Tom Morey, Inventor of the Boogie Board
Tom Morey experimented with foam that was the residual foaming substance that rose to the top of foam as it was taking form. In the mid 70's Morey asked Wilshire foam if they could cut layers of it and let him experiment with a prototype. His first boards were sold through a small ad in Surfer Magazine and were called "A Kit Board" because you got all the materials to make your own board that was sent to you. They included his hand written instructions a core of foam, 2 skins and glue.
From there Morey assembled a group of people in Carlsbad, California in a small factory to begin production of the "Morey Boogie". These early pioneers were Jim Faivre, knife expert (he helped with the edge of the 'Vacuum Tracked Rails. Those rails helped the board hold into the wave.) Jim, also, partnered with Tom. Bobby Szabad and Rick Broderson, local riders came on board to help with the shaping. Louise Houlihan, came in to run the office. Debbie Colwell, ran the shipping. Craig Libuse was the graphic designer.
Rick Lawrence, Clark Cedervall, John Cash, Guy Lewis and Patti Serrano were the Sales Force. Patti Serrano, also handled the Marketing and Promotional events.
Patti Serrano and her young son, Arlo traveled to beaches all over the
USA turning people on to the stoke of Boogie Boarding
In 1978, Morey sold to Kransco of San Francisco, a company that had years of water products production. Morey stayed on as an advisor and Kransco selected most of the Boogie employees to stay on.
Kransco's marketing muscle helped launch a blitz to
"Put Your Body on a Boogie"
More history to come...
