The latest exhibit at the Pop Cult Museum at PD's Hot Shop in Qualicum Beach follows skateboarding through the decades, from early homemade boards in the 1930s right to the present day.

Wheels of Freedom traces the evolution of skate culture, as well as the boards themselves 鈥� and how new technology influences the activity and vice versa.

While the first commercial boards began to appear in stores in the late 1950s, children had already been making their own skateboards for decades.

鈥淎 kid, usually the boy in the family, would get into some trouble because he would essentially steal the sister鈥檚 roller skates, or take his own roller skates,鈥� said owner Peter Ducommun, better known as PD. 鈥淲hat you would do is disassemble the roller skate and reassemble some of the components onto a wooden piece.鈥�

Skateboarding evolved by mimicking surfing and was referred to as "sidewalk surfing" for a time, but by the mid-60s it had begun to step out of the shadow of surfing, with Patti McGee appearing on the cover of Life magazine in 1965 (the exhibit includes a copy).

For a lot of children, a skateboard or bicycle offers that first taste of freedom 鈥� being able to venture further from home without mom and dad.       

But with that freedom also came derision from the public 鈥� people angry at skateboarders for riding on the sidewalk or trespassing and skating up and down the sloped walls of an empty pool.         

鈥淚n the early days we were told it was wrong and we were bad,鈥� said Ducommun, who began skateboarding in the early 1970s. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e trying to tell somebody, and particularly a young person, that they鈥檙e doing something bad and they know they鈥檙e not, well that just makes you do it twice as much.鈥�

Wider skateboards found popularity in the 70s to provide more stability as skaters became more interested in riding up and down the sides empty pools.

鈥淲e knew that a swimming pool would be like riding a wave because you鈥檙e going up the wall and coming down,"  Ducommun said. "That was the inspiration for what would become half pipes and then skate park bowls and all of that.鈥�

Ducommun's very first board from 1976 is part of the exhibit and can be spotted by a yin yang decal 鈥� this was the logo for Great North Country Skateboards, before the name change to Skull Skates, Canada's oldest skateboard company.

Humour, irreverence and mockery all became a big part of skater culture, Ducommun said, and one way that was expressed was through skateboard decals.

鈥淪kateboarders, we like to mock,鈥� he added. 鈥淗appy faces and bright colours, but it was all kind of mockery.鈥�

One piece in the exhibit takes aim at the idea of skateboarders competing for awards, including the recent inclusion into the Summer Olympics. Ducommun mounted the body of a decapitated doll onto a football trophy, with a skateboard wheel in place of a head.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 more like an art form or a lifestyle,鈥� he said.

Skateboarding continues to change and evolve as new generations of skaters are introduced to it.

鈥淓very time you think it can鈥檛 get any crazier, as far as tricks and techniques and styles of riding, it does," Ducommun said. "But the reason it does is that people are not starting from zero, they鈥檙e starting from that whole thing that鈥檚 been built.鈥�

With work set to begin soon on a new skatepark in Qualicum Beach, Ducommun is optimistic the activity will continue to grow and even attract people to visit the town and check out the new facility.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole group of people ready to just come up and really embrace it.鈥�

Wheels of Freedom will be at the Pop Cult Museum until March. PD's Hot Shop is located at 164 Second Ave.