What If...?

Paris, 1819.

Paris, 1819. Mechanic Charles-Louis Petitbled patents an early roller skate and, in our alternative history, accidentally starts a global youth culture. Not long after, Petitbled’s grandson attaches the wheels to a larger board, believing it will reduce the risk of falling. It does not.

By the 1880s, skating clubs have appeared in Lyon, Marseille and Brussels. Paris remains the capital, though locals complain that visiting British skaters clog the Palais-Royal on weekends.

The new sport travels east through railway networks rather than west through surf culture. Tokyo adopts it early. California arrives late.

By 1964, young Americans are importing French boards at considerable expense and trying to reproduce the loose, low Parisian style on the pavements of Santa Monica.

French traditionalists are unimpressed.

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Japanese skateboarding is often described in a simple shorthand: an American culture imported and reproduced. Pretty much like in every other country around the globe. There is some truth in the first part. Skateboarding arrived in Japan carrying familiar source material: California imagery, American brands, skate videos and magazines, punk

What If...?

Read more

How Skateboard Movies Defined and Delineated Skateboarding Culture Since 1965 (and how the future is forever altered)

Filling in the Blanks

All In with Dave Swift

Not Lost in 翻訳

Carte Blanche [Skateboarding]