Jay Adams Model Z-Flex skateboard autographed by Jay Adams
date: label: date made
content: 1970s
label: date made
content: 1975
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Jay Adams model, Z-Flex skateboard deck made of green fiberglass with red and dark green swirls in the fiberglass throughout, a small kicktail and is signed by Jay Adams. Adams (1961-2014) began his career as a surfer on the Zephyr surf team which was based out of Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions, created by Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom and Craig Stecyk. In 1975, the second wave of skateboarding was well under way and when the Z-Boys heard about the Bahne-Cadillac Del Mar Nationals skateboard contest, they switched to skating. Adams brought the fluid and assertive moves of a surfer to the sport of skateboarding and became one of the original innovators of the sport. The Z-Boys became known for their aggressive style of skating which contrasted wildly from the freestyle moves of the 1960s skate scene. It helped that the new urethane wheels made skating smoother and the California drought emptied swimming pools across southern California. Adam’s and the Z-Boys spent the better part of two years ‘breaking in’ to people’s yards and skating their empty pools which the state of California had mandated to by empty due to the severe drought of the mid-1970s. Adam’s was one of the true pioneers of “pool” skating which would usher in a new generation of vert skaters.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The history of Z-Flex Skateboards also begins with Jay Adams and the Z-Boys of Dogtown. Once the Z-Boys were firmly established in the skateboarding scene the Zephyr owners approached Adam’s stepdad, Kent Sherwood to produce a new kind of skateboard. Sherwood worked with fiberglass in Dave Sweet’s Surf Shop and was more than willing to take on the challenge. After six months, problems arose and Sherwood took Adam’s and a few of the other Z-Boys and founded EZ-Ryder Skateboards. Within six months the name was change to Z-Flex and the company has been an innovator ever since. They were the first to use a concave on the board’s topside and developed a smoother type of wheel which most of the modern wheels of today are based.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: web subject
content: Sports
label: name of sport
content: skateboarding
label: level of sport
content: Professional
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Skateboarding
label: See more items in
content: Sports & Leisure
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0022.02
label: accession number
content: 2014.0022
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0022.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: skateboard deck
label: Object Name
content: skate deck
label: Object Name
content: skatedeck
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fiberglass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 29 1/2 in x 7 in x 1/2 in; 74.93 cm x 17.78 cm x 1.27 cm