A Vintage Nerd Book Club: Gidget

A Vintage Nerd, Vintage Blog, The Real Gidget, Gidget, Female Surfers, Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman

Back in the 1980's I watched a lot of 1950-1970's shows but I was particularly fascinated by 1960's shows. One of those shows was called Gidget (1956-1966) starring the iconic Sally Field. I also watched the film version of Gidget (1959) starring Sandra Dee. I found the story of a surfing teenage girl was both fascinating and entertaining because I knew in 1950's and 1960's that it wasn't the norm for girls to try to do things that boys were doing.

Then a few years ago I came across an article about Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman who I learned was the real life Gidget. Learning that there is a real life Gidget out there who learned how to surf and ride the waves in a time when surfing was a male dominated sport was wild. After reading that article about Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman I found out that Gidget was her nickname (Girl + Midget) and it was her father who was inspired by her love for surfing. Kathy said once, "I was 16. I didn’t want to be the girl on the beach looking at the men, I wanted to surf. It was not a competitive sport; I was competing against myself. I felt I could do this, I could be like one of them.” She didn't just want to hang out at the beach and look at the cute boys, she wanted to try something new and have fun.

Kathy's father, Frederick Kühner was so inspired by his teenage daughter and her adventures as a surfer that he felt he should share her story with the world. He wrote the story so authentically that you really get the grasp of teen life in the 1950's. I think its amazing how well he captured the life of Gidget. The book reads like a personal journal and it left me feeling newly inspired. The story of Gidget is a good reminder that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover and we shouldn't let that same cover stop us from trying new things.

I love that the book also includes photos of Kathy during her time when she was first learning how to surf in the 1950's.

Here are some photos of the real Gidget, Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman:

Kathy continued to surf for many years after, married and had a family. At 81 she no longer surfs but in a recent interview for Vanity Fair published on March 4, 2021 she stated, that she takes two hours walks by the beach instead.

Here is an excerpt from Kathy's diary that she kept when she started surfing as teen on June 24, 1956; “Dear Diary: I didn’t do too much but go to the beach. I didn’t think I’d have fun, but I met Matt and he took me out on his surfboard. He let me catch the waves by myself and once I fell off and the board went flying in the air. I didn’t get hurt at all. He also rode the waves with me. Then I rode the board in alone. The surf wasn’t high at all. I hope Matt will take me surfing again.”

Although there were some female surfers in Malibu, CA during the 1950's, Gidget was still a one of a kind sort of girl. Being so young and so petite it wasn't easy at first to grasp the sport of surfing let alone carry the darn surf board. But she managed and she also managed to inspire her father to write his book which in turn inspired many young girls to try new things and never give up on something they love.

A review of Gidget by Frederick Kohner was first published in Bunny's Victory and has since been edited and updated for A Vintage Nerd.