Street Survival scrapbook: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Scrapbook describing the making of the “Street Survival” video through photographs, a calendar of the shooting schedule, marketing strategies and notes. The scrapbook was created by Michael Hays, one of the directors of the “Street Survival” video. "Street Survival" is an instructional video that teaches viewers rudimentary information about the sport & lifestyle of skateboarding and skateboarding tricks. The video was written, produced and directed by the donors George Leichtweis President and Producer of Reel Thing Productions, Inc. and Owner of Modern Skate and Surf Company; and Michael Hays Vice President and Director of Reel Thing Productions. Inc. and Manager of Modern Skate and Surf, Company. Before video was common, skateboarders had to rely on skate magazines to learn tricks through photographs. Videos, such as this one, revolutionized the way skaters learned tricks and increased the sport’s popularity worldwide.

The star of the video is Bill Danforth also known as "The American Nomad" for his compulsion to travel anywhere to skate. A Detroit native, Bill Danforth began skating in the 1970s with his first skate deck issued in 1986. He became a member of Tony Alva's skate team in the late 1980s and skated in Thrasher’s King of the Road in 2005. Danforth still skates and teaches today and is widely respected among old and new skaters for his resilience and natural ability.

Please follow this link to view the scrapbook in its entirety:

http://edan.si.edu/slideshow/slideshowViewer.htm?damspath=/Public\_Sets/NMAH/NMAH-CIS/2015\_3003\_01

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1980s
• Object Name: scrapbook, skateboarding
• Object Name: scrapbook
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: cardboard (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 11 1/4 in x 11 1/2 in x 3 in; 28.575 cm x 29.21 cm x 7.62 cm
• name of sport: skateboarding
• web subject: Sports
• web subject: Movie
• level of sport: Professional
• ID Number: 2013.3045.03
• nonaccession number: 2013.3045
• catalog number: 2013.3045.03
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.