THE ORIGINS OF SPEAR FISHING DIVING
from Cressi Sub catalogue of 1952
“Where, when and how the exercise of spear fishing diving began can be recognized without doubts if we mention Polynesian divers who dive with a diving dagger or a grappling hook fixed in their forearm, and Japanese divers who chase fishes in their element armed of a long, thin lance; they consider themself the ancestors of this young sport which affirmed so well during the last ten years.
It is more difficult to establish a priority of the exercise of spear fishing diving intended as a sport. It is true that Italians, in the Istrian coasts, gave the first idea to the Austrian pioneer Hans Haas however, it is certain that the first perfectioned gear were manufactured in France; diving, as a sport, began to diffuse in the French Riviera, by rapidly spreading, almost immediately, in the Ligurian Riviera and in the Spanish coasts.
The same progresses and improvements reached both in the gear and in the technical-scientific sector, so much in the photo-video documents as in the literary-artistic production, as well as in the professional and association fields clearly show that France and Italy are at the forefront, and that it must be recognized to France and Italy if, in a very short period of time, spear fishing diving as a sport conquered the world”.
_______________
THE “DO IT YOURSELF” AT THE TIME OF THE HISTORICAL SCUBA DIVING – 4°
We continue the publication of some pages of Italian and foreign magazines from the 1950s and 1960s, a window on the life and customs practices of the still rare divers of those times, on their inventiveness and ability to build hard-to-find or too expensive objects at home.
The February 1959 issue of the UK publication "Newnes Practical Mechanics" teaches you how to build a dry suit. The same thing is found in the Italian "System A" of August of the same year in an article that is not identical but very similar. Trade deals or what?
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |