This may be the real honest truth.

Back in the early Sixties, we--mainly girls--would put on these old skates and tighten with a skate key (normally worn around our necks on a chain). Then we'd skate down the hilly streets, navigating between cars and raised driveways taking our lives in our hands.

One day, some of the adventurous kids--mainly boys-- decided to put a small board on one skate, go to the top of the hill, stand on it and zoom down the street, eventually falling off midway. I tried it, but since I wasn't very coordinated, I would sit on it and *fly* down the hill. It was thrilling.

Presto: the skateboard was born!

Contest: Old-School Nostalgia
[image from Internet, but mine looked exactly like that, all rusted!]