I was strolling down a tight aisle of dark antique furniture when I first spotted these big splashes of color. They looked so out of place that I had to check them out.
“They” were three surfboards in yellow, orange and green with bits and pieces of paraphernalia attached in relief to their fronts. The boards appeared to have been specially made because each had a theme representing a major cultural phenomenon.
The one that struck me was signed “David Letterman NY 99-,” but I doubted that it was actually the signature of the host of Late Show with David Letterman. (I later checked Letterman’s autograph and that one was nothing like his, but it did resemble the signature on the show’s studio sign.)
The surfboard contained a postcard photo of the exterior of the Ed Sullivan Theater where the show is taped in New York and a green foam Statue of Liberty crown like the ones you can buy off the streets or in a souvenir shop in that city.
The auction house had affixed one of its yellow tags warning auction-goers not to disturb the merchandise or risk paying for any damage.
The brightest of the surfboards had glass bowls attached to it with the colorful stripes on the board crossing over onto the bowls. Printed across the top were the words Casa De Campo, which in Google led me to a resort in the Dominican Republic and a large urban park in Madrid, Spain. I suspected that this board was referring to the seaside resort in the Caribbean, where you’d likely get in a lot more surfing.
The surface of the third one was more crowded than the others. Its title was Ryder Cup, the international golf competition between teams from the United States and Europe held every two years at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois. The competition has been around since the 1920s and is about “winning, and not prize money,” according to its website.
The prize is the Ryder Cup, named after a man named Samuel Ryder who made his money in the early part of the 20th century selling seed packets. He commissioned the gold cup that bears his name.
Situated in the center of the board – and the first artifact to catch my eye – was a framed collage of old golf clubs and golf balls. At the bottom were a putter and a wood. On one side was the inscription “NY 1999.”
I liked this one because I used to golf often but don’t get out on the course much anymore.
Surfboard art appears to be big business. I found several companies on the web – many in Hawaii – that made them and artists who painted them. Most of the art was done on flat surfaces like paintings, not the found-art look of the ones at auction.
I wondered about the owners of these surfboards. They obviously were fans of Letterman, spent time on the golf course, and maybe surfed and golfed at Casa De Campo. Or they may have all belonged to the same person.
I wasn’t around when the surfboards sold, but they showed that you never know what will turn up at auction.
