Team Waves

/Dewey Weber

David Earl "Dewey" Weber

(August 18, 1938- January 7, 1993)

Overview

Dewey Weber was born David Earl Weber on August 18, 1938 in Denver, Colorado. Best known as a legendary surfer throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he stood out for his unique surfing style. However, his accomplishments were as great out of the water as they were in, including becoming a national Yo-Yo champion, a CIF wrestling champion, numerous appearances in feature films, and starting his own company, Weber Surfboards, which was one of the most successful surfboard manufacturing businesses of his time.

Early Years

The only child of a German working class family, Dewey was exposed to water at an early age through his babysitter who was a lifeguard at a nearby pool. His father, Earl, was a truck driver and his mother, Gladys, worked at Denver's Nabisco cracker factory. At the age of 5, his family moved to Manhattan Beach, California where Dewey started his life long love with the ocean. While fishing with his mom on the pier, he started to notice the local surf club which included such renowned surfers as Dale Velzy, Bob Hogan, and Barney Biggs who was the first to notice Dewey and lent him a board at 9-years of age.

"I'll never forget it," Dewey later recalled. "He gave me this old board. The thing was about 11 feet long and weighed about 110 pounds. It had a deep vee, hot curl-style tail and was made of solid pine and redwood." Getting the board to the water was an accomplishment, itself. Paddling out through the white water was even worse. "I thought," Dewey remembered, "'I'm never going to do this.' And I almost never did. It took me two years before I ever rode a wave."

By this time his fame was already beginning and at the early age of 8 years-old, his mother took him to an audition where he won a part as "Buster Brown, a comic book character created by the Buster Brown Shoe Company. By the age of 14 he was also a three-time National Duncan Yo-Yo Champion, appearing on the national television show "You Bet Your Life," hosted by Groucho Marx.

In high school, Dewey's short, stocky frame (5'3", 130 pounds) was perfect for wrestling and he received a varsity letter in his freshman year. By the time he graduated he was a three-time CIF westling champion at Mira Costa High, graduating in 1956. He went on to become an All-State performer at El Camino College and later qualified for the Olympic Wrestling team, but an injury just before the event kept him from competing.

Surf Mastery

Dewey was fortunate to catch the eye of one of the greatest surfers and board shapers of his era, Dale Velzy. One of the first to both advertise his products and sponsor surfers by providing them surfboards. Dewey's first board was a candy-apple red to match the surf trunks Dewey's mother had made for him. While red would go on to become Dewey's trademark color, the Velzy board took his surfing to a higher level.

During this time, Dewey travelled up and down the California coast seeking out the best surf spots, but his primary goal was to get to Hawaii. He worked as a lifeguard at th Biltmore Hotel, saving his money for his first trip to the Islands. Eventually, he earned enough to make the trip and lived in a two-room quoset hut with 13 other guys including Gibby Gibson, Richard Deese, Gene Sedillo, Buddy Dobbs, Lum Edwards, Steve Smith and Bummy Kennedy.

It was during this time that Dewey developed his legendary style. His fancy footwork up and down the board earned him the nickname, "The Little Man on Wheels" and was the direct opposite of the prevailing style. Dewey's first visit to the Islands is somewhat chronicled in Bud Browne's 1957 release, The Big Surf. From the film, a classic shot of Dewey surfing Makaha later became the symbol of the United States Surfing Association (USSA). He further appeared in nearly every surf movie of the late 50s and 60s, including "Slipper When Wet (1958)", "Cat on a Hot Foam Board (1959)", and "Walk on the Wet Side (1963)".

Going into Business

After returning from Hawaii, Dewey had become an accomplished surfer and shaper. In 1960, he founded Weber Surfboards and went into business on his own. He opened his first shop in Venice Beach, California and soon began producing such unforgettable names as the Weber Performer and the Weber Pig. He hired top shaper, Harold Iggy, and assembled a surf team to promote the brand.

It was then that Dewey had the ingenious idea to dress the team in the class red Weber trunks and jackets, which they wore to the events. With the success of his team, Dewey became one of the top producers of the time, second only to Hobie. Between 1966 and 1967, the Weber Peformer sold roughly 10,000 units and was distributed all over the country. Later he opened stores in Hermosa Beach, San Diego, and Honolulu.

The Final Years

With the fall in popularity of the long board, eventually the business shrank to a single shop. Dewey continued to make and sell boards and was best known for his longboard designs though he produced some excellent short boards as well. Continuing his love with the ocean, he built a two-man swordfishing boat and spent much of his time at sea. In 1993, he passed away due to failure and his death was reported on ABC, NBC, the LA Times, and the Washington Post. The business was then handed over to his son Shea who continues to operate in San Clemente, California.

References

Marcus, Ben (2005). Surfing USA. Voyager Press. ISBN 0896586901.
Warshaw, Matt. Encyclopedia of Surfing. Harcourt Books. ISBN 0156032511.
Kampion, Drew. Stoked - A History of Surf Culture. Gibbs Smith Publisher. ISBN 1586852132.

Additional Information

DeweyWeber.com[1]
Boardworkssurf.com [2]
Surfline.com [3]
DeweyWeber.com[4]
Legendarysurfers.com[5]

Images of Dewey Weber:

Carving big wave[6]
Sufboards by Dewey Weber[7]
Great Pic of Dewey on the beach[8]
Another Great Pic of Dewey on the Beach[9]
Art Work of Dewey Weber[10]