When skateboarding hit a major mainstream peak in the ’80s, Powell was primed to reign, having already assembled Bones Brigade, one of the most legendary and marketable teams in skate history. With the likes of Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, and Lance Mountain as riders, the Bones Brigade was pretty much an unfuckwithable force that Powell took pretty damn seriously.
Powell got so structured that there were even rumors of a secret Bones Brigade Team Manual, that was apparently given out to all the riders outlining the responsibilities of a Bones Brigade rider. An almost mythical text, the guide was seen by few outside of the Powell Peralta inner circle and the riders themselves.
Well, dreams do come true, when we were randomly sent a scanned version of the brand’s bible, the mother of all employee handbooks, the Powell Peralta “Operation Motherhood” Field Manual, published in March of 1989.
As you peruse this incredible artifact, you’ll often question whether or not it’s real, let alone if it’s actually serious, especially when talking about the “barracks” and how said Brigade Member must “chew and swallow their manual, if caught behind enemy lines.” As you can see, that didn’t happen, and whatever the fuck was going on with Powell back then was a sharp contrast to Steve Rocco’s practices a few years later, namely funding, fueling, and all around supporting debauchery and all-around awesomeness.
The guidelines laid out here in militaristic jargon were allegedly the tipping point for superstar Mike Vallely to bail on Powell’s corpo vibe for the loose, provocative, and generally “fuck it” attitude of SMA World Industries Rocco Division, or whatever the hell it was called at the time.
To be fair, not all of the suggestions are bad. In fact, there are plenty of sponsored skaters who maybe wouldn’t be in jail or generally fucked if their employers tried to help them out a bit with some guardrails, just probably not in the form of telling them they are child soldiers in some bizarre skull-and-bones army.
So, here it is, the actual “rank and file” of the staff and riders, the rules about where to put your stickers, why you need to use rails to preserve your graphic, and even T-Shirt color suggestions, that ban white but support fuschia. Yes, this is real.
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June 4, 2017 3:32 am
Pablo?
August 23, 2019 10:58 am
“You guys all look the same”
– George
June 4, 2017 11:58 pm
O wow. Jenkem receives this “randomly,” and then George Powell himself comments? Ignorant but pointed question: how many times has GP, Stacey, or any of the Bones Brigade commented to a story on Jenkem? Am I alone in thinking how (un)ironic it seems that this release coincides with all the furious promotion for the Chin ramp replica build, and PPs relentless efforts to capitalize on a bygone (albeit extraordinarily important) era in order to polish their increasingly lackluster, outdated image and subsequent status in the skateboarding realm? Side thought: It’s endlessly hilarious to me how much Mike V hates on PP and the Bones Brigade pseudo-militaristic structure, while his current brand Web site boasts a “Battalion” and an “Armory” as marketing tools. Long live these skaters, but the industry is an industry and will forever host episodes of idiotic promotional posturing. Why oh why did I think Jenkem was untouchable???
June 5, 2017 7:45 am
^^^^^^^^ You are a kook mate^^^^^^^
George Powell brought us Bones Swiss, VCJ graphics and the first and best skate videos of the era… show a little respect
June 6, 2017 8:27 am
Oh come on, I’m mildly autistic but even I understood that this manual was written tongue in cheek.
You’d have to be really autistic or dumb do think this was like a god damn bible to them.