Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Vans History


Here's an interesting interview with Steve Van Doren, the son of the man who created Vans. The first time I ever saw Vans were the slip-on black and white checker ones in the early to mid 80's. Most of the older guys around town who BMXed were wearing them. I remember I wanted a pair but my Mom said they were too expensive so she got me knockoffs at the local department store.

3 comments:

Street Piracy said...

Nice link; thank you for that. My first memory of Vans is the checkered slip-ons as well. It was back in '98-'99 before the revival really hit and my brother was dying to have a pair. We struggled to find a pair anywhere in San Diego. I got my first pair of slips on in 2001 when I was a freshman in high school and people actually made fun of me for wearing them. Now, Vans are EVERYWHERE!

PS: Totally love your blog. My dad is an old skater - now he just surfs - who owns a golfshop, so I'm definitely feeling the split vibe going on here. Cheers

Keith said...

That's awesome Street Piracy. What's the name of your Dad's golf shop and where is it?

I always thought it would be cool to have a custom golf and skate shop. Pick all your own parts, have it custom assembled. That's typical for skateboards but not so much for golf clubs where off-the-rack is the norm.

Street Piracy said...

It's Escondido Golf Shop in Escondido, CA - just north of San Diego. Stop by if you ever get a chance. He always talked of a similar idea but with surfing in there as well. I thought it was cool and unique, although is such a niche interest.