Snurfer model created by Sherman Poppen
name: label: inventor
content: Poppen, Sherman R.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Red wooden Snurfer model that curves up at the top of the board with a blunt rounded edge. The board is bent upwards, vertically at the bottom of the board. There are 40 staple- like metal pieces stuck in angled rows near the top surface at the back of the board. There is a "Snurfer" logo sticker located at the top of the board. The sticker features a boy riding the board. The gritted sandpaper was replaced by forty, large metal staples added to the top and bottom front of the board for the user to stand on. This red snurfer model also included a metal skeg or keel added to the bottom which enhanced steering. The trademark rope “leash” also made steering easier and kept the board with the user if a fall occurred.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Sherman Poppen, inventor of the snurfer, a predecessor of the modern snowboard needed a distraction for his two little girls on Christmas day in 1965. The kids were restless and his pregnant wife, Nancy, needed a break, so Poppen took them outside to play in the Wisconsin snow. Bored with sledding, Poppen bound two children’s skis together, tied a rope to the front and the Snurfer was born. Nancy combined the words “snow and surf” for the moniker “snurf” and pretty soon Poppen was building snurfers for all of the neighborhood kids. Poppen, an engineer by trade went on to design a dozen different versions of the Snurfer. In 1966, Poppen teamed up with the Brunswick Corporation and licensed the product to them. They worked together to create a board from laminated wood used for bowling alley gutters. Poppen developed a racing model and from 1968 through the late 1970s, Snurfer racing competitions were held in Wisconsin becoming very popular and propelling ‘snowboarding’ into the national consciousness. Competition from other snowboard designers and manufacturers began appearing and this growing competition was too great for Poppen and Brunswick to keep up. In 1972, Brunswick discontinued production of the Snurfer but the JEM Corporation continued manufacture until the early 1980s. In a twist of fate, Jake Burton raced Snurfers and was inspired to create an even better snowboard. He soon became the head of Burton Snowboards and leads the industry with new innovations and superior product.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: web subject
content: Sports
label: name of sport
content: Snowboarding
label: level of sport
content: recreational
label: web subject
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Sherman R. Poppen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2009.0092.04
label: accession number
content: 2009.0092
label: catalog number
content: 2009.0092.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: model
label: Object Name
content: snurfer, snowboarding
label: Object Name
content: snurfer model, snowboarding
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 46 1/2 in x 6 1/4 in x 4 in; 118.11 cm x 15.875 cm x 10.16 cm