1976 was the summer The Cheapskates began renting roller skates with the new urethane wheels out of an old mail truck from a parking lot on the boardwalk in Venice, the first outdoor roller-skate rental anywhere. We started with 25 pair of roller skates. With the urethane wheels roller skating became comfortable, safe and fast.

1976 was the beginning of the outdoor roller skating revival and the renewed popularity of Venice, or "Venice Beach" as it has come to be known. This was the same year the Z-Boys staked their claim to fame.

It was, in a manner of speaking a perfect storm or more accurately, a tsunami.

The seed was planted that summer on the boardwalk in Venice.

Before long outdoor skating had evolved and the sport grew into not only a mighty oak but a forest which spread like weeds in an empty overgrown Venice lot from the beach to cities across the country and around the globe.

Photos by Gary Gallerie and Mark Rosenberg

All Rights reserved.

In 1978 then Mayor Tom Bradley declared Venice, "The Rollerskating Capital of the World", and the emergence of Venice as an international tourist destination, second only to Disneyland in popularity.

The sport of outdoor rollerskating spread and continues to grow around the globe.

These original photographs present a view of those of us who experienced what most who were there describe as "the best times in Venice". For those of you who were not there during those "gone but not forgotten" times I hope these original snapshots offer a peek into the joy shared by those of us who were.

It could not have happened anywhere else in the world.

Join our Facebook group, "Venice Rollerskaters, Then & Now" where you can share your own skating photos and stories.

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