Skateboarder magazine was first published in Winter 1964 as a quarterly under the name The Quarterly Skateboarder - by John Severson's Surfer Publications out of  Dana Point, California, US - during the first skateboarding boom. In August 1965 the title was changed to Skateboarder and the magazine began to be published bimonthly. In his first editorial, John Severson wrote:

Today's skateboarders are founders in this sport—they're pioneers—they are the first. There is no history in Skateboarding—its being made now—by you. The sport is being molded and we believe that doing the right thing now will lead to a bright future for the sport. Already, there are storm clouds on the horizon with opponents of the sport talking about ban and restriction.