Broads on Boards

The history of surfing began with the ancient polynesians.  That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing which began to flourish in the 20th century particularly in the 1950s and 1960s mainly in Hawaii, Australia and California.

Mary Ann Hawkins (1919-1993) was the undisputed standout woman surfer of the 1930s, winning the Pacific Coast Women's Surfers Championship in 1938, 1939 and 1940.  One surf journalist reported that she had the "figure and looks of a movie star" and was "grace personified in the water"

"Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas" was a novel written by Frederick Kohner in 1957 based on his daughter and her involvement with the surf culture around Malibu.  Columbia pictures purchased the rights to Gidget and both book and film were a huge success.

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