Author: Bev

The Curtis star

Bev
The Curtis star, retraced a few times.

The Curtis star was a specialty of Callie Curtis, American champion from 1969 to 1874. Instructions for skating it are given in The Skaters Text-Book (with a diagram that seems backwards to me). In the third edition of A System of Figure Skating, Vandervell and Witham quote the description with this note:

It is performed by using one foot as a pivot and the other as a scraper to cut the necessary lines… The standing on one foot and scraping lines with the other can hardly be called skating…

Vandervell and Witham 1880, 291

Here’s how I skated it.

Skating the Curtis star in my backyard.

Skaters History on Ice and Roller Skating records the following anecdote about Frank Swift (author of The Skaters Text-Book) and Callie Curtis:

These two great skaters met in competition in Rochester, N. Y., March 15, 1869.

Frank Swift was then Champion of America, having won the Diamond Medal the previous year at Allegheny City, Pa,, Feb. 6, 1868. Twice he had successfully defended his title, but the Chicago boy was too much for him and he had to bow to his superior. When Mr. Curtis was declared the winner by a score of 47 points to 41, Mr. Swift took his defeat manfully and skated up to Mr. Curtis and pinned the Diamond Medal on his breast. The picture [below] was taken at that time.

Mr. Curtis successfully defended the medal for five years against all comers, and took it with him when he went to Europe in 1874. He never returned to America.

Fitzgerald 1916, 46
Frank Swift and Callie Curtis. Fitzgerald 1916, 46.

References

Julian T. Fitzgerald. 1916. Skaters History on Ice and Roller Skating. Chicago: Julian T. Fitzgerald. Reprinted in 2011 by the National Museum of Roller Skating, Lincoln, NE.

Frank Swift and Marvin R. Clark. 1868. The Skaters Text-Book. New York: John A. Gray & Green.

H. E. Vandervell and T. Maxwell Witham. 1880. A System of Figure-Skating. 3rd ed. London: Horace Cox.

The myth of skating history

Bev

My new article, “The myth of skating history: Building elitism into a sport” has been published in a special issue of Leisure Sciences on myths and mythmaking. It’s about the development of figure skating’s origin story—that story about medieval Scandinavians traveling and hunting on bone skates that’s at the beginning of pretty much every book about skating.

Abstract

Figure skating’s origin story relates the sport to Norse mythology, but this claim does not stand up to a careful analysis. Its roots can be traced to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century antiquaries interested in the old north. The popularity of skating and early scholars’ imperfect understanding of Old Norse led to skating appearing in translations and adaptations of medieval Scandinavian literature despite being absent from the original. The origin story’s development can be traced through manuals and popular histories of figure skating from the eighteenth century to the present. This paper exposes figure skating’s origin story as the invention of a privileged class to elevate a popular leisure activity and explains its enduring function in supporting the upper-class image of figure skating.

H. E. Vandervell’s hypocycloid challenge

Bev

Henry Eugene Vandervell ends The Figure Skate with a challenge: to skate a hypocycloid.

The hypocycloid is the most difficult of three curves he describes: the epicycloid, the cycloid, and the hypocycloid. All three are the designs made by a point on the edge of a circle being rolled along a line. For the epicycloid, the line is curved and the circle rolls along the outside. For the cycloid, it’s straight. For the hypocycloid, it’s curved and the circle rolls along the inside.

The three curves. From Vandervell 2020, 74.

The first of these is simply the double three known in compulsory figures and on the juvenile and intermediate moves tests. The second two are more challenging. Vandervell concludes with a section called “The paradox”:

The way to attempt this figure is to start with the intention of making, say two turns and three curves (none less will show it), but to endeavour to make the contour of the group a straight line, instead of curved as in the epicycloid.

If this is done cycloid curves will be the result. This may be called the first stage, and no further progress can possibly be made until it is attained.

Vandervell 2020, 77

Here’s what I managed:

Skating a cycloid

The first stage being accomplished, and proceeding on the same principles, the skater must now start again, and endeavour to bend or curve the contour of the group of turns past and beyond that of the cycloid, until such contour becomes outwards, and thus exactly the reverse of the epicycloid.

If this can be done the paradox will be resolved.

Vandervell 2020, 77

And here it is done, more or less:

Skating a hypocycloid

Reference

H. E. Vandervell. 2020. The Figure Skate: A Research into the Form of Blade Best Adapted to Curvilinear Skating. Edited by B. A. Thurber. Evanston, IL: Skating History Press. First published 1901.

Junior and senior singles and pairs in 1906

Bev1 Comment

The Figure Skating Club held competitions in single and pair skating at Prince’s Skating Club on March 17 and 21, 1906. The Field reported that

The inclusion of pair-skating in the club programme proved a great attraction, and a good entry was secured in both the senior and junior sections.

“The Figure Skating Club,” The Field, March 24, 1906, 471. Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive.

Seven skaters (all men) entered the senior singles competition, and seven (all women) entered the junior singles competition. Six of the seven women were “Miss”; the only married woman was Mrs. Smith, who I presume is Dorothy Greenhough-Smith, who went on to win the ladies’ bronze in the 1908 Olympics. She won the event.

It’s quite interesting that senior = men and junior = women, seemingly without being planned that way. The Field remarks that the event was “composed entirely of ladies,” as if that were not necessary: this was not intended as a ladies’ event, and yet it became one. I suspect that the senior event was not intended as a men’s event.

What is even more interesting to me is the pairs. There were three senior pairs, each composed of a man and a woman, and five junior pairs, each composed of two women. I wonder what was behind this division.

From “The Figure Skating Club,” The Field, March 24, 1906, 471. Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive.

Mrs. Syers in the Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung

Bev
Header to the first issue available in ANNO (July 1, 1880).

I recently discovered the Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung archive in ANNO: Historische österreichische Zeitungen und Zeitschriften at the Austrian National Library. Spanning 1880–1927 with a few gaps, it is a fantastic resource for skating history! (Provided you read German.)

This newspaper was published in Vienna, home of the famous Vienna Skating Club of Spuren auf dem Eise. It includes notes from that club. Coverage of each half-year’s skating events can be found using the index to each volume.

Here, for example, is the coverage of the 1902 World Championship, which Mrs. Syers audaciously entered. She placed second following Ulrich Salchow. The Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung reports (my translation):

A lady took second place. “Mrs. Syers” would surely win first or second prize in a World Championship for Ladies, but not in one for Ladies and Gentlemen. The difference between her and Salchow was no less than 118 points. In all the previous World Championships, this difference was never more than 20 points. … How inferior the Berlin skater Gordon (3rd place) and Mr. Torrome (4th) were can also be seen from the huge difference in points.

“Die Weltmeisterschaft 1902,” Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung, February 23, 1902, 183.

This is very different from the positive view of Mrs. Syers in English-language media! However, it does go on to say something nice:

Mrs. Syers was the only competitor who didn’t leave any of the loops in the dreaded backwards paragraph out. … Mrs. Syers made all the figures small and without power, but correct and on axis.

“Die Weltmeisterschaft 1902,” Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung, February 23, 1902, 183.

But of course, a Viennese paper thought Viennese skaters could do better:

Mr. and Mrs. Syers won the pair skating; they presented their graceful and decent figures slowly and uncertainly to the 10,000 spectators. In comparison with our excellent Viennese pairs there is only one adjective: “Anemic.”

“Die Weltmeisterschaft 1902,” Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung, February 23, 1902, 183.

Why didn’t these “excellent Viennese pairs” participate in the competition?

World Figure Championship at home

Bev

I was hoping to travel to the World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships held in Plattsburgh, NY, on 12/31/2020 and 1/1/2021, but with all the public health officials advising against travel due to the pandemic, it didn’t seem like a good idea. Instead, I skated the championship at home, mostly on my backyard rink.

The ice was new and very thin in spots, and the temperature was iffy—hovering around freezing when the ice needed sustained cold for proper maintenance. This meant I had little opportunity to practice and ice that left much to be desired. It’s probably a good reflection of what the first figure skating competitions were like.

Here’s what I managed to do.

World Figure Championship 2020 at Home

Update, 1/1/2021: I made the videos of sets 1 and 2 on the 29th, before the Championship started, because a snowstorm followed by 40-degree F weather were on the way. A cold night on the 30th meant I could skate a little on the 31st, but the ice was very rough. On New Year’s Day, it was slightly better, and I did sets 3 and 4 on the right day. The ice was still bad, and the wind didn’t help, but back in the day, that’s how competitions were. It was fair because everyone had the same terrible ice. The practice videos of sets 3 and 4 and the fancy skating segment were filmed on the 28th (with better ice). The skating surface at the alternate rink that I used for fancy skating was unsuitable after the snowstorm.

Football on roller skates

Bev

This image from the Illustrated London News in 1907 speaks for itself.

The Illustrated London News, January 19, 1907, p. 105. Image courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive.

The caption reads:

Football on roller-skates was inaugurated recently for men at Brighton skating-rink, and the pastime was very soon taken up by women. The game is played six a side: there are three forwards, two backs, and a goalkeeper. The goals are six feet high and seven wide, and the regulation football is used, with a little over a pint of water in it to keep the ball from rising. Twelve feet in front of each goal is drawn the penalty line. Down each side run the boundaries. When the ball gets into touch it is not thrown in, but is placed on the boundary line, and pushed into play with the side of the foot. Hustling is allowed, but not charging. Outside his own penalty area the goalkeeper must not handle the ball. Two minutes is allowed to repair skates.

Goethe & Klopstock on ice skates

Bev

In his autobiography, Goethe recounts a conversation with his friend Klopstock about whether the German word for an ice skate should be Schlittschuh or Schrittschuh. They

spoke namely in good southern German of Schlittschuhen, which he did not accept as valid because the word does not come from Schlitten, as if one puts on little runners, but rather from Schreiten, that is, one, like the Homeric gods, strides over the sea become land on winged shoes.

Trunz 1948, III.61–62. Translation my own.

The authors of Spuren auf dem Eise have a definite opinion on this:

In some parts of northern Germany, people say Schrittschuh following Klopstock, who discussed it with Goethe in a funny argument. Naturally Goethe was right: the ice skate is modeled on the sled, and the experienced skater does not stride but rather glides or rides and lifts the foot only as much as is unavoidable. Actual Schrittschuhe are just shoes.

Diamantidi et al., 1892, 2. Translation my own.

Actually, they’re both right. Schlittschuh is the descendant of Schrittschuh, which was formed from schreiten back in the days when it meant glide instead of stride. Once the meaning of schreiten shifted, German speakers decided Schlitt- made more sense than Schritt- in an example of folk etymology. There’s a short summary and references in Fowler (2018, 81–83).

References

D. Diamantidi, C. von Korper, and M. Wirth. 1892. Spuren auf dem Eise: Die Entwicklung des Eislaufes auf der Bahn des Wiener Eislauf-Vereines. 2nd ed. Vienna: Alfred Hölder.

G. H. Fowler. 2018. On the Outside Edge: Being Diversions in the History of Skating. Edited by B. A. Thurber. Evanston, IL: Skating History Press.

E. Trunz, ed. 1948. Goethes Werke: Hamburger Ausgabe in 14 Bände. Hamburg: C. Wegner.

Building your own rink

Bev1 Comment

The weather’s getting colder, and there’s a second round of lockdowns on the horizon. With the pandemic raging and the rinks shutting down again, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. This winter, skating goes back to the days before indoor rinks with artifically frozen ice were readily available.

Today, backyard ice rinks seem to be mainly the province of hockey players. Jack Falla’s Home Ice is all about hockey (though he does note that he had to allocate separate sessions for hockey players and figure skaters on his backyard rink. And the main online resources, most notably www.backyard-hockey.com (and the associated book written by Joe Proulx), are aimed at hockey.

Like all skating, figure skating was originally done outside, on natural ice. Nineteenth-century skaters arranged for the ice to be groomed carefully to make it perfect for figure skating. Back then, rinks were built by hired men rather than the skaters themselves. They did all the maintenance, including resurfacing the ice, by hand. Although some of their expertise has been lost, there’s no reason you can’t build a satisfactory outdoor rink and skate on it. It doesn’t even need to be very large. Alan F. Arnold called 16′ x 28′

about as small as anyone could want, and yet…big enough for its purpose, which was to allow a small boy to learn to skate and his father to practice elementary figure skating.

Arnold 1927, 672

The technique I use is quite simple. It consists of four steps:

  1. Build a rink frame. I use 3/4″ plywood and NiceRink brackets. This can be done any time.
  2. Put down a plastic liner. It’s tempting to use black plastic to get black ice for figures, but don’t do it. The dark color absorbs the sun and melts your ice. Use white or clear plastic sheeting that’s preferably at least 6 mil thick. The timing of this step is tricky; it needs to be done just before step 3.
  3. Fill the liner up with water. I use my hose. It takes some hours to reach the necessary 4″ depth in the shallowest spot. This should be done right before the temperature drops below freezing for 3–4 days.
  4. Wait for it to freeze. When the ice supports your weight, you can skate.

If one is sufficiently philanthropic, a rink like this can be a great boon to the neighborhood; if not, he may have his hands full keeping the neighborhood off.

Arnold 1927, 673
Alan Arnold’s backyard rink. From Arnold (1927, 673).

References

Alan F. Arnold. 1927. “Back Yard Ice Rink.” The Playground 20 (12): 672–673.

Jack Falla. 2000. Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.

Joe Proulx. 2016. Backyard Ice Rink: A Step-by-Step Guide for Building Your Own Hockey Rink at Home. New York: Countryman.

Mrs. Grenander

Bev
Isabella Grenander. Image copyright the British Library Board. courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive.

Henning Grenander is one of the big names in the early days of figure skating. He was born in 1974 in Sweden and won worlds in 1898, when it was held in London. In the same year, according to Hines, he relocated to England, where he served as a judge in the 1908 Olympics (2011, 103). He died in 1958.

On November 30, 1901, he married Isabella Wilson, age 27, who was born in Edinburgh. The ceremony took place at All Saints’ Church and was followed by a reception at Isabella’s parents’ house. They received “numerous and costly” presents. Afterward, they left for St. Moritz, one of the Swiss resorts that was popular among skaters (“Weddings,” 836–837).

The 1911 census records them living at 13 Upper Wimpole Street in Marylebone, London, with their eight-year-old daughter Jean, a nurse, a cook, three housemaids, a kitchenmaid, a butler, and a footman. This, along with Grenander’s work on the medical field, points to them being quite well-off.

Did Isabella skate? Of course she did. If the St. Moritz honeymoon wasn’t enough of a clue, in 1905, The Bystander called her and her sister “perhaps the most skilful and the most accomplished skaters in London,” and yet she doesn’t seem to have competed. Their daughter Jean, however, seems to have avoided making her own place in the annals of skating history.

References

1911 England Census, digital image s.v. “Isabella Grenander.” Ancestry.com.

The Bystander. 1905. “Skilful Habituées of Prince’s Skat…” The Bystander. November 8, 1905.

Gentlewoman. 1901. “Weddings of the Week.” December 14, 1901.

James R. Hines. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press.

London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1932, digital image s.v. “Henning Grennan Esaias Grenander.” Ancestry.com.