Was Rick Griffin’s Murphy Hawaiian?
“Richly talented artist and cartoonist originally from Palos Verdes, California; best known to surfers as the creator of Murphy, the cheerful cartoon gremmie who debuted inĀ SurferĀ magazine in 1961; also celebrated as one of the San Francisco psychedelia movement’s ‘Big Five’ artists.”
Re: Rick Griffin | Encyclopedia of Surfing
EOS’ introductory paragraph regarding Rick Griffin sums up what surf culture can thank the iconic artist for the most – the creation of Murphy. Even if you didn’t know the character’s name before reading this, you have seen him, or some rendition of him, before. The perpetual gremmie has graced magazine, comic, and album covers for decades. You’ve seen him on stickers and decals on the windows of SoCal woody wagons and municipal sign posts. His likeness has been used on surfboard shaper price lists, t-shirts, hoodies, and hats along with one of the most highly sought after pairs ofJack Purcell Converse lowtops. Half of the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center Rick Griffin exhibit in the spring/summer of 2023was dedicated to Murphy.
Simply put, Murphy and 1960s Southern California surf culture are synonymous. Given his creator’s Palos Verdes roots it’s logical for onlookers to assume that Murphy was a SoCal surf rat, but we have another take that most have not considered – Murphy may have been Hawaiian.
No, we’re not drawing a connecting line between the two due to Hawaii’s injection of surfing in California. If that’s the qualifier, then the Hawaiian Islands can lay claim to it all, Gidget included (although she did pay us a visit). Instead, we feel that there is legitimate case to be made for Murphy to enjoy kama’aina status. Without the dearly departed Rick Griffin (passed in 1991) to ask, we can only look at the evidence below.
Evidence That Rick Griffin’s Iconic Surf Gremmie “Murphy” May Actually Have Been a Local Hawaiian
AND SO IT IS WRITTEN
“Having transcended the seven evolutionary superuniverses of time and space which circle the never beginning, never-ending creation of divine perfection, Murphy arrives at the heart of the eternal and central universe of universes on the stationary isle of paradise, the geographic center of infinity and the dwelling place of the eternal living God!”
MURPHY, SURFER, MAY 1969
The quote from Surfer magazine (May 1969) references Murphy’s arrival at the “stationary isle of paradise”. While the expression is meant to signify the the geographic center of infinite universe, in a more tangible sense it can be argued that it refers to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian archipelago consists of a series of volcanic islands that were born from a chain of volcanoes that formed along a stationary hot spot along the bottom of the North Pacific.
MURPHY’S POLYNESIAN MELANIN
Prior to Murphy’s appearance on the cover of Surfer Magazine (No .3 Vol. 3) in 1962, he’d only been seen in black and white. When the issue hit the magazine shelves of corner stores on the mainland, a number of people were shocked to discover the Murphy was graced by a deep, dark, butterscotch skin tone. Even variations on the character such as the one featured on the cover of SURFER Toons in 1964 boasted a healthy islander hue. Naysayers of today’s thesis may argue that his color was the result of time under the sun, but they must keep in mind that only Hawaiian Tropic can be credited for such epidermal magic. Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion was not founded untilĀ 1969 – seven years after Murphy’s full-colored appearance on Surfer Magazine. This infers that Murphy’s melanin is au naturale. Obviously, his blond blonde locks giveaway the fact that he could not be pure Hawaiian, but there’s a definitive case forhapa status.
MURPHY KAHANAMOKU?
In the 1990s Surfer Publications Inc. printed a shirt featuring an original 1928 photo of Duke Kahanamoku and his brothers at Waikiki Beach. Murphy is seen standing in for Sam Kahanamoku, who was notably absent from the photograph (later photoshopped back in). While Murphy debuted in Surfer magazine in 1961, the photographic evidence suggests that he was part of the Kahanamoku clan and Waikiki Beach Boy crew from the early 1900s.
HAWAIIAN MURPHY BOBBLEHEAD HINTS AT TRUE DNA?
Hawaiian Murphy (left) from the SMH collection
Perhaps the most telling anthropological evidence is the discovery of the Hawaiian Murphy hand-poured ceramic bobblehead. The limited edition series was made in the 1990s as a promotional item forJACKās Surf Shop in Huntington Beach California. Recognizing that Hawaiians were solely responsible for bringing surfing to California, the Adbelmuti family (who purchased Jack’s Surfboards from Jack Hokansen in 1975) made sure to create a Hawaiian version of Murphy in addition to the more familiar archetype.
Be sure to check out the permanent Murphy exhibit a Surf Museum Hawaii on your next visit to the birthplace of surfing. Until then, Cowabunga and Aloha!
