” “Sidewalk Surfing,” and on and on.

The ultimate status for any real surfer, and guaranteed girl catcher, was to be on a legitimate surf team. And the only true evidence that you were actually on a real surf team, was to own a pair of team “baggies” and a team jacket. Team tee shirts were more readily available to the quasi-team riders and not good enough for the top dog ranking.

Some of the area big named surf stars included Dennis Tully, Frank Cook, Charlie Johnson, Sue Lloyd, Janice Chronley, Frankie Garceau, Ed Logee Jr., Pat McNulty, Deme Rayta, and Fred Silton.

While many team riders hardly ever surfed in a real contest, it was still the ultimate thrill to wear your team jacket to high school and to the beach, whenever you could. Between the outfit and the wooden “Aloha” suction cup surf racks on your car, a dude could easily pass for a real surfer, rather than the ho-dad that he might actually be.

Surf teams were very popular during the height of the sport’s popularity, from 1963 to 1967. There were surf shops everywhere in the state, if you can believe it. And the city with the most shops was Cranston. In this suburban community, there was Goldie’s Surf Shop, Endless Summer Surf Shop, Leon Surf Shop, and Alpine Sports Surf Shop. Newport had the Narragansett Surf Shop and the Bad Wolf Surf Shop.

Narragansett was the location of another Narragansett Surf Shop, Goldies (on the Narragansett beach pavilion), Surfboards Hawaii Surf Shop, and Hindel’s Surf Shop. There was even a surf shop in Plum Island and one in an A-Frame cottage at Matunuck Point. All of the shops had teams, and the constant trash talking and water wars went on endlessly.

Over the years, a few of these surf team relics have been donated to the New England District of the Eastern Surfing Association. I thought it was time to take them out of the closet and display them to the curious public. The following is a brief description of each team item and a photo of it. Every thread has a piece of local surfing history behind it.

1. Goldie’s Surf Team Jacket- Edgar Logee Jr. was one of Narragansett’s first local teenagers who had the honor of being on a surf team. He was an excellent competitor and was one of the few area surfers who lived close enough to the beach, so he could walk there with his board. This was his original team jacket from 1964.

2. Surfboards Hawaii Surf Team Baggies- “Big Ed” DiTrioa’s sub shop was THE surfer’s hangout in the mid-60’s, located directly across the street from the seawall at the Narragansett Town Beach. Although Big Ed did not surf, he was quite a character and hired only the best surfers to make sandwiches for him. The Surfboards Hawaii team honored him with his own custom Kanvas by Katin trunks, which were proudly displayed in the store, until the day it closed in the spring of 1972.    

3. Matunuck Surfing Association Team Jacket- Many Matunuck regulars would not surf in Narragansett, and vice versa. The association was formed by the original core group of “Trestles” riders as a show of solidarity in the mid-60’s. The team always made a strong showing at any contest held at Matunuck Point. This original team jacket’s owner is unknown.        

4. Narragansett Hobie Surf Team Jacket- By the late 1960’s, John and Bill Spicer’s Narragansett Hobie shop had absorbed many of the top local competitors. This showy 1969 relic is a fine example of an authentic team jacket of that era. The owner was Peter Pan.

5. Wild Man of The Surf Team Jacket and Baggies- This rare set was owned by one of Narragansett’s first surfers, Jimmy Earley. Jim “Wildman of the Surf” Ventry of Bradford, was one of the most colorful characters of the early 1960’s, and one of the first to travel to contests up and down the east coast. Ventry was an excellent contest surfer, whose patented move was to smoke a cigar during his heats at major contests. By 1967, he had built up quite an impressive posse of local riders, so he started a surf team. This jacket and baggie set is the only one of its’ kind.

6. Endless Summer Surf Team Baggies- Frank A. Stasiowski opened up his first Endless Summer Surf Shop on the east side of Providence in 1967. He soon opened up several more, including one at 98 Matunuck Beach Road. His team riders came from all over Rhode Island. This pair of shorts belonged to one of the top team riders, Bobby Bouchard, who lived at Matunuck Beach.

Click on the gallery thumbs for larger image