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G&S surfboards known as gordon & smith surfboards make the classic gordon and smith
surfboard. G&S surf includes retro gordon and smith surfboards vintage gordon smith surfboards and old g and s surfboards.
 Larry Gordon grew up in nearby Pacific Beach and started surfing when he was in high school. His career
as a surfboard designer/builder began in 1956 when he stripped the glass from a balsa board he owned, reshaped it to
his liking and then re-glassed it. Now, more than 50 years later, Larry Gordon has had a hand in building or selling
an estimated 100,000 Gordon & Smith surfboards. In the summer of 1959, when Gordon was a chemistry
major at San Diego State College, he and his friend Floyd Smith built a mold, bought the necessary chemicals (from Gordon
Plastics, his dad's family business) and started blowing foam blanks in Smiths's garage and Gordon & Smith Surfboards
was born. By 1961, Gordon & Smith had become the most popular surfboard brand in the San Diego area.
The name became widespread in the '60s and '70s as some of the world's best surfers became G&S team riders,
designers or shapers. A host of other well-known names have shaped for the label, including Hynson, Frye, Rusty Priesendorfer
and Mike Eaton. Floyd Smith moved to Australia in 1965 to start G & S Australia, while Larry stayed
in San Diego to manage Gordon & Smith Surfboards, which at the time was cranking out some 4,000 boards per year. Then
in 1971, Smith sold his interest in the business, ending the 12-year partnership. But the name has continued to flourish under
Larry Gordon, withstanding the test of time. Larry Gordon is now retired and living in San Diego, but
still oversees the operation of Gordon & Smith Surfboards and mows a little foam now and then. Floyd Smith now resides
in Northern California.
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