Two men are responsible for bringing us the favorite water sport activity of vacationers. Ralph Samuelson, eighteen years old, from Minnesota, first conceived that skiing on water should be possible just like skiing on snow. He introduced the activity, found the best shape for skis and position for holding on to the tow rope (leaning back helps), but he never patented or commercialized it. Then it was Fred Waller, a special-effects man at Paramount Pictures in Astoria, New York, who hit upon the idea of using water skis to film a moving image on the water.

On this day, October 27, in 1925, Fred Waller patented his water skis. They would go for sale as “Akwa Skees” at Abercrombie & Fitch and Marshall Field stores, and at various shipyards.

With a career in the movies teaching him a few things about visuals and presentation, Waller was the perfect man to advertise the new invention. His early advertisements used Clara Bow, one of the most recognizable faces of the decade — Bow was under contract to Paramount at the time. “Akwa-skeeing is the greatest fun in water sports for both the young and old,” one brochure stated. “Easily towed by any type of craft from an outboard boat to cruiser or speed boat. Dolphin Akwa-Skees are used by children of six up to men of seventy.”