South Bay Surf History with Mike Purpus

"It's still my job, the way I look at it. I surf every day no matter what." We hope you enjoy this snippet from Mike Purpus on the beginnings of surf in the South Bay, and what it was like to grow up during it.
Special thanks to Mike Purpus and JP Cordero for filming this segment.

[@markcreamer3196]

I grew up in the south bay, i started surfing basically in 1967 riding the rented surf mats in hermosa and went from surfmats to surfboard, i was a regular at the redondo breakwater

[@johnnykR9]

Really enjoyed this interview. I remember this time period as an Impressionable surf grommet. Great times!❤️

[@joeblow1942]

Good to see Mike is still stoked!

[@davetousley3888]

My hat's off to you Mike

[@allensarlo]

So good brother! Mike is a national treasure! Much respect and aloha! :0)

[@bobgoodoien3670]

hey, Mike ... knew you from your HB days. nice to see you're still stoked

[@MurrayEstes]

No one in the world will ever have a better cut back than Mike when he was younger.....
Surfing CPA
Hawaii

[@stokedcreativesfilms5986]

That cutback was more like a statement " Hey I'm the best surfer out here!"

[@KurbzGarage]

ask Ben Aipa about Bertelman and Mike having a s cut back contest

[@daviddefigueiredo6018]

Mike Purpus, the roundhouse cutback!!! Great stories!!

[@michaelthomas366]

This was great! I first started surfing in 1969 In the South Bay and vlwent to all the places Mike mentions. Brings back many find memories!

[@jordyzelaya1459]

Glad to hear Mike is still surfin. We used to see him at all parts of the Cali coast in the 70's,he ripped for sure. Hawaii too with the puka shell necklace carving big Sunset.Looking good Mike.

[@Kahuna54]

The black ball, the bane of surfers everywhere!

[@stevencaldwell838]

I was born and raised in Manhattan beach ( 1970 ) and now live in a 1923 historical beach house in Hermosa… I’ve been surfing for 45 years and am currently in Mexico surfing with my wife and 8 year old daughter .., passing down the lifestyle 🏄🏼‍♂️🎣🏖

[@stevekake3359]

Actually Gidget came out in 1959. Because of Gidget I started surfing in 1960, in the same area. I couldn't afford the sauce sandwich at Mickies but for a nickel you could get a hard bread roll and wash it down with a small milk (another nickel). Although Mike wasn't a buddy of mine, surfed with him MANY times mostly in Baja. Nice guy, and absolutely glued to the board. Mike also knee boarded.

[@cpopollard]

Mickies subs were my favorite back then, there was always a box full of them at the counter!

[@terrytuthill7306]

All true....some added things here.....The Tuthill family lived on the strand at 22nd Street in the old shake house that is still there on the corner of the strand and 22nd street. We made wind wagons with sails when the wind blew hard and barreled down the Strand with lots of laughs. Did it on the sand too when the tide was out. Brother Tim Tuthill got the first Clark foam board in 1960 from Hap and surfed it well, but it broke later on. As a 5,6,7 year old up to age 10 I would go to the Riviera Bath House where the Bergstroms rented out great surf matts and made the finest 20 cent cheeseburgers and fries. We would go to the folks on the beach and get their used coke, root beer, beer bottles and return to the Green Store or the Bath House for returns and get paid. We were onto recycling before the PC crowd of today told all to do this. Pier Ave is where we all saw the debut of Endless Summer and many great surf movies. Used to ditch at Pier Ave school and get rides down to Trestles at Camp Pendleton Marine base and dodge some guards and yes, occasional bullets as we snuck onto the base area to surf. Ran into the Vice Principal of Pier Ave School one time as we paddled out.....Laughed our butts off!! Used to be taken out on a cool catamaran set at 21st Street, next to one of the surf shacks with Balsa boards laid against the palm frond roofs. The catamaran was a precursor to the Hobbie Cats to come. As a 6-year-old I was tied to the single mast with rope so I would not go overboard and was taken out to Santa Monica Bay and had a blast as the Cat would heal over and the water and wind would hit me as I laughed hard as the Cat went faster and faster. Used to Bun Board all of the hills in Hermosa Beach too.
A wonderful place to grow up and a time we will never see again. Freedom so rare now gone.....But, surfing is surfing, and just the mental look back and images of those days and times settle me and make me happy in a calm reflection of those memories.....Thanks Mike for this video.....

[@kevincarey1356]

This was really cool to see, good job 🙏🏼 I hope you make more 🤙🏼 MBL 18 St.

[@MrMariocavalcanti2]

Legend !

[@stevefisher3288]

no loser

[@robripper]

Bro, I've paddled with you back in the day and with Lopez around 76 77. Eight to 10 ft hernoy

[@icetrayy6383]

Good Job Mike, Educating and Entertaining

[@davidkosa]

I remember cruisin' the Strand.

[@stokedcreativesfilms5986]

I remember those spaghetti sauce sandwiches from Mickeys. That and those dry white powdered donuts was my ideal meal after collecting some pop bottles for the refund. You had to have milk to get those donuts down.
I went there a couple of years ago with my granddaughter and they were still selling pasta sandwiches but the price had gone up in the last 50 years to 75 cents...the nerve taking advantage of a loyal customer!
I bought one anyways and some powdered white donuts for old times sake, despite the inflationary prices.
Its true about the black ball but by the mid-60's you could surf the Redondo breakwater all day and the south side of the Hermosa Beach Pier.

[@brianwhite1189]

The guys at a South Bay surf shop that made yellow boards for the Lifeguards made me a sky-blue version in 1975 that I used for morning paddles off Santa Monica with my friend Arthur Lake Jr who had a huge old wooden, hollow, V-bottom paddle board. Anyone remember the South Bay shop name and shapers that may have made my blue board?

[@MitchellLachman]

A Lake a good man

[@prof.othonmolina8508]

Hawaiians where surfing probably 100 years before it hit California, I was lucky to move there in 77 and had a Fred Hemming's board with others it was a big wave one unfortunately three of my boards flew off my car and knocked the fin off. Big bummer

[@atsumiakamine7028]

"SURFERS ✊ RULE"❗

[@peterbundy8799]

So cool!! Anyone post videos, current and historic, of Purpus surfing?

[@hermosabeachmuseum5658]

Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching! We do not have any clips of Mike surfing on our channel at the moment, but if you pop his name into the search bar above, some other folks have shared videos of Mike surfing- from both the past and more recently!

[@MurrayEstes]

Thanks!
Surfing CPA
Honolulu, Hawaii

[@garychavez8794]

California legend saw him plenty in the 70's in California up and down the coast.

[@l.rongardner2150]

Yep, I lived in San Diego, and saw him surfing at La Jolla Shores by the pier.

[@rjhoover4474]

I remember those pasta sandwhiches for 15 cents at Mickeys!

[@surf64.5overhead4]

Dude could surf and lived them 60s & 70s too..go Mike- blackball flags r the devil!

[@lawrencebeck4777]

The only thing missing in this video is some footage of Mike surfing at the time the video was made. I'd love to see the skill he has honed for over 70 years!

[@vonbauer1417]

I was his neighbor on knob hill

[@A-FrameWedge]

There a huge south swell and Mike Purpus was about to go out at CdM where foamers were breaking off the end of the jetty. I had my board against the #3 Lifeguard stand, I look over and he is trying to remove my leash so he can put it on his board, I said that is my board and leash. He asked me if he could borrow it, I was only 13 and said ok, but he never returned it.

[@toddhastings5548]

I liked how Mike always wore trunks over his wetsuit to promote Katin’s.

[@russellbidwell5484]

i sold him the first short board he ever had. it was a bamboo thing we had cut down from original 10 feet.
i didn't like it because of the short length and i sold it to mike who then went on to great glories with short boards.
who knew??? we used to call him 'gremmie' but i think he grew outa that. won the 2nd or 3rd huntington.
but i still say contests ruined surfing, changing the style to thrashing the wave---not respecting it.

[@Zepster77]

AND he’s still got that awesome blond hair,…. too much!! Legend

[@jeffholand3126]

We have a few of his Surfers i can relate about the lifeguards because i was arrested 3 times before I was 15 today because of the Mickey Fremont's dad who represented us and the head of The E.S.A with Oppy,Hank the,Billy O'Neil and around 150 of us took it to the town Council in City hall back in the early 70s Long Beach,New York is the surfing destination after also a 250,000$ grant from the W.S.L surf city of New York. We fought the law and we won.The town of Long Beach is making millions of dollars now. Cowabunger dude.🤙

[@jeffholand3126]

Hank Oppenheimer

[@timmytangles5520]

My Mom and all her friends went to Costa with Mike.

[@johnoconnor4984]

The last golden age

[@3eyesopen]

aloha mike

[@beavercleaver4381]

PUKAS LIVES MATTER...

[@negativeimage8371]

i hate the summertime black balling !