Generations of families have shared the thrill of the Boogie Board for 50 years!

Generations of families have shared the thrill of the Boogie Board for 50 years!

It has been five decades since Tom Morey created the Boogie Board in 1971!  Created 50 years ago body-boards can be found around the world, from beaches to snow and rivers. In the five decades since Morey touched water with his creation, millions of people have experienced the thrill of riding a wave using versions of what’s now commonly called a body-board, making it one of the most influential inventions to ever hit the ocean.

Tom Morey was looking for a way to seal a piece of foam to create a mini wave-riding board, an idea to use scraps of old surfboards that would allow him to ride waves on his belly, maneuvering across waves with the swiftness of a snake. He ran a hot iron across the and old newspaper to waterproof the board putting a final stamp on and marking the moment the Boogie Board was born.

He still remembers the beautiful weather that day the Boogie was born. “I can surf in an inch of water,” Morey said. “What a moment.” Do you remember your first ride? Teaching you son to ride? Watching the grandchildren experience the thrill of surf!

At first, the board was called SNAKE, an acronym for “Side, Navel, Arm, Knee and Elbow.” But Morey quickly learned the name made people wary, so he remained it the Boogie Board, after his love as a jazz drummer for blues music.

It was something anyone, any age young or old, could ride with ease. “I would say the Boogie really created a way to make riding waves in the ocean accessible to everyone,” he said. “Once the Boogie came around, that opened the floodgates for people who weren’t maybe good swimmers or comfortable in the ocean, but they could catch a wave first crack.”

It was never Morey’s intent to make a business that would change the world, rather he simply wanted to experiment with a new surf craft.  We can thank home for all our memories of the ride!