In 1984 I was 14 going into my Freshman year. I walked into a bike shop in Tucson Az. ordered a pair of checker board high tops red black with a green stripe black suede toe and heel. I was in Arizona on summer vacation. When I started school in East Tn with the only pair of imported custom vans…hi tops…I was a style god….damn those were great times.

Steve came to Chico after we had lost everything in the Camp Fire 2018.. And he brought trailers full of shoes and shirts for us.. An Awesome and Generous man

Steve was always super generous, on the older warped tours theyd bring out the 18 wheelers full of shoes and give them out. Thousands really.

I think vans are more iconic than Nikes.

“All I need is a cool buzz and some tasty waves.” “THAT’S MY SKULL!”-Jeff Spicolli

Born in 1961, growing up in So Cal, I wore Vans all the time. I remember the store "House of Van" in Uptown Whittier. We always referred to them as "deck shoes" growing up.

I was wearing Vans long before Fast Times came out. Hands down, they were the best skateboard sneakers ever made.

Was 16 when Fast times came out. Saw the movie and ran out to find the exact same pair of Vans. We were so cool back then and didn’t know it, lol. I miss the 80’s, so much fun.

Spicoli was the reason I got my 1st pair of checkered black/white slip ones…

I remember checking boxes in the back of Thrasher to get my custom palm tree slip-ons. Good times.

As a high schooler / college student in Torrance when they were filming Fast Times at Torrance High, the Dunkin Donuts on Sepulveda and Crenshaw and the was it Stop n Shop in Gardena on Normandie and Compton (now called Marine); I wore Vans in Jr High, HS and college. Who knew Vans would be so huge. I just thought they were just a South Bay Area thing. I had wide feet, so I always special ordered my shoes.

Hah!! As a 12 year old I had the black and white checkboard with the "I love girls" on the bottom part of my shoe. I ordered them custom made in a surf shop in Galveston, TX... what a great time we had back then... 1984. So much fun!!

Sean Penn was on Conan a few years back. He actually ran into the guy he based Spicoli off of in 2019. The dude is successful, family man, still living and surfing in Southern California. You can check it out on KZfaq.

In 1976 when I turned 16 & got my driver’s license to freedom my buddies & I would all pile into my ‘65 Corvair and head from Lemon Grove up the 5 to Encinitas Vans store to buy new Shoes and trade our locations to our skateboard hangouts with others who would be willing to share their places to rip . Always enjoyed ordering custom shoes & then getting that call when they arrived to “ Come pick them up at our store”. A truly bygone era in my lifetime full of fun , friends & great times . Thanks Steve Van Doren for all you did & continue to do . At almost 64 ( one more week 😊). I salute you sir !! 😎👍

I lived in a small southern town and was into BMX in the early 80s. I ordered some checkerboard Vans out of one of those magazines and wore them to school in 9th grade where I was mocked mercilessly for about two weeks. One day, a senior yelled, “Spicoli!” at me. I had no idea what that meant until someone explained it to me.

I've worn checkerboard Vans since I was a kid in the 80's. I broke my arm racing Motocross when I was 12 and my friend checked my cast to match! I now have over 20 pairs of checkerboard slip-ons in every color except pastels.

My parents were church friends with Gordie Lee, one of their partners, when I was a kid. One time he saw me at a party and came up and joked with me- Hey you have on my shoes. I had on white slip ons that were all the rage in Huntington Beach at the time. He asked how I liked them and I told him they were great but I keep putting my toe through the front. He told me to keep my toenails clipped real short and they had just modified some to have double canvas in the toe. He asked what size I was and told me he’d give some to my mom for me. A couple days later my mom came home from church and she had a Vans shoebox with her. She said Gordie said to try these out. They were great and it seemed to fix the problem. After that, every couple months my mom would come home with some more shoes from Gordie. Mr Lee was always a kind and considerate man. 😀

I totally remember back in the 70's as a kid getting a black felt pen and checkering my converse high tops.

I was so off the path back then that I wanted a Spicoli Senior Lopez hoodie more than anything else.

Still have my OG cardboard shoe box from the 1970’s. Holds all my old photos. Back then you filled out a paper form to choose your custom colors.

"if you're here and I'm here, doesn't that make it OUR time?". (Just learning about Cuba and having some food...) 🍕

I remember my dad taking me to see “fast Times at Ridgemont high” and wanting the checkered van shoes when I seen them in the movie. I got them when I was a kid that summer in the 80s. I have a pair now as an adult.

A little trivia: The outside shot of the mall in Fast Times was Santa Monica Place Mall. It no longer exists, but I used to shop there all the time. Further trivia: Santa Monica Place was on The Santa Monica Promenade... where Pee Wee had his bike stolen.

I always bought my Vans at their store in Chatsworth, CA. It was very unique, built in the style and colors of a small circus tent 🎪 and really stood out as it was separate from other commercial stores that sat at the base of a small hill with large Vans letters signage on top. I was one of those SoCal skater kids that would use a Sharpie to draw up designs on my Vans. Thanks for the memories, good times, good times…🛹

I was airbrushing Vans in Las Vegas in 1980.

In 1980 I was living in Southern California with my parents. I was 15 years old. Of course I had vans. They actually have a picture of me in a suit with checkered vans on. I was at the movie theatre when fast Times Ridgemont high was playing that was actually done after a school in my school district called Fontana high when Spicolli showed up with chequered vans, I took mine off and held them up in the air in the and everybody cheered . Yes you ordered them out of a book shoe store had and you ordered each panel and you could get each panel different if you wanted and you ordered what the rim was they were $20 for a set which was not cheap at the time . I am almost 60 today and I can’t wear them anymore because they are flat on the bottom and they don’t have any arch support so they hurt my feet

Haha! I’m wearing black and white checkered slip-on Vans right now!

Loved this episode so much. Steve seems like a great guy

I was born (1956) and raised in Anaheim about a mile from the Van's factory. My brother and friends would ride our bikes to the Van's factory to buy our shoes. We grew up waring nothing but Van's shoes. I think that at that time, mid to late 60s they were less than $5 a pair. Was just telling my Grandson about those good old days.

I remember going into the Vans store and ordering shoes....Dang I feel old haha Yep, been wearing Vans that long👍

Man, in 1984 I had checkerboard Vans...and I grew up in High Point, NC Years later, my daughter came home wearing a pair. She graduated High School in 2011. When I pulled out my old yearbook and showed her a picture of me wearing mine in High School...that blew her mind.

I’m turning 62 in a couple of weeks. I keep 2 pair of black and white checked Vans when I wear an aloha shirt with blue jeans. I also have a shirt I love to wear with two checked panels in front that I’ll wear with black jeans and my Vans. I get a lot of compliments on that combo.

I so love this. I was going to the Venice location Van store with my older brother ordering costume colors mismatch back when I was 10 years old. I’m gong to be 55 this year. I love Vans.

very kind and humble man running a multi million dollar business. the world needs more men like him

I was a 70's kid. You knew how time consuming drawing checks on your shoes were. I cannot remember how long it took me to do checks on my Classic Schwinn cruzers white walls.🏁🏁🏁

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 80's...I wanted to be in SoCal SOOOO bad. I had my paper route so I could by my first pair of vans, my GT bike and my Vision skateboards. I needed up being a soccer player but "refound" BMX in my 50's, still with Vans and loving the vibe, even if I'm an old man now.

Vans are part of the So Cal uniform of the 80s. I've been wearing them since I was 10, in 1975. If you are a surfer, skater, BMX or Motocross rider, especially in So Cal, you have a long history with Vans. I'm wearing my black/grey set right now, at my white collar, job, because still cool matters.

Back in the 80’s, I lived next to a bmx racing bike store in Indiana and once a year I would special order Vans with my birthday money. It was so cool to have custom checkered shoes and only took a month or so to come in and to this day it is still my favorite brands.

I wore Vans all during high school in the early '80's, one pair was the checkerboard canvas and I remember doing a drawing of them in pencil for my art class. I also had a custom-made pair I ordered from Billy's surf and skate shop in Newhall California, you could pick whatever colors you wanted for each of the 3 panels on each shoe so for some reason I went with yellow-grey-yellow on one and grey-yellow-grey on the other.

Vans have been around since 1966. I got my first pair in 1969 when the box was labeled "Van Doren Shoes". I put a checkerboard pattern around the sole of pair in 1978 while watching the World Series.

I can’t stand it when the interviewer keeps interrupting the guest. I had to stop watching……

I remember those custom vans were hot as hell in bmx in the early 80s. My neighbor rode for GHP and Vans and had some crazy ones. Those were the days.

This guy is a good soul person and deserves all the good that has and will come his way.

I owned a pair of the original Vans Fast Times shoes in 1984. Many years ago I was able to purchase another pair my size brand new and it came with a Sean Penn bobble head doll.

I was born the same year Van's were first created. I have probably owned at least 20 pair. Up to five at a time. I even had a camo pair that I wore while cutting grass where the wet grass caused the rubber to turn green. They are awesome shoes and my college aged kids love them.

I went to Australia's Gold Coast in July 1983, and Vans were everywhere. I was an East Coast kid who saw them occasionally, but it seemed every Gold Coast kid had a pair of checkerboards in their closet.

The only vans I could buy in my size were lime green and me and my mom drove to a Narragansett surf shop to get them 48 yrs ago!!!!!

Got my first pair in ‘79 at the Alhambra CA store(still there) Red/Blue….I was so happy!!!!

I had a pair of black and white checkerboard back when fast times came out and I’m 56 and still have a pair today. No shirt no shoes no dice 😂

I’m 58 and still wear Vans. Currently have 5 pair. Iconic and still comfortable. And I have checkerboard.

Seems like a real down to earth person. Keep on keeping on!

Great episode! Great Guy!

Bmx racers were wearing Vans in the early 70’s They are THE BEST shoes for flat pedals. God bless America and God bless Vans!!

I remember my cousin having moved from California to Kentucky in the early 80’s and having a pair of black and blue checkers that were opposite patterns. Left heel blue checkers/ right heel black checkers,etc. I could not wrap my head around a store I could order my own shoes. They were awesome

Wow. Great interview

The checkerboard Vans were invented on the steps of the Huntington Beach High School auditorium during lunch around 1978, or at least that was very close to where they may have been actually invented. I very specifically remember being a Freshman in High School and watching kids mark their Vans up with the checkerboard pattern. In addition to Punk being very popular back then, the Mods and SKA movements were also very popular. We had packs of Vespa riders. That is the subculture that the Vans came from. Also that baja hoodie he wore was a very real part of surf culture back then.

We got all our Vans at a tiny little store in Ontario, CA since 81-82 ? I was getting black, red, blue chex high-tops, blue-gray slip-ons, etc. I was the coolest 3rd-4th grader at my school

All the Cali kids that moved to AZ in the late 70s introduced Vans to my crowd. My first pair were the blue high tops....I wore them in a basketball game, and got called for traveling constantly, they didn't work on gym floors..😄

i skateboarded until i was 12 yrs old then i grew up

Was in a band in highschool in Texas and all four of us wore black and white checkered vans ALWAYS. Imagine my surprise 20 years later as a teacher and the kids are still wearing them. Kids of all races. It was really cool.

I had a pair..1985 was awesome❤🎉

In the 70-80s . At 17th St Surf Shop in Virginia Beach, Va. We got to order custom Vans. Any and every mixed color. It got out of control. 🤣 Steve is one of the sweetest humans you will ever meet. 🥰❤🏁🤙🏼

Got my first Vans in '78 at 11 years old. They were $18, a lot for a kids shoe back then. Those and others were worn so much, it was common to have older ones with the toe torn through. We used to write the names of rock and punk bands on the side. Checkered my own Converse HI tops in '80. Then a year or 2 later I see people wearing checkered Vans.

1985 I had a custom pair made. Different color checks on front and back. I wish I could remember the colors. You could pick all three portions of the shoe with different designs, and then, of course, the bottom rubber. Mine said I ❤️ girls. Hilarious 😂 had to wait a few weeks for them to come in. Shout out Old Town Skate and Surf.

Just got another pair of checked vans yesterday, still wearing since I was a kid 😅😅,I'll always wear them

Good story. Thanks for sharing

I got my whole family into Vans. For my daughter's wedding, we all wore Vans and had several pictures taken of the wedding party with their Vans on.

Great episode

Spiccoli on Cariuma, "huh huh, THOSE GUYS ARE F46S!"

I've been wearing vans since 84.

We used them in the 80's BMX racing. When this movie came out it was very difficult to replace your Vans if they were wearing out!

Early 80's southern Ohio we had to order Van's via snailmail. They came with a three piece carbon copy reorder sheet that you could special design your own next pair with! Also, Spicoli was the reason I started wearing Vans, not sure what kind of role model for me that was!?! I often say "Jeff Spicoli ruined my life!" ... Thanks for all the memories and flat but happy feet!!!

I went to Santa Monica high school with Sean and had history class with him. During that time was the Dogtown era Best skateboard team in the U. S. The ZBoyz Zephyr surf and skate team from Santa Monica. We all wore Vans. Sean eas not a Zboy but he did lend his voice in the documentary Zboys and Dogtown. There's a movie as well called The Lords of Dogtown.

I got my first pair in 1986 age 11 black and turquoise at a Montgomery Wards, they matched my blue bike almost exactly

This guy is awesome, what a wholesome company model

Been wearing pairs of black and white checked Vans since I was a sophomore in high school thanks to Spicoli. Everyone thought I wore them due to “the drummer of Green Day” and I had to explain Fast Times at Ridgemont High to them. Only the teachers knew what I was talking about. 😂

I used to sit in class in the early ‘80s and add checkers to the rubber of my vans with a bic pen. It was much harder to get them on the east coast back then and those shoes used to cause quite a stir wherever I went. I remember I wore them to France at that time and holy crap did kids flip out when they saw them. I thought some bmx kids were trying to mug me for a minute because they were so excited to see my shoes and were yelling at me in French.

The first memory I have of wearing Van's is one morning in 1982 at about 8:30 AM when I was about 12 years old and about to ride my bike to school my mother stopped me on my way out the door because she had noticed that I was wearing NO socks with my brand new black & white checkerboard slip-on Van's (because that was the style and NOBODY wore Van's with socks at the time) So after a bit of arguing I agreed to to put on a pair of socks rather then be late for school. Fast forward to later that day at about 3:30 in the afternoon when my Mom met me at the door as I was getting home from school asking me very calmly why I was no longer wearing the socks that she knew for a fact that I wearing when I left that morning for school. I guess with all of the incredible things that happen during a 12 year-olds day at school I had completely forgotten that I had stopped on my way to school taken off my socks and buried them under some leaves in a field in between my house and my school with a solid plan to simply stop on my way back home to put them on again. The next several days I was more than happy to be wearing socks with those Van's since I was grounded from my bike and forced to walk to and from school.

I recall ordering custom Van's in the 80s from my local bmx shop

50 years old I still wear them almost daily!

I'm in NYC & I had never heard of Vans (if it wasn't combat boots everybody here either wore keds or chucks) until I saw fast times in the theater. I had to find a store to order them for me. I got the checks & the blue & red tennies. The shoes are long gone but I still have the box.

gotta be around 45 years since i first went into a Van's stand alone store in So Cal. i remember the suede ones were outta reach of the family budget.

I lived in Santa Any Ca in the early 80s and I remember there was a Van's store near the corner of Bristol and Macfadden that we used to get our van's from, usually got new van's at the beginning of the school year and we made them last for the entire school year, we were poor and I think they cost 20 or 25 dollars. I was too young for Fast times movie but I always loved Van's and still have mostly Van's now and I am in my 50s.

I started wearing Vans in 1982 after seeing Fast Times. Ive worn a pair every since...

Cool neighbors bought me a pair of custom vans (black/white checkerboard) for my 76th birthday!

In the 80's vans were the best BMX shoes. I think I had the first pair in Houston. At first, no one liked them , then a few weeks after I got mine, everyone was wearing them

My 2yr old picked out a set of blue and white checker Vans.....he loves them and he looks great in them.....I never thought of him as a mini Spicoli till now LOL!

I have lots of Vans, but it took me forever to finally buy a pair of checkerboard slip-ons. I went with khaki and white purchased directly from the Vans store in my town. I had them a week and my new puppy decided to chew one of them up. Guess it wasn't meant to be! 😂😂

Idiocracy and Crocs! The power of PROGRAMMING on consumers!!! I love y'all

Wore my first pair of Vann checkerboards until they fell apart years later. Bought my first pair when I was 18. I am 60 now and still wear them

Vans were cool. In 1977 lakewood ca you could walk into vans fill out a form and get a pair of Vans in any color combination you wanted. And in a week they were done. They cost like $14,00.

This man is a genius!!!

Saw the movie very early. Insisted on getting those shoes the very next day. I don't know how i did it, but my Dad drove me 30 miles to the nearest Vans store. I was the first kid at Perris High School to have them for several days. Years prior, in Anaheim, they were very common. Van Doren.

I swear I was the first kid to wear Vans back in 1979. My stock on the playground went through the roof. I’d always ride my bike to the Norwalk store to get free stickers.

I custom ordered my first pair of Vans in either 84 or 85. Hi-Tops, pink, blue suede, and white strip! Prior to that, I used to see a lot BMX guys wearing Vans (NorCal).

Love this

My twenties were a mess because I wanted to be spicoli when i was younger

Steve is awesome

It must’ve been like 85 when I got my first pair of custom vans. I remember going into the shop in Chatsworth, California and ordering from their catalog of different patterns. You could choose the color of the stripe and all that stuff.

The checkerboard is Freemasonic Symbolism.