Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- Cadillac wheels skateboard is solid mahogany with Tracker trucks and red K-73 Cadillac wheels. "Cadillac Wheels" is printed in white on the bottom of the deck. The original four pattern truck screws are missing and three new holes were drilled to accommodate three pattern trucks. This board is equipped with the original Cadillac wheels which were unpigmented, the original color of the urethane being a translucent red. The wheel was 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch wide. The symbol imprinted into each wheel, a triangle next to the letter 'K', represents a combination of the Hawaiian slang term 'da kine' meaning 'the kind' or 'the best' and 73 for the year it was manufactured 1973.
- Frank Nasworthy’s introduction of the urethane wheel to skateboarding in the early 1970s, changed the face of the sport allowing riders a more fluid, smooth ride and innovators to create new and improved equipment designed specifically from the use of the urethane wheel on skateboards. Prior to Cadillac wheel’s introduction, skateboarding had dropped from popularity. The equipment did not allow for a safe, enjoyable ride. The wheels, made of steel, plastic, clay or a crushed walnut composite did not provide a smooth ride. One small rock or rise in the road and the board would stop, sending the rider flying. Nasworthy, a recreational skater discovered the urethane wheel, originally used for roller skating, at a friend’s father’s factory in Purcellville, Virginia. He saw the potential for skateboarding and returned to California with 1000 wheels he bought from his friend’s dad. Selling them to skate and surf shops in California, Nasworthy soon realized the business potential and began manufacturing the wheels under the name Cadillac. In the summer of 1974, Nasworthy realized providing replaxement wheels for existing skateboards was short sighted and decided to begin manufacturig skateboards as well. He bought a load of Mahogany from a ship's captain he knew in San Diego and designed the skateboard you see here. Unfortunately for Nasworthy, skateboarding was already well on it's way to adapting different board designs and he was left with a few hundred of these of a rather simple design which he was unable to sell. And while skateboarding ebbed again in the late 70s, the wheels were here to stay.
- Credit Line
- Frank Nasworthy
- 1973
- 1974
- ID Number
- 2021.0116.01
- accession number
- 2021.0116
- catalog number
- 2021.0116.01
- Object Name
- skateboard
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- metal (overall material)
- urethane (overall material)
- steel; paint; rubber (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 2375 in x 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 6032.5 cm x 1.27 cm x 8.89 cm
- overall: 24 in x 5 in x 3 1/2 in; 60.96 cm x 12.7 cm x 8.89 cm
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
- Sports & Leisure
- Exhibition
- Change Your Game
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of American History
- name of sport
- skateboarding
- Record ID
- nmah_2010141
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng4ba7c6eed-7679-42f5-aaf3-e79e868b4c07
