Adventures in skating historiography
I saw this skate in a cabinet at the National Museum of Roller Skating: Plimpton's "improved parlor skate" at the National Museum of Roller Skating. The tag on it says: The improved James L. Plimpton parlor skate introduced in 1866 combines rollers and an ice blade. The silver brass swans attached at the front show… Continue reading James Plimpton’s swan skates
On January 1, 1876, the Sporting Gazette ran a notice about a new type of skate invented by one Mr. Kemp. These skates, which he called "bicycle skates," featured a large front wheel and a small rear wheel. They seem to have been intended for skating on roads normally traversed by bicycles. "The Bicycle Skate,"… Continue reading Kemp’s bicycle skates
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… Continue reading Football on roller skates
Figures were once the backbone of figure skating on ice (hence the name in English), but experienced a steep decline in popularity after they were dropped as a competitive requirement in 1991. Today, ice skaters rarely do them. In roller skating, in contrast, figures continue to thrive---on quad skates. They don't really work on inlines.… Continue reading Roller skaters still do figures