You better put on a wet suit...

You better put on a wet suit to read this one: So what if it’s November? Santa Monica’s Heritage Museum is staging possibly the largest tribute ever to hot-doggers, ho-dads and hang-tenners--”Cowabunga: The Santa Monica Bay Surf Experience--Evolution, Myths and Legends, 1907-67.”

Even landlubbers know that surfing was imported from Hawaii. But don’t forget Hollywood’s contribution. Where do you think the term cowabunga came from? The ‘50s-era TV program, “The Howdy Doody Show.”

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Paddling onward: The evolution of the sport, as traced by the exhibit.

* Ancient records show that surfing dates back to at least AD 400 in Hawaii, says curator Michael Trotter. Fishermen needed the skill to get home from work.

* Surfing came to Southern California in 1907 when land developer Henry Huntington brought surfer George Freeth over from Hawaii to Redondo Beach to demonstrate his art for tourists.

* A photo at the exhibit shows all the surfboards believed to have been in use in L.A. County in 1920--all six of them.

* Santa Monica pioneer Tom Blake invented the surfboard fin in 1935.

* Though developed for wartime use in the 1940s, wet suits were shunned by surfers until the early 1960s when the Dive ‘N’ Surf shop in Redondo Beach gave some of the rubber outfits to the better-known performers. Soon they became fashionable.

* Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, the model for the “Gidget” character of the movies, manages a restaurant in Santa Monica.

The conclusion is obvious. Although Huntington Beach claims the title Surf City, exhibit curator Michael Trotter says, “everyone knows this (Redondo Beach-Malibu) area is the real Surf City.”

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Catching that final wave: Lee Solters saw this sign outside a Burbank church: “Our Retirement Plan Is Out of This World.”

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A scary pipe dream: There must be 710 Freeway stories in L.A.--or at least 405. Anyway, here’s one.

“I was driving home on the San Diego Freeway and it was backed up, bumper to bumper,” said Ken Popkin, a math teacher at Bell Gardens High.

“I was bored and Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ came on the radio. I had gotten a kazoo as a gag gift and it was sitting on my front seat. Since it was dark and I figured no one would see me I took it out and started playing it. I guess I was bopping my head a little bit, really getting into Springsteen.

“Soon the traffic broke up and I put down the kazoo. I looked in the rear view and there was this cop’s red light. I pulled over and started to take out my registration. But he shines a flashlight into my car.”

Fortunately, the officer found no evidence of illegal activity.

“He thought I’d been smoking dope and that the kazoo was a pipe,” explained Popkin. “I think what really convinced him I was innocent was when he saw the booklet ‘How to Play a Kazoo.’ ”

miscelLAny:

The worst day of the week on L.A. County freeways? Caltrans says that it’s Friday, which accounts for 15.7% of the traffic. Next are Thursday (15.1), Wednesday (15), Tuesday (14.8), Monday (14.5), Saturday (13.3) and Sunday (11.6). The latter two have the heaviest percentage of cars with surfboards on the roofs, though.