Famous Since 2002: A Short History of Famous Surf
Famous started in 2002 with a surf wax formula created in San Diego. More than twenty years later the wax is still made in California, the formula is still Famous, and the brand has outlasted most of the companies that shared magazine pages with it. This is a short version of how that happened. We are adding photos, ads and stories from the archive as we dig them out, so check back.
The wax came first
Famous was a wax company before it was anything else. The original formulation was built around three things surfers could feel immediately: supreme tackiness, a beady texture that built up fast, and a UV inhibitor that kept the wax from going glassy in the sun. Those three traits are still the spec for every bar we make. Over the years the line settled into five formulas, basecoat, cold, cool, warm and tropical, and a wrapped bar became a boxed one. The packaging evolved; the formula did not.
Print ads, team riders and the magazine years
Through the 2000s Famous ran print ads in Surfer and Surfing magazines and built a team around surfers who were pushing the sport. Timmy Curran and Kekoa Bacalso rode Famous traction pads and leashes. Team edits and contest results from that era still live in the Famous Stories archive on this site, from Curran brothers clips to grom search collaborations.
Bigger abroad than at home
Like a lot of San Diego brands, Famous found some of its most loyal customers far from home. The brand was very big in Japan and in South America, and Japanese shops still write about Famous wax today. A pair of Famous bars sits in the collection of the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, alongside a Surfers Hall of Fame limited edition bar, which is about as close to a museum piece as a $3 product gets.
Traction, leashes and the accessories years
Alongside wax, Famous built a full accessories line: traction pads, leashes, tees and hats. Famous traction is still in the range today, and the team-rider roots show in the pad designs.
Custom wax and the new chapter
The newest part of the business is the oldest idea in a new wrapper. Famous now makes custom private-label surf wax for surf shops, surf schools, events and brands that want their name on a product surfers use every session. It also makes co-branded pool wax for wave pools, including DSRT Surf in Palm Desert and Waco Surf in Texas, a reminder that a formula built for the Pacific works just as well in a wave pool.
Still Famous
Twenty-plus years in, the promise is the same as it was in 2002: wax that grips, made in California, sold at a price that makes it easy to keep a fresh bar in the car. Shop the current range, or if you have a Famous story, an old ad, a photo of a wrapped bar from the early days, send it our way. We are collecting them.
