Frogmen of burma
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eskimo3883
- Master Diver
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:15 pm
Frogmen of burma
Finished Frogmen of Burma. Short but good read. Was surprised to find quite a few photos. I did not realize the author chose 1941 SanDiego to train. They rode low profile wooden paddle boards as well as masks and fins. A few names overlap with the "Cockelshell Heros". They included parachute training as well as cold water work. Worth a purchase if you can find a reasonable priced copy.
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”
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21
Re: Frogmen of burma
My post of friday May 4th 2012 and responses...all should dove tail together
The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
As Jim Dugan introduced JYC & SCUBA to the US this gentleman from SoCal introduced diving to Canada--A long time before Dugan
The Southern California diver who taught the Canadaians how to dive-- a long time ago
ORIGINAL Vintage skin diving photo FRANK RODECKER Frankie the Frogman SCUBA RARE | eBay
When? Where? and Why?
I suspect not one of you were alive or if you were you were crawling on the floor when all of this transpired but Frank was certainly "The Father of Canadian diving." way back in the early 1940s...
Phil? Dale? (any of Gods frozen people???)
sdm
21Diving Pioneer Posts: 622Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:53 pmLocation: Central California
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by DaleC » Sat May 05, 2012 6:04 am
Excellent play on words Dr Sam. Frozen indeed.
(as a side note. I am doing a dive in a Titan II missile silo later this month with 60 F water temps. The warmest dive I will have done to date - excluding pools). I'm not even sure I'll need exposure protection!
Back to the task at hand. I'm still on the look out for "Frogmen of Burma" but haven't come across it yet. My current understanding of Canadian diving pioneers centers around the work Dr. MacInnis was involved in, along with Phil N. and the rising up of our local west coast scene (again involving Phil) that has been wonderfully recorded by John Cuthill in his Masters thesis entitled "Learning Strategies of Early British Columbia Divers". Why he decided to write on this subject is a mystery but somehow he managed to interview many of the original skin, SCUBA and rebreather divers in our region. In the interviews they recall many accounts of how they learned to dive when no formal instruction existed.
I'd be very interested in learning more about Frank Rodecker's role in the Canadian scene.
Right now I am reading a book about Lionel "Buster" Crabbe. Very interesting as he worked for the British on Malta during the war. Opposing them were the Italians of the Tenth Light Flotilla which I have also already read about so it's like seeing both sides of the story.
Cheers!
NAVED #203
#20 International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons
DaleCMaster Diver Posts: 460Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:46 amLocation: Left Coast, Canada
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun May 06, 2012 9:07 am
Dale
I just checked the book sellers, the Frogmen has become a very rare and expensive book--For many years the book was known but never found on the American book shelves, only found in Canada--keep looking it documents the very begining and the introduction of awarness of the underwater world in Canada.
sdm
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Wed May 09, 2012 7:47 am
The picture had hree bids..
Began at $24.99 sold for $38.99...Some one really wanted that picture of Frank Roedecker...more on the man and his exploits later
sdm
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by Phil » Fri May 11, 2012 3:06 am
Hi, Sam
Apparently the SoCal diver didn't teach us canucks how to spell properly - we still insist on spelling Canadian with three 'eh's, instead of four.
The earliest sport diving club here on the west coast was the Vancouver Skin Divers Club, whose roots go back to 1948/49 and this was the club I belonged to . .The Vancouver Blue Sharks were formed a couple of years later. On the east coast, I'm told it was the Verdun Skin Divers first and in central Canada, the Underwater Club of Canada.
Diving was a very popular sport here in B.C. - at one time there was more than 40 dive clubs under the banner of the 'Pacific Underwater Council' in this province alone . Of course, when 'Sea Hunt' came on TV, diving literally exploded!From two clubs in the early 50's to the 40 plus a half decade later!
We (the Historical Diving Society - Canada) recently put a call out through the Historical Diving Society - US's magazine and our own Canadian 'DIVER' magazine to try to locate early Canadian dive clubs and document/record as much about them as possible while some of the long-toothers are still vertical.
PhilMaster Diver Posts: 153Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:22 am
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:27 pm
Subject: CA-NA-DA clubs
Skin Diver Magazine (SDM)published two rather comprehensive lists of dive clubs in the May 1958 issue
On page 18 there is a list five dive clubs for British Columbia. They are as follows:
* Ogopogo Sub -Aquatic club
* Nanaimo Devil Fish
* Alberni Valley Aquateers
* Aqua -Soc
* Vancouver Sub Aquatic Club
Could the Vancouver Sub Aquatic Club and the Vancouver Skin Divers Club be one and the same? If so what is the correct name for the club?
I wonder why the The Vancouver Blue Sharks were not listed?
Perhaps you can shed some light on their absence
The very same year,1958, California had over a full page and the US 4 plus pages
You may recall the cover of that issue; It was picture of dive club patches that the club sent in to SDM which were in turn atatched to a large piece of fabric which was displayed in the SDM office in Lynwood California.
The next edition of SDM to list dive clubs was the January 1963 issue which contained a head line "world wide UNDERWATER CLUB ROSTER" and both the front and back cover were pictures of dive club patches from all over the world.
Chuck Blakeslee and I discussed this "banner" some years ago. He indicated when he sold to Bob Petersen the banner and all the many boxes of the Compleat Goggler which were stacked along the wall were tossed in the trash-Gone forever.
< A side Bar- What ever happened to Peter Vasapoplous (Spelling) the founder of your DIVE! magazine? For a number of years I was in contact with him via mail and several occasions with him in Kalifornia--I have all of the original DIVE! magazines except one or two, which he was preparing to send me to complete my collection-- then the big fire and they were destroyed!
I donot recall seeing early issues of DIVE! for sale on E bay- Are they considered rare and valuable?-A suntanned Kalifornia would like to know? >
sdm
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by Phil » Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:40 am
Just checking back thru' old posts and realized I'd missed this one. You could say that the Vancouver sub aquatic club came from the Vancover Skin Divers club . . The VSDC stuck to its old breath-hold diving roots and became a spearfishing competition-only club. Compy spearfishing members were Norm Stavenes, Sandy Martel, Larry Stasuk, Gary Leslie and myself, Phil Nuytten. The other scuba-oriented members left the VSDC and formed themselves into the Vancouver sub aquatic club.
The VSDC was never the same after the death of it's president, Jim Willis, on July 1st, 1956. {Jim suffered a massive embolism while diving with a Draeger rebreather} Most of us had switched to air lungs from rebreathers - Pat Molony, Jack Logan, Cam Porteous and I had given up our home-made rebreathers and converted MSA rebreathers in favor of aqua-lungs a couple of years previously. With the advent of the TV series 'Sea Hunt' and the opening of the first Vancouver dive shop (Vancouver Divers Supply) in 1957,the club got very much larger very quickly and the 'old guard' either drifted away to other diving pursuits such as underwater photography/wreck diving, quit diving, or became competitive spearfishermen. VSDC team members competed in the U.S. Nationals and a World meet before the club quietly disbanded.
When I was the youngest member,I believed that the Vancouver Skin Divers Club was a great club -and I still do. For me, it was the start of a diving career that has brought a lot of joy. I still go to work thinking "what a wonderful way to make a living!".
PhilMaster Diver Posts: 153Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:22 am
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by DaleC » Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:44 am
Thanks for the background Phil
NAVED #203
#20 International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons
DaleCMaster Diver Posts: 460Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:46 amLocation: Left Coast, Canada
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun Aug 12, 2012 4:25 am
Interesting history of Vancover diving
But you were a pioneer and now a historian and not publisher
~~~~ so ~~~~~
Who was this fellow named Frank Roedecker?
What part did he play in Canadian Diving?
What part did he play in American Diving?
What was he know as after WW 11?
He was associated with Pops Romano.
He was all over the early Skin Diver Magazines --but not using his birth name
What Southern California Skin Diving club did he belong? They won a national meet.
E mail Bev for some of the answers ...He also knew him and his associates
SDM
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by eskimo3883 » Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:31 pm
Hope this is not changing the subject but I have had good luck using this book seller. They cuurrently have several copies of Frogmen of Burma for a reasonable price. Paste this into your address bar.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchR ... a&x=37&y=5
eskimo3883Master Diver Posts: 511Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:15 pm
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:44 am
I haven't used ABE for some time nor have I checked on the "Frogmen"
Note there are about 16 for sale...I for sale in US and 15 for sale in Canada or UK many are reasonable priced.
At one time prior to e bay etc the Frogmen was impossible to find in the US for a reasonable price..I recall mine cost about $30-35.00 over 20 years ago in a local used book store and I thought it was a bargin...At that time it was...
But for what else was Frank Roedecker famous? He was a life guard and a Frogman...(a very good hint!- especially those who began diving in the 40s 50s and even 60s)
sdm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
As Jim Dugan introduced JYC & SCUBA to the US this gentleman from SoCal introduced diving to Canada--A long time before Dugan
The Southern California diver who taught the Canadaians how to dive-- a long time ago
ORIGINAL Vintage skin diving photo FRANK RODECKER Frankie the Frogman SCUBA RARE | eBay
When? Where? and Why?
I suspect not one of you were alive or if you were you were crawling on the floor when all of this transpired but Frank was certainly "The Father of Canadian diving." way back in the early 1940s...
Phil? Dale? (any of Gods frozen people???)
sdm
21Diving Pioneer Posts: 622Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:53 pmLocation: Central California
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by DaleC » Sat May 05, 2012 6:04 am
Excellent play on words Dr Sam. Frozen indeed.
(as a side note. I am doing a dive in a Titan II missile silo later this month with 60 F water temps. The warmest dive I will have done to date - excluding pools). I'm not even sure I'll need exposure protection!
Back to the task at hand. I'm still on the look out for "Frogmen of Burma" but haven't come across it yet. My current understanding of Canadian diving pioneers centers around the work Dr. MacInnis was involved in, along with Phil N. and the rising up of our local west coast scene (again involving Phil) that has been wonderfully recorded by John Cuthill in his Masters thesis entitled "Learning Strategies of Early British Columbia Divers". Why he decided to write on this subject is a mystery but somehow he managed to interview many of the original skin, SCUBA and rebreather divers in our region. In the interviews they recall many accounts of how they learned to dive when no formal instruction existed.
I'd be very interested in learning more about Frank Rodecker's role in the Canadian scene.
Right now I am reading a book about Lionel "Buster" Crabbe. Very interesting as he worked for the British on Malta during the war. Opposing them were the Italians of the Tenth Light Flotilla which I have also already read about so it's like seeing both sides of the story.
Cheers!
NAVED #203
#20 International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons
DaleCMaster Diver Posts: 460Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:46 amLocation: Left Coast, Canada
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun May 06, 2012 9:07 am
Dale
I just checked the book sellers, the Frogmen has become a very rare and expensive book--For many years the book was known but never found on the American book shelves, only found in Canada--keep looking it documents the very begining and the introduction of awarness of the underwater world in Canada.
sdm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Wed May 09, 2012 7:47 am
The picture had hree bids..
Began at $24.99 sold for $38.99...Some one really wanted that picture of Frank Roedecker...more on the man and his exploits later
sdm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by Phil » Fri May 11, 2012 3:06 am
Hi, Sam
Apparently the SoCal diver didn't teach us canucks how to spell properly - we still insist on spelling Canadian with three 'eh's, instead of four.
The earliest sport diving club here on the west coast was the Vancouver Skin Divers Club, whose roots go back to 1948/49 and this was the club I belonged to . .The Vancouver Blue Sharks were formed a couple of years later. On the east coast, I'm told it was the Verdun Skin Divers first and in central Canada, the Underwater Club of Canada.
Diving was a very popular sport here in B.C. - at one time there was more than 40 dive clubs under the banner of the 'Pacific Underwater Council' in this province alone . Of course, when 'Sea Hunt' came on TV, diving literally exploded!From two clubs in the early 50's to the 40 plus a half decade later!
We (the Historical Diving Society - Canada) recently put a call out through the Historical Diving Society - US's magazine and our own Canadian 'DIVER' magazine to try to locate early Canadian dive clubs and document/record as much about them as possible while some of the long-toothers are still vertical.
PhilMaster Diver Posts: 153Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:22 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:27 pm
Subject: CA-NA-DA clubs
Skin Diver Magazine (SDM)published two rather comprehensive lists of dive clubs in the May 1958 issue
On page 18 there is a list five dive clubs for British Columbia. They are as follows:
* Ogopogo Sub -Aquatic club
* Nanaimo Devil Fish
* Alberni Valley Aquateers
* Aqua -Soc
* Vancouver Sub Aquatic Club
Could the Vancouver Sub Aquatic Club and the Vancouver Skin Divers Club be one and the same? If so what is the correct name for the club?
I wonder why the The Vancouver Blue Sharks were not listed?
Perhaps you can shed some light on their absence
The very same year,1958, California had over a full page and the US 4 plus pages
You may recall the cover of that issue; It was picture of dive club patches that the club sent in to SDM which were in turn atatched to a large piece of fabric which was displayed in the SDM office in Lynwood California.
The next edition of SDM to list dive clubs was the January 1963 issue which contained a head line "world wide UNDERWATER CLUB ROSTER" and both the front and back cover were pictures of dive club patches from all over the world.
Chuck Blakeslee and I discussed this "banner" some years ago. He indicated when he sold to Bob Petersen the banner and all the many boxes of the Compleat Goggler which were stacked along the wall were tossed in the trash-Gone forever.
< A side Bar- What ever happened to Peter Vasapoplous (Spelling) the founder of your DIVE! magazine? For a number of years I was in contact with him via mail and several occasions with him in Kalifornia--I have all of the original DIVE! magazines except one or two, which he was preparing to send me to complete my collection-- then the big fire and they were destroyed!
I donot recall seeing early issues of DIVE! for sale on E bay- Are they considered rare and valuable?-A suntanned Kalifornia would like to know? >
sdm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by Phil » Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:40 am
Just checking back thru' old posts and realized I'd missed this one. You could say that the Vancouver sub aquatic club came from the Vancover Skin Divers club . . The VSDC stuck to its old breath-hold diving roots and became a spearfishing competition-only club. Compy spearfishing members were Norm Stavenes, Sandy Martel, Larry Stasuk, Gary Leslie and myself, Phil Nuytten. The other scuba-oriented members left the VSDC and formed themselves into the Vancouver sub aquatic club.
The VSDC was never the same after the death of it's president, Jim Willis, on July 1st, 1956. {Jim suffered a massive embolism while diving with a Draeger rebreather} Most of us had switched to air lungs from rebreathers - Pat Molony, Jack Logan, Cam Porteous and I had given up our home-made rebreathers and converted MSA rebreathers in favor of aqua-lungs a couple of years previously. With the advent of the TV series 'Sea Hunt' and the opening of the first Vancouver dive shop (Vancouver Divers Supply) in 1957,the club got very much larger very quickly and the 'old guard' either drifted away to other diving pursuits such as underwater photography/wreck diving, quit diving, or became competitive spearfishermen. VSDC team members competed in the U.S. Nationals and a World meet before the club quietly disbanded.
When I was the youngest member,I believed that the Vancouver Skin Divers Club was a great club -and I still do. For me, it was the start of a diving career that has brought a lot of joy. I still go to work thinking "what a wonderful way to make a living!".
PhilMaster Diver Posts: 153Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:22 am
Top
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by DaleC » Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:44 am
Thanks for the background Phil
NAVED #203
#20 International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons
DaleCMaster Diver Posts: 460Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:46 amLocation: Left Coast, Canada
Top
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Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun Aug 12, 2012 4:25 am
Interesting history of Vancover diving
But you were a pioneer and now a historian and not publisher
~~~~ so ~~~~~
Who was this fellow named Frank Roedecker?
What part did he play in Canadian Diving?
What part did he play in American Diving?
What was he know as after WW 11?
He was associated with Pops Romano.
He was all over the early Skin Diver Magazines --but not using his birth name
What Southern California Skin Diving club did he belong? They won a national meet.
E mail Bev for some of the answers ...He also knew him and his associates
SDM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by eskimo3883 » Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:31 pm
Hope this is not changing the subject but I have had good luck using this book seller. They cuurrently have several copies of Frogmen of Burma for a reasonable price. Paste this into your address bar.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchR ... a&x=37&y=5
eskimo3883Master Diver Posts: 511Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:15 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: The SoCal diver who taught the Canadaians how to DIVE !
by 21 » Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:44 am
I haven't used ABE for some time nor have I checked on the "Frogmen"
Note there are about 16 for sale...I for sale in US and 15 for sale in Canada or UK many are reasonable priced.
At one time prior to e bay etc the Frogmen was impossible to find in the US for a reasonable price..I recall mine cost about $30-35.00 over 20 years ago in a local used book store and I thought it was a bargin...At that time it was...
But for what else was Frank Roedecker famous? He was a life guard and a Frogman...(a very good hint!- especially those who began diving in the 40s 50s and even 60s)
sdm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
21
Re: Frogmen of burma
The back side of the story..
Now eskimo3883 you know a little about Frank Roedecker and the huge part he played in training the RCN frogmen to dive.
After they were trained he returned to civilian life and resumed his career as a professional LA life guard--but that is not why he became famous in the pioneering diving community...
Any guesses?
SDM
Now eskimo3883 you know a little about Frank Roedecker and the huge part he played in training the RCN frogmen to dive.
After they were trained he returned to civilian life and resumed his career as a professional LA life guard--but that is not why he became famous in the pioneering diving community...
Any guesses?
SDM
-
eskimo3883
- Master Diver
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:15 pm
Re: Frogmen of burma
Hi, I have seen it much higher but I waited and paid about $20 a few months ago. There is a used copy at Amazon right now for even less. Also, Albris has a copy as of this minute.
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”
-
21
Re: Frogmen of burma
I just checked out the book sellers. Nov 20, 2012
Six "Frogmen of Burma" for sale--two in US and 4 in Canada (it is a Canadaian book)
US--2 copies for sale
1970 edition -not as desirable as the 1968 edition
$124.58 each
Canada--4 copies for sale
Original 1968 edition-very desirable
$15.00 a reader
$23.00
$43.00
$128.95
The $15.00 & $23.00 might be a decent price depending on condition and shipping cost.
Dale & Phil--go for them! About Canadians in the early 1940s being trained to be a Frogman by American Frank Roedecker..But who was Frank and what was he famous for in the sport diving world?
SDM
Six "Frogmen of Burma" for sale--two in US and 4 in Canada (it is a Canadaian book)
US--2 copies for sale
1970 edition -not as desirable as the 1968 edition
$124.58 each
Canada--4 copies for sale
Original 1968 edition-very desirable
$15.00 a reader
$23.00
$43.00
$128.95
The $15.00 & $23.00 might be a decent price depending on condition and shipping cost.
Dale & Phil--go for them! About Canadians in the early 1940s being trained to be a Frogman by American Frank Roedecker..But who was Frank and what was he famous for in the sport diving world?
SDM
-
swimjim
- Master Diver
- Posts: 1694
- Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
- First Name: Jim
- Location: Belgium WI
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21
Re: Frogmen of burma
Thank you all for responding and especially Phil for the pedestrian stroll through the history of Vancouver diving clubs.
The question remains what was the American Surfer/diver/lifeguard Frank Roedecker famous other than teaching the original Canadian WW11 frogmen to dive in the early 1940s?
His civilian involvement dates to immediately after WW 11 with a pioneer California diving manufacturing company that is no longer in business.
Some one want to guess?
SDM
The question remains what was the American Surfer/diver/lifeguard Frank Roedecker famous other than teaching the original Canadian WW11 frogmen to dive in the early 1940s?
His civilian involvement dates to immediately after WW 11 with a pioneer California diving manufacturing company that is no longer in business.
Some one want to guess?
SDM
-
sitkadiver
- Master Diver
- Posts: 458
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:30 pm
- First Name: Dave
- Location: Sitka, Alaska
Re: Frogmen of burma
Here is a 1954 Sports Illustrated Article that mentions Sea Net, but I found out form one of your Legends article that Sea Net was bought out by Voit....
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm
It pains me to say, but I cannot remember the details... Didn't Roedecker make his own masks and spear guns?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm
It pains me to say, but I cannot remember the details... Didn't Roedecker make his own masks and spear guns?
I do not believe in taking unnecessary risks, but a life without risk is not worth living. - Charles Lindbergh
-
21
Re: Frogmen of burma
Close...
Sea net was located near LA in an area called Terminal Island. The company was owned by Pops Romano who passed on in 1954, at that time his heirs closed the operation.-They were never associated with Voit.
It was either Frank or Hal Messenger who developed the first US dive mask, the rare and famed Sea Net mask.
Frank was closely associated with SeaNet/Romano his claim to fame and immortality in American diving history was via a small flyer that was placed in every Sea Net product...
What was it? What did it offer?
SDM
Sea net was located near LA in an area called Terminal Island. The company was owned by Pops Romano who passed on in 1954, at that time his heirs closed the operation.-They were never associated with Voit.
It was either Frank or Hal Messenger who developed the first US dive mask, the rare and famed Sea Net mask.
Frank was closely associated with SeaNet/Romano his claim to fame and immortality in American diving history was via a small flyer that was placed in every Sea Net product...
What was it? What did it offer?
SDM
-
Popeye
- Master Diver
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 4:37 pm
- Location: Panama City Beach,Florida
Re: Frogmen of burma
"first US dive mask, the rare and famed Sea Net mask?" I received a large scar on my upper lip from a"Famed Sea-Net Mask." when a wave struck my mask 8 August 1953, the cheap glass shattered (not shatter proof glass) the flyer was an invite to join the "Freddie the Frogman club." for a buck.
I still have my membership card.
I still have my membership card.
-
21
Re: Frogmen of burma
FINALLY A WINNER!
[b]FRANK RODEDECKER WAS "FRANKIE THE FROGMAN."[/b]
Purchase any Sea Net product and an invitation/application to join the FRANKIE THE FROGMAN club was inside the package.
Fill out the application send in a dollar and receive a patch & a Membership card. This club became the largest dive club in the world.
The mascot was produced in rubber and displayed at various SoCal dive shops. After Several months after Frank passed away about 15 or more years ago of "respiratory problems" (he was a chain smoker.) I had a long chat with his wife Charlotte who indicated there was only one known FRANKIE THE FROGMAN mascot remaining. I never inquired who owned it. The assumption was some one in the family.
How about sharing a picture of your old card with the members? I suspect all would appreciate seeing a real piece of US/Canadian dive history.'
(1953?- You must have been young when you became a member -I was under the impression you were a Korean war vet and now in upper 70s)
SDM
[b]FRANK RODEDECKER WAS "FRANKIE THE FROGMAN."[/b]
Purchase any Sea Net product and an invitation/application to join the FRANKIE THE FROGMAN club was inside the package.
Fill out the application send in a dollar and receive a patch & a Membership card. This club became the largest dive club in the world.
The mascot was produced in rubber and displayed at various SoCal dive shops. After Several months after Frank passed away about 15 or more years ago of "respiratory problems" (he was a chain smoker.) I had a long chat with his wife Charlotte who indicated there was only one known FRANKIE THE FROGMAN mascot remaining. I never inquired who owned it. The assumption was some one in the family.
How about sharing a picture of your old card with the members? I suspect all would appreciate seeing a real piece of US/Canadian dive history.'
(1953?- You must have been young when you became a member -I was under the impression you were a Korean war vet and now in upper 70s)
SDM
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