Video of first patent snowboard (1939)

What Stephanie (Burgeson) Dorn’s father, Don Burgeson has to say about his dads invention….

My dad, Gunnar Burgeson, came to the U.S. from Sweden when he was 18 years old and settled in Oak Park, IL. In 1939 my dad co-invented the snowboard with his brother Harvey Burgeson and relative Vern Wicklund. They filed the first patent for the snowboard in 1939 [U.S. Patent 2,181,391]. My dad was 31 years old at the time of the invention and at least 5 snowboards were made and I have 3 in my possession.

Growing up we would call the snowboard a “bunker”. As a kid I used the bunker all the time. My dad would take my brothers and me to hilly areas in Illinois and Wisconsin. We would generally jump a fence to get onto someone’s property and use the bunker to ride down the hills.

Standing sideways we would secure our rear foot under a leather strap that looks like a belt buckle that accommodated different sizes of shoes. Our forward foot was placed behind a piece of wood fastened to the board. The front of the board had a rope that we would hold with one hand – this rope would help us slow down the board and served as a break. Our other hand would hold a stick that had a hole with a piece of rope we’d put around our wrist – this helped us with balance. The entire board was made of oak and was bent slightly to a concave shape weighing at least 15 pounds, maybe more.

I never knew that my dad patented the bunker until I saw the January 16, 2004 Sports Illustrated article on snowboarding that listed the timeline of the sport that began with my dad’s patent. And, little did I know growing up that my dad’s invention would take off and become an Olympic sport with such a following. Watching the Winter Olympics I am reminded of my dad and my childhood growing up using the first snowboard on some little hills in the Midwest. Snowboarding sure has come a long way since 1939.

Pictures of first patent snowboard (1939)

Here are some cool pictures that Stephanie (Burgeson) Dorn sent in of that first snowboard from 1939.

Snowboarding is a very recent sport and is similar to Surfing, skateboarding, and Skiing. Likewise, it is not surprising that the origin of snowboarding lies in these sports. Although it is hard to pinpoint the pioneer of Snowboarding, the History of Snowboarding tells us that it was initiated around the 1950s by a few surf and skate enthusiasts who used self-made boards to convey their skills to a new terrain: the snow. At that time, due to the novelty of the Snowboards, those contraptions often resulted in many broken boards and a lot of bruises.

Snowboard History
The first real Snowboard hit the market during the 1960’s in the form of Sherman Poppen’s Snurfer. It appeared like a weird crossover between a plywood sled and a skateboard deck. The rope attached to the front tip of the snurfer (board) offered the rider some control, and the steel tacks poking through the upper deck held the rider’s feet in place.

During that time, Snowboarding appealed initially to a small group of surfers, skateboarders, and Backcountry enthusiasts. Brave souls who rode their own Snowboard contraptions were highly frowned upon by majority of skiers. They were not even allowed to ride the regular slopes used in Skiing. Consequently, Snowboarding started Off-Piste.

As Snowboarding became more popular in the 70’s and 80’s, true Snowboarding pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich, an East Coast surfer, and Jake Burton Carpenter came up with new snowboard designs, materials and machineries that had slowly developed into the Snowboard, Snowboard Bindings, and other Snowboard Equipment we know nowadays.

Video of first patent snowboard (1939)
Here is an exclusive short video of the first snowboard patented in USA in 1939 sent in to us by Stephanie (Burgeson) Dorn which features her Grandfather, Gunnar Burgeson who co-invented the snowboard. Snowboarding sure has come a long way since 1939 and we are glad that Stephanie decided to share this great video and pictures on snowboarding days blog