Powell Peralta Skateboarding








George Powell started making homemade skateboards in 1957. He studied engineering at Stanford University. In 1974 his son came and asked for a skateboard. George pulled an old one out of the garage, but when his son started to complain that it didn't have urethane wheels, George became interested in skateboarding again, as he realized these new urethane wheels made a big difference to riding your board. He started making his own boards and wheels again. He bought this new urethane and baked his own wheels. He also used some of new materials like aluminum and fiberglass to fabricate his own composite boards. One of the test riders of one of his flexible slalom boards was Stacy Peralta. When George was laid off from his job in the aerospace industry he packed up and moved from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara to start his own skateboard manufacturing business. In 1976, George built the Quicksilver ProSlalom deck which he marketed through Sims. This was followed by the Quicktail. George started to make wheels too. He developed wheels which he named Bones because of their white color. Skateboarding changed and George Powell moved into wood laminates. In 1978 George teamed up with Stacy Peralta. Stacy was a big name in skateboarding and took over team management and advertising. In 1979 they created a skateboarding team that they called the Bones Brigade. Powell Peralta developed a unique style, with a skeleton motif. Their artwork stood out in the market. They produced the Bones Brigade videos that were some of the most influential skateboarding videos of that time. In the late 1980s, smaller skater run companies like World Industries appeared. This phenomenon took market share from the bigger companies. Powell Peralta suffered as many of their riders defected and either set up or rode for those new independent companies. At the end of 1991 Stacy Peralta walked (skated) away from Powell Peralta. The company was re-branded as Powell Corporation, and despite severe financial problems initially, Powell continues to make skateboard products today.
Reissue timeline... 2009 Cab II pig (silver dip w/ blue dragon) Cab mechanical dragon (electric blue w/ silver dragon) Cab street (bats) (silver dip w/ red dragon) Cab Chinese dragon (red dip w/ green dragon) Rodriguez pig (yellow stain w/ monochrome red skull and sword) McGill skull & snake pig (black dip) Hill bulldog (white) Harris mountie (lime green) Valleley elephant (dark gray) Underhill chain & cross (white) Barbee death angel (black) Steadham spade (red/black stripe) Classic ripper pig (dark gray/black stripe with orange rip) 2010 Cab Dragon II pig (red dip / yellow dragon) Cab mechanical dragon (black dip / silver dragon) Cab street (black dip / green dragon) Cab chinese dragon (navy dip / gold dragon) Rodriguez pig (navy dip, white skull, blue sword) McGill skull & snake pig (red dip) Welinder skull (navy) Valleley elephant (purple) Harris mountie (black) Steadham spade (yellow/purple stripe) Old school Ripper (black/yellow stripe, red rip) 2011 cab dragon II pig (yellow stain / blue dragon) cab mech dragon (black dip / blue dragon) cab street (black dip / green dragon) cab chinese dragon (purple dip / yellow dragon) rodriguez pig (red dip / white skull /blue sword) mcgill skull & snake (yellow stain) valleley elephant (red) steadham spade (red/black/blue stripe) harris mountie (black /purple) old school ripper (black/purple/green stripes, green rip)