 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2012) |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | Santa Cruz, California, U.S. |
| Products | |
| Website | www |
Independent Truck Company is an American skateboard truck manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, California. Established in 1978, the brand is owned by NHS, Inc. and has an extended list of team riders. It also sells clothing, hardware, bearings, and riser pads.
The company was co-founded by Richard Novak, Jay Shiurman, Fausto Vitello, and Eric Swenson and the Stage 1 model was the first product. released on May 23, 1978, in Newark, California. The Independent truck (or "Indy") was designed due to a response of lacking of high quality skateboard trucks on the market at the time. In reference to the two other major truck companies on the market, Blackhart stated that quote one broke, and one didn't turn (Bennett Trucks and Tracker Trucks, respectively). [1]
Independent Truck Company has had team riders including Tony Hawk, Andrew Reynolds, Alex Chalmers, Brian Anderson, Lizard King, Danny Way, Colin McKay, Anthony Van Engelen, Wieger Van Wageninegen, Dustin Dollin, Ryan Sheckler, Braydon Szafranski, and Jim Greco.
Independent trucks are built with:
The logo for the trucks is based on the Iron Cross according to the artist, Jim Phillips. It has remained the Independent logo since the company's inception and was derived from the French variation of the Cross pattée.
Jim Phillips says in his 2007 book "The Art of Jim Phillips":
...I began toying with the iron, or Maltese cross which was long gone as the old 60s surfer's cross, and even longer dead as the biker's cross. I used a beam compass to make it into a round shape, which looked completely different than the old square iron crosses... I took my idea into the NHS office the next morning and it went on the wall as usual. Jay and Rich each stared at it for a while, and they both thought that it looked a little too "Nazi". My sketches were rejected and I was sent back to the drawing board. I went back to my studio determined to use it, knowing it was the one. I searched my archives and scrap file for some justification for using the symbol. I found a firefighter's logo, symbols on the knights and Columbus sails. Then in my scrap file, under the letter P, I found a Time magazine cover of Pope John Paul from the June 18, 1979 edition. It was amazing; there was a cross on his vestments almost the way I designed mine. I marched into the office the next morning with the magazine to show what I thought was proof of acceptability. They both looked at each other and said, 'Well, if the Pope has it, it must be okay!' That was that, and the Independent cross was born.
In 2021, after opinions that the cross was too "Nazi-like", Independent changed the Iron Cross logo to a different design. [2]
Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams.
Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Some board sports were marginalized in the past. However, many board sports are gaining mainstream recognition, and with this recognition, they have enjoyed wider broadcast, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
The swastika is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly found in various Eurasian cultures, as well as some African and American ones. In the western world it is more widely recognized as a symbol of the German Nazi Party who appropriated it from Asian cultures starting in the early 20th century. The appropriation continues with its use by neo-Nazis around the world. The swastika never stopped being used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle.
The Iron Cross was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the insignia of the medieval Teutonic Order and borne by its knights from the 13th century. As well as being a military medal, it has also been used as an emblem by the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, and the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, while the Balkenkreuz variant was used by the Wehrmacht. The Iron Cross is now the emblem of the Bundeswehr, the modern German armed forces.
John Rodney Mullen is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. Mullen is credited for inventing numerous tricks, including the flatground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, impossible, and 360-flip. As a result, he has been called the "Godfather of modern freestyle skating."
A longboard is a type of skateboard typified by longer decks and wheelbases, larger-diameter and softer (lower-durometer) wheels, and often lower riding height compared to street skateboards, though there is wide variation in the geometry and construction of longboards. Among the earliest types of skateboards, longboards were inspired by surfing, with early longboards drawing from the design of surfboards, resembling and mimicking the motion of riding a surfboard, but adapted to riding on streets in a practice known as sidewalk surfing.
Longboarding is a variation of skateboarding typified by the use of longer boards ("decks") with longer wheelbases and softer wheels. While longboards vary widely in shape and size, compared to street skateboards longboards are designed to be more stable at speed and to have more traction due to larger wheel sizes and softer wheel durometers. While standard street skateboards may typically be between 28 and 34 inches long, longboards can range anywhere from 32 to 50 inches in length. Ride characteristics of longboards generally differ from that of street skateboards due to the use of specialized longboard trucks that have different properties than those typically used with skateboards; while street skateboards use "traditional kingpin" (TKP) trucks that are optimized for tight turning radii, ollie and flip tricks, slides, grinds, and transition skating, longboards are typically paired with "reverse kingpin" (RKP) trucks that are designed for increased stability at higher speeds, more "surfy" carving characteristics, and/or greater ride comfort for commuting over longer distances.
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer, and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series My Name Is Earl, for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV series in 2005 and 2006 by The Golden Globes. He is also known for his roles in Kevin Smith films such as Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Jersey Girl (2004), Clerks II (2006), Cop Out (2010), and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019). Lee won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in Chasing Amy.
West Coast Choppers (WCC) is a brand that began selling screen-printed T-shirts and stickers with the company's Iron cross/Maltese cross logo while founder and "master marketer" Jesse James was finishing high school, packaging the accoutrements of the chopper lifestyle long before any actual West Coast Choppers customs had been ordered or sold. Even after the company did begin building custom choppers, 60% of revenue still came from sales of WCC-branded marketing tie-ins such as clothing, beverages and tools. Yearly sales of approximately 12–15 motorcycles at prices of around US$150,000 each actually lost money for the company, but attracted positive attention. Publicizing the names of celebrity clients, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves, Ty Law of the Denver Broncos, wrestling star Bill Goldberg, actor Tyson Beckford, and NFL running back Jamal Anderson, was a central feature of the WCC marketing strategy. The other key to this strategy was the star power of Jesse James, presented mainly through television on the Discovery Channel in the Motorcycle Mania series and the 2002–2006 series Monster Garage.
Deluxe Distribution is an Ermico Enterprises, Inc.-owned American skateboarding company founded in 1986 with limited partner Brian Ware in San Francisco. Deluxe was formed to distribute the Beware Record label, and other small record labels popular with skateboarders, along with Thunder Trucks and Supercush Bushings. Deluxe distributes six skateboard brands and owns DLXSF, a retail outlet.
Blind is an American skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco under the World Industries umbrella. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwindle Distribution. The company produces decks, wheels, soft goods and accessories. The company's logo for many years was a stylized grim reaper.
Jim Thiebaud is an American skateboarder.
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Baker Skateboards is an American skateboarding company founded in 2000 by professional skateboarder Andrew Reynolds. The company's main products are skateboard decks, soft goods, accessories, and wheels.
The Swastika Laundry was an Irish business founded in 1912, located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, a district of Dublin. Due to its name and logo being associated with the Nazi Party in Germany, the name was changed in 1939 but their logo endured.
A fingerboard is a scaled-down replica of a skateboard that a person "rides" with their fingers, rather than their feet. A fingerboard is typically 100 millimeters (3.9 in) long with width ranging from 26 to 55 mm, with graphics, trucks and plastic or ball-bearing wheels, like a skateboard. A fingerboard can be used to do traditional skateboarding tricks, such as an ollie and kickflip.
NHS, Inc. is a United States sports equipment distribution company based in Santa Cruz, California. It was founded by Richard Novak, Doug Haut, and Jay Shuirman, three surfer friends from Santa Cruz, California, teamed up to start NHS. The acronym NHS comes from their surname initials. The company distributes the following brands: Santa Cruz Skateboards, Santa Cruz Snowboards, Santa Cruz Surfboards, Creature Skateboards, Independent Truck Company, Bronson Speed Co., Krux Trucks, Ricta Wheels, Mob Grip, OJ Wheels, Road Rider, Slimeballs, Bullet and Nor Cal Clothing Co. NHS formerly owned shares of Santa Cruz Bicycles, also co-founded by Richard Novak, but sold to Pon Holdings in 2015.
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