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What was your first skateboard?

This question is awesome! I actually had to think really hard about this, not because I got it as a gift and it sucked but because I used it so much that my mom threw it away after I got 12 stitches in my head, 5 across my forehead and a concussion. I honestly don’t remember the brand for sure but I’m leaning toward a VANS shaped in the old school version with the wide kick tail. It came as a complete with rails. The wheels were 53s and tricks that turned the kick tail to the front just weren’t done (at least by me). I literally used it for transportation. I went to a school that took kids from all over the so there weren’t any school buses. So I had to use the Metro public transportation system in Nashville. I would get off the bus and skate the few blocks to school, jumping over puddles, playing on curbs, and “surfing” parking lots. I didn’t have access to tricks so I didn’t think about what others were doing. I used it to bomb hills and jump off ramps we made in the street. I feel bad for saying this but we even held onto the bumpers of moving cars. DO NOT try this. Me and my friends still have concrete rashes.Wait, we did have access to tricks but it was tough to follow. You buy a skate zine and the trick would be broken down into photographs. So an Ollie was 3 pages long. Sometimes the magazine only showed part of the trick and I had to buy the next one to get the rest of it. That really blew. I rode mine for a long time not knowing I was doing actual real tricks. I was riding a curb and came off it with a bad takeoff and BOOM! Concussion, stitches and the rest. I gave it away my head hurt so bad. No, I didn’t use any protective gear. I don’t think I even had a helmet. There was a lot of freedom because technical skaters hung around with ramp and bowl skaters. It was a really cool time. The ones I own now are from my local skate shop. So much fun! Good times.

Where can I buy a skateboard?

Second to only an actually brick-and-mortar skate shop (I assume, since I have no skate shops in my area), would be https://shop.ccs.com/. Reason being, that CCS is pretty well known as a LEGEND in skate culture. Recently, the original owners went bankrupt or something, so a small group of dedicated skaters bought it out, but they've still got their well-known magalog (magazine and catalog rolled into one. It's digital, now, though), and they've still got GREAT selection, at least in my opinion. Only thing is, you're definitely paying for the board quality.From my experience, though, it's not great to try for one from EBay. I made that mistake once, spent $22 of my Easter money (I didn't get a lot of money, lol) to get a skateboard from EBay right before my birthday. Said it was brand new, it wasn't. Wasn't great quality, either. TL;DR: physical skate shops if you can, CCS if you can't, and if you can't do that either, make sure it's from a website that ACTUALLY SELLS skateboards.No Wal-Mart boards, either. You will run through them quick, those Wal-Mart boards, so just save up and get a quality board.

Is it possible to self-teach yourself to skateboard like skaters at skateparks?

YES you can.But all alone? That's a different deal. Back in the days, Rodney Mullen did that. His own creativity is what brought us the kickflip and many other tricks.Back to what I meant, if you mean self-teach as in “no videos, tutorials, etc” well then it could be very hard. But if that's not the case, yes.You don't need an instructor, when I started to skate, I learned how to ride first. At first, I didn't skate in a skatepark, I just tried it on the streets. I searched on the Internet how to ollie. Found a site, but it was all text. So what did I do? I printed the page, and took it with me. While I was skating, I used to read the steps, that's how I learned to ollie.Of course now, we have more ways to learn it. Use youtube, there are so many great tutorials on how to do tricks. You only need to know how, and then you can start to learn. Don't get frustrated though, it took me 2 years to learn how to kickflip, eventually I gave up. 2 years later I went back into the skateboarding world, once I learned how to kickflip, a new world opened for me.Don't pay for someone to teach you, just ask some skateboarders for some advice. What also really helps is to skate with better skateboarders. That will stimulate you to learn more.I used to work on an app named “Progress”. A skateboarding how-to app that teaches you how to do tricks. Videos, text and 3d animations. However, due to the lack of inspiration, I didn't release this app.

How did skateboarders keep up with skate news before the internet?

In the late 1970s every kid that was into skateboarding read Skateboarder.It was, if I'm not mistaken, one of the best selling magazines nationally at the time.Those of us who were into skateboarding would study every page, every photo, every deck, every set of wheels.New tricks that were photographed for the first time we're carefully studied, dissected and attempted repeatedly until successful.The magazines were passed from one skater to the next until the covers fell off and the pages were worn thin.Those without access to the magazine would learn from the other skaters that were around them.In the near future, if the internet is banned, there will be no replacement for Skateboarder or its current incarnation Thrasher. Skaters will need to learn from each other and pass information via word of mouth and by teaching each other.It might seems ridiculous but skateboarding promotes a dangerous form of independence and self sufficiency. It is subversive and dangerous. As skateboarders get into genetic engineering and 3-d printing, they will biological tools it to create new boards, wheels. They’ll find, and ways to empty dirty pools faster.All those empty pools that are too expensive to fill with water will be filled with garbage or turned into gardens.Skateparks across the country, were paid for with tax payer money will be converted into Victory Gardens where communities will grow their vegetables, raise chickens and goats.If skateboarding is banned, it will go underground.Skateboarder, Thrasher and the magazines that documented the beginning of a lifestyle will be purged from history.

I want to start an ecommerce site selling skateboard brand clothing, how do I get in direct contact with the manufacturers?

While most of these answers are great, they don't seem to come from a place of experience specifically related to the skate industry. In the early 2000's I helped build a million dollar skate/surf/snow shop online. We were ranked 47k with Alexa at the time.Here's the deal, skate brands are sold through distributers. You need accounts with the distributers, not the manufacturers.Ultimate DistributionDLXSF.COM -Bakerboys DistributionNHS Skateboard Manufacturer & DistributorSyndrome Skateboard DistributionAWH Skateboard DistributionAmerica's only true, skater owned, one-stop wholesale distributor of skateboard and surf products.Good luck!