By Samantha Critchell
The Associated Press

Forty years might not be an endless summer, but it's pretty darn close.

That's how long the Rochlen family has been hanging at the beach, wearing the brightly colored board shorts they - and now the rest of the world - call Jams.

The full name of those trademarked, loose-fitting surf trunks actually is Original Jams, made by Surf Line Hawaii, the company that patriarch Dave Rochlen founded in 1964.

Everything about Surf Line and its Jams started at the beach.

Rochlen, the son of a Russian immigrant, loved the ocean. He worked as a lifeguard in Santa Monica, Calif., and as a stuntman on the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

A Life magazine photograph of Russian tourists at the Black Sea in bathrobes and pajamas then inspired Rochlen to create proper surf trunks.

He and his wife created a short, loose, pajama-like pant in cotton with a sewn-up fly to be sold at a small surf shop they opened in Honolulu. The name, Jams, was selected because it was quick, young and only one syllable.

Started trend

Rochlen wore these board shorts on nearby Makaha Beach in Hawaii. Soon after, surfing champion Mike Doyle starting wearing them, touching off a trend that eventually landed Rochlen and his trunks onto the pages of Life. The story, and accompanying photographs of surfers wearing their colorful Jams, focused on the burgeoning surf culture and its move to the mainstream.

"The company started off on a Hawaiian beach. We've crossed the beach and boardwalk and moved into a boutique setting," says Pua Rochlen, president of Surf Line and the youngest son of Dave Rochlen, who died three years ago of cancer.

"My father raised us all in the ocean, and it's been the foundation of everything we do. There were no GI Joes for toys, but we had a lot of Boogie Boards," he says with a laugh.

"Now the company just goes along. It's small, it's privately owned. We can take a beach trip. I try to get in the ocean almost every day," he says. "No matter what kind of day you've had, getting in the ocean will refresh you for the next day."

Since the beginning, color has been the key to Jams' signature prints.

Returning to originals

In the 1960s, Jams were produced almost exclusively in floral patterns; in the '80s, geometric prints dominated. More recently, the company worked with DuPont to develop a durable, waterproof, nylon fabric that feels like cotton.

Two years ago, Rochlen went back to the original florals as a way to mark the death of his father - and so he could get some new trunks in his favorite look. "My own nostalgic, classic Original Jams print surf shorts were wearing out and I wanted to continue wearing them," he says.

Next thing he knows, Jams are hot again.

"It's been around me all my life so I don't see this as the next big thing. But we are getting attention again, I guess because there's nothing else like this in the market," Rochlen says.

But while Jams never went away, they were on a hiatus in most of the retail world during the 1990s. Jams' customers, however, remained loyal, wearing old garments until new ones surfaced."

"We're kind of like (legendary reggae pioneer) Bob Marley music. We're good on the beach anytime."