Surfing Sweethearts
Date1965
Object numberANMS1544[014]
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsOverall: 253 × 204 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionBlack and white photograph of Sally Field surfing in her role as the lead character of the television series 'Gidget'.SignificanceThis memorabilia including the scripts from the Gidget television series from 1965 illustrate connections and influences in teen, surfing and beach culture across the Pacific in west coast America and Australia. The story of a 15 year-old female surfer played by Sally Field was based on the life of real life surfer Kathy Kohner, a teenager in the 1950s, documented in a fictional work by her father Frederick Kohner, a Jewish emigrant scriptwriter from 1930s Germany. The character featured in several films. The Gidget TV series and films aired in Australia in the 1960s, in prime time and as reruns in the subsequent decades. At the time surfing in Australia was booming and morphing from a competitive arena into a lifestyle exemplified in the TV series. Australian surfers competed against champion Hawaiian and Californian surfers at international events such as the Makaha trophy and the first world titles held at Manly in 1964. While females were competitive and women's events were held alongside those of men at the major meetings, it was a very much a male-dominated sport and culture where 'femlins' were in the minority. This material is significant in highlighting the life of an active female surfer, and popular cultural figure, albeit one draped in moral teachings anathema to many but not all living the surfing lifestyle at the time. The series was the first standard American sitcom format broadcast into Australia's lounge rooms that was set at the beach and explored beach culture from the perspective of a young woman.