Rise of California Surf Culture

Student’s Name
Instructor
Course
Due
Rise of California Surf Culture
Introduction (Opening)
Langford situates the first account of surfing in Tahiti in the 1770s using British Captain James Cook’s journal on his observations of people conducting body surfing in the Society Islands (Langford 8). From this, the slow and steady rise of surfing to popularity made its way to the Americas. Due to its location, California is home to many surfing spots in the country. Surfing in California started in 1885 with three princes from Hawaii surfing in Santa Cruz (Moser). Surfing later became the official sport of California in 2018 (Moser). Surfing has become a huge contributor to California’s economy because of the yearly volume of tourists. Due to its popularity, surf cultures have also observed globalization through its spread worldwide (Comley). Because of this, the many aspects of surfing, such as location, equipment, and interaction with people (surfers), have been developed to promote the sport. For example, the surfboard industry has also developed from a careful selection of trees for boards (Laderman 9) to mass production with other materials. Additionally, there is also a growing base of aesthetic involvement in the surf culture (Barjolin-Smith 1). Along with this, there is a compounded effect on the popularity of surfing, as well as urbanization has caused irreversible impacts on the ecology of bodies of water, particularly surf spots (Pines 1). This supports that the history of America in the context of California’s Surf Culture requires protection in order to preserve a big chunk of tradit...