Iconic Jimmy'z Skateboarder Ads

Skate related ads have always been a source of immense interest to me. I remember when I picked up my first skate magazines back in the 1980’s; the creativity of the various advertisements in those magazines particularly caught my attention and imagination. Aside from showing interesting, innovative (and just plain fun) art and design concepts, they also often featured some of the big names of skating — and while skate parks and empty concrete swimming pools did not feature in my own locale at that time, I was able to feel a connection to the southern, West Coast skate culture through these things, taken though they were from my north-eastern vantage point, defined more by colorful maples and the spires of universities than the towering palm trees of Venice beach.

While skateboarding had a wider history and expression for sure, for me it was something distinctly “Californian” — and justly so, I think. Perhaps that is why some of my favourite skate related ads came from Jimmy’z which often featured big name skaters in sunny, outdoor, Californian settings, often employing striking skate photography. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Skateboarding legend Natas Kaupas beautifully framed by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, riding the grail of grails for many a skateboard collector, his uber-rare, yellow SMA panther, designed by fellow Dogtowner, Kevin Ancell. If all those ingredients weren’t enough, this spectacular photograph was taken by one of the legends in skate photography, MoFo (Mörizen Föche).