Okay, so the other day I was digging through some old boxes in the garage. You know how it is, looking for one thing and then you stumble onto something totally different. Found my old deck from way back, totally thrashed, but seeing that graphic, man, it hit me right in the feels. Took me straight back to the 90s, hanging out, trying to land kickflips, reading skate mags cover to cover.
Getting Started Down Memory Lane
That got me thinking about all those brands we used to obsess over. It wasn’t just about the board itself, it was the whole vibe, the logos, the teams. So, I figured, why not try and actually remember them properly? Like, make a list or something. It started pretty simply. I just grabbed a notepad and started jotting down the first names that popped into my head. Easy ones first, the big dogs everyone knew.
Then I kinda hit a wall. Memory’s funny like that. So, I went online. Didn’t want some slick corporate history, just wanted to see the old logos, maybe some ads. Started searching for things like “90s skate ads” or “old school skate logos”. Man, that was a rabbit hole. Spent a good couple of hours just clicking around, looking at grainy images and scans from old magazines.
Remembering the Classics (and some others)
It was wild seeing all those familiar names and graphics again. Some I remembered instantly, others took a bit of digging. Here are some that really stood out during my little trip down memory lane:
- World Industries: You couldn’t escape them! Flame Boy and Wet Willy, those graphics were everywhere. So iconic, kinda mischievous.
- Blind: Jason Lee’s company back then, right? Remember seeing those reaper graphics. Always felt a bit darker, cooler maybe.
- Powell Peralta: Okay, maybe more late 80s spilling into the 90s, but the Bones Brigade stuff was legendary. Had to include them. Seeing the Ripper graphic again was awesome.
- Santa Cruz: That screaming hand logo. Classic. Still see it around, which is pretty cool. They were huge.
- Birdhouse: Tony Hawk’s brand, right? Came a bit later in the 90s, I think, but definitely part of that era for me. Remember the B logo.
- Element: Started seeing them pop up more mid-to-late 90s. Felt a bit more… natural? Earthy? Compared to the cartoon stuff.
- Alien Workshop: These guys had a totally different feel. The videos, the graphics, very distinct. More arty or something.
- Shorty’s: Remember their hardware? But they had boards and clothes too. The little ‘S’ logo was everywhere for a while.
There were tons more, of course. Smaller brands, brands that disappeared. It was just cool seeing how different they all were, the art styles, the attitudes. Some were super cartoony, some were more serious, some just plain weird. That variety was awesome.
Wrapping Up the Search
Spent basically a whole afternoon just lost in that stuff. Pulled out some old CDs from that era too, put on some punk rock while I was searching. It wasn’t really about creating a definitive list or anything scholarly, you know? It was more about reconnecting with that feeling, that time. Seeing those old logos and remembering saving up allowance money for a new deck, or trying to copy the pros in the videos. Pretty fun way to spend a day, just remembering stuff. It’s crazy how much those brands were part of our identity back then.
