With the lightweight invention of Tom Morey, millions of individuals could have the thrilling experience of riding a wave. Boogie Board inventor Morey passed away on October 14, 2021, as an 86-year-old. Morey was regarded as an influential inventor in the world of surfing. It has been 50 years since his most popular invention, the so-called Boogie Board. One of the last public appearances of Morey was at an International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame ceremony in the City of Huntington Beach.
As for Surfing Heritage and Culture Center founder Dick Metz, one could use the invention of Morey behind a boat in a lake or kick about in a pool with it. According to Metz, the tool had a big impact on non-surfing recreation as well as a big market.
Morey’s family relocated to California’s Laguna Beach city during his young days. In his new home, Morey joined surfers who explored the expansive Laguna Beach coastline.
Metz spent his young days with Morey in the beach town with a tight-knit community. In the 1950’s, he was among the best surfers in the area, a music lover, a drummer, a USC student, and a Douglas Aircraft Company staffer. Morey and his friend from USC Karl Pope started a surf shop in Ventura as the former became tired of his office life.
Even a young Morey was an inventive person. He felt that his surfboard might better enter the waves if its nose was turned a bit up. The so-called ‘wing tip’ surfboard design was the first big invention of Morey. The product with the design considerably affected board shaping, particularly as shortboards became available years later.
It was also thought that Morey popularized the removable surfboard fin that allowed the board to move more easily and that changed how it performed on waves. Morey also pioneered wave pool surfboard designs. Morey also promoted a professional surfing competition in Malibu that was named after him many years ago.
In 1971, Morey cut a large surfboard foam piece in half as he wanted a surf break ride described with the word ‘bombing’ even as there was excessive wind. He wore his fins and just swam out into the ocean as he put himself down upon his new board.
In an earlier interview, Morey stated that one could not experience the ocean contour until they get on the Boogie Board. In the first ride, Morey wound upon the sand as he clutched his new form of board with his hands. Morey talked to the interviewer of The Orange County Register about the ride with his eyes closed as he tried to hold back tears.
His spouse Marchia was only the second individual to give that new form of surfboard a spin. Morey once remembered his early surf rides, with all the turns and bends during the journeys, like they had occurred yesterday.
Once, a person approached Morey and asked Morey how he could purchase one of those boards and whether the former would like to sell it. He fixed $10 as the price of the surfboard and sold it to that man then and there itself.
The Morey’s family moved to Carlsbad, as they wished to start a factory there with the assistance of friends who believed in Morey’s wild idea and loaned money. The SNAKE was the name of Morey’s surfboard. However, Morey changed the name to the Boogie Board as he felt that it caused people to be uneasy. The word boogie refers to jazz music; since Morey was a drummer in the music world, the name change would make sense.
Morey set $37 as the price for his surfboard as he placed a Surfer Magazine advertisement for the product. It was no coincidence, as Morey was aged 37 years at the time. His first advertisement contributed to the sale of three surfboards, which soon became hundreds of surfboards.
Surf stores were not quick to benefit from the invention of Morey, so he made clinics for surfers around the nation. His early salesperson Patti Serrano let children test the surfboards out, which left their parents with no option but to purchase the products after they experienced the thrill.
It takes athleticism and physical balance to ride a surfboard. However, the invention of Morey was a surfboard that any person could ride easily. In 1977, Morey sold it alongside the so-called Boogie Board trademark. The present owner of the trademark, Wham O, manufactures the boards on a mass scale and sells those at international big-box retail stores. Wham O owns the Boogie Board trademark, which explains why similar products must be described as a bodyboard.
Morey never became rich from the surfboard invention; instead, he led a modest lifestyle for several years in San Clemente. Then, Morey relocated to California’s Laguna Woods city. Morey was not big on fame or material objects and was thinking about creating a future trend.
Morey considered the Boogie Board just another tool for surfing. He often dismissed the difference between bodyboarders and surfers with ridicule. Morey did not understand the reason for the distinction despite the common love of bodyboarders and surfers for surfing.
Morey got well-deserved accolades after the inventive surfboard turned 50 in the recent past. There were celebrations in San Clemente and Carlsbad. At the same time, Oceanside city honored him with an official announcement on his invention.
Historian and surfing industry pioneer Jim Kempton described Morey as the Benjamin Franklin of surfing, a philosophical person who invented several ideas. Kempton said that Morey perhaps made more people interested in ride waves as compared to anyone else from the world of surfing.
California Surfing Museum President Kempton stated that there would be an honorary celebration of Morey’s life on November 06, 2021, at the museum’s Oceanside gala. Kempton expects that the event would be a wonderful and heartfelt send-off for Morey.
Marchia Morey, her children Sol, Melinda, Matteson, Sky and Moon and grandkids Nick, Max and Dane are among the members left in the Moreys family.
