Rendered crossings and the shaping of a culture: The influence of mid-twentieth-century Californian surf travel to Mexico

This article sets out to explore the early history and important cultural legacy of surf travel from the United States into Mexico in the twentieth century. The work is part of an emerging analysis not only of the principal early actors of cross-border surf travel but also of their documentary work in film media and the role of Mexican travel in the development of regional surf culture, notably in the mid-century period. Addressed are the mechanisms at work in early surf travel photography: the initial selection of sites and objects of focus, the repetition of photographic subjects and, perhaps most importantly, the subsequent iconization of certain themes, artefacts, and rites. In short, the article reveals how documented surf-specific trips to impacted the nascent California surf culture. Far from minor in this context, crossing the border into Mexico played a major role in its development, providing substance elements to surfing’s increasingly rich cultural fabric, complexifying surfing history and perceived culture beyond a linear Hawaii-California model. It also serves to complexify surfing’s history and culture beyond a linear Hawaii–California model.