Pandemic Past Times: Roller Skating

 During the Pandemic, you may have noticed shortages in stores- baking products, toilet paper, coin currency, bikes, camping gear, and much more. A while ago, on a sunny afternoon, I noticed my roller blades sitting by the front door. Pre-pandemic, I went to the Municipal Auditorium on Fridays to roller skate, but hadn’t tried skating outside. I think the last time I did that, I was like 10 and I went with my mom and she fell in a bush… More recently, I’ve been scared I’d hit a rock, fall over, break an arm or my teeth or something like that. 

To finally move past my fear, and get some more movement in my life, last weekend I went and got a mouthguard, geared up in elbow, knee, and wrist guards, plus a helmet and took to the boardwalk on my roller blades . It was kind of embarrassing, but eventually, I got back into the swing of it and got some practice avoiding rocks and other random things on the trail.

I didn’t like how unstable my ankles felt, so I swapped out my blades for the more traditional side-by-side 4 wheel skates with a toe brake, and it’s a whole new learning curve. Trying to skate with them for the first time on a slight incline with high winds probably didn’t help much. But, while, I was skating, it got me thinking- who the heck came up with the idea to put some wheels on shoes and wheel around? So, I looked into it. I figured the Victorians had something to do with it since they had  a thing for potentially dangerous modes of transportation...

Early Skates

The history of roller skates begins, surprisingly, way back in 1760, when a Belgian man named John Joseph Merlin put wheels on his feet to show off his new “skaites” and wheeled around a masquerade party while playing the violin (I wish I was making this up). He wasn’t a well balanced person, and his skates lacked breaks, so he ended up crashing into a mirror, breaking his violin, and getting seriously injured. He is credited with inventing the “inline skates” oftentimes now known as rollerblades with this wacky debut. The broken mirror didn't curse the invention however, it would just be a few decades before it was picked up again.

The next iteration was a three wheel inline skate (above) patented by M. Petitbled in Paris in 1819. Around this time, skates were sometimes referred to as “parlour velocipede”. A velocipede at the time was another word for a bike, and at this time, the bikes we’re talking about are the ones with the huge front wheel and 1-2 small back wheels. The early skates earned the “parlor” prefix due to their initial use: an early variant of the quad skate is said to have been invented by German barmaids for increased drink serving efficiency in huge beer halls in Berlin. These early quad skates, however, were clunky and almost entirely metal, meaning the skater couldn’t lift their foot off the ground easily and the design made it hard to turn while rolling. The Engineer, an early publication reviewing new inventions, noted that the worst thing about the skates was their appearance, the 1876 publication read “‘very few of the fairer sex would deign to encase their feet in such ugly replicates, lest it should be expected that their ankles were really the size of which they were made to appear’.”

 1823 saw the creation of the first 5 wheel inline skate that was attached to a boot, named Rolito (also "Volito" and patented by Robert John Tyers of London. They were not very maneuverable, but are some of the earliest skates that resemble today’s inline skates. The patent drawing is to the left, and an advertisement, part of which reads " the fellow [on the skates] has got wings on his heels"

The "Rocker Skates" and the Arrival of the Modern Skate

 In 1863, James Plimpton designed a new quad skate that could be steered by the wearer leaning left or right, just how the quad skates operate today. These “rocker skates” were lighter and safer to operate than the all metal predecessors. It wasn’t until 1876 that the toe stop was patented.

At this time, labor laws were slim, meaning that workers were working 12-14 hour days, depending on the industry. Skating was an upper class pursuit, since they had the time, energy, and money to do it, and skaters wore tuxedos and formal dresses. In the early 20th century, labor laws strengthened and provided some space for pastimes in the working class.

James Plimpton also took to marketing his new roller skates to generate interest (and sales), opening roller skating rinks, offering lessons, and promoting roller skating as a past time that could be enjoyed by men and women, which was relatively unusual in the Victorian period. This meant young couples could meet and skate together with less rigid chaperoning than in other settings.

 In the 1880s, mass production was in full swing due to the industrial revolution in Europe, and roller skates were included in the scaling up of production. Rinks began to pop up throughout New England and London, with the increase in “rinkomania”. Indoor roller skating became realized for its medical benefits, and outdoor roller skating was recognized for its efficient transportation benefits- benefits that might even be used by military forces (that didn’t pan out, but could you imagine...).

These early skate iterations were usually still metal, with straps that attached to your shoes, making them removable. They didn’t roll very smoothly, and were still rudimentary and metal.

In 1898, the quad skate reached the form that we recognize today, with ball bearings in the wheels to encourage smooth rolling of the wheels. Production materials have changed since then, but the structure is generally the same. Improvements in plastics have made them more lightweight and replaced some of the metal pieces that used to be in the skates.  

1907 glass plate negative of Edwardian era women playing soccer (football) on roller skates

 The Golden Age of Skating and Skating in the Modern Era

 In 1902, a large roller rink in Chicago opened, called the Chicago Coliseum. 30 years later, the first roller derby competition hosted by the Roller Skate Rink Owners Association at the Coliseum became the birthplace of roller derby. The golden age of roller skating began a few years later with the national organization of the Roller Skate Rink Owners Association. Roller skating was considered an excellent escape from WWII and in the 1940s, 8,000 rinks operated nation wide and an estimated 18,000,000 people skated.

The Third Chicago Coliseum, c 1900

 Roller rinks were centers for community life in the 1960s, and were some of the most difficult places to desegregate. The film, United Skates, explores the integral nature of roller rinks in communities through time and how theme nights like Soul Night at rinks became places Black individuals “didn’t have to abide by white rules, listen to white music, or play by white standards. They were free to be their complete selves and that is how this culture was able to thrive.” The film also explores how rinks continue to be segregated today through theme nights, like Adult Night and Family Night.

 In the 1970s, disco music and roller skating collided and caused a resurgence in skating. Economic downturns and the fall of disco led to the closure of many rinks, but this period in skating history is memorialized in shows like “That 70s Show”, Patrick Suaze's debut in Skatetown USA, Roller Boogie, and in music videos. Dancing in skates wasn’t unprecedented either, in the early 1910s and 1920s, skate dances were also popular.

 Inline skates arrived at their modern form in the 1970s with the renovation of a 1960s inline skate to feature an ice hockey boot and wheels for hockey training off ice. These skates, later branded Rollerblades, have become a household name.  

Humboldt County and Skating

Skating declined over time, but has experienced a resurgence in the early 2000s with the popularity of roller derby in films and the COVID pandemic while people look for things to do outside.

Locally, roller derby picked up in 2006 when Humboldt Roller Derby founder Jennifer McMahon started Humboldt Roller Derby. The early team trained at the Blue Lake Roller Rink with former football coach Coach Mojo. They began competing in 2008 as the North Jetty Bettys and the Widow Makers, and have since become a nonprofit organization, donated $25,000 to local organizations, established a youth team called the Redwood Saplings, and have traveled nationally and internationally to compete in tournaments. Their season this year was put on hold, but you’ll frequently see people decked out in HRD gear zipping around on their skates.

Local places to skate include the Blue Lake Roller Rink hosted by the Blue Lake Parks and Rec department and the Municipal Auditorium in Eureka on Friday nights. Be sure to check if they’re operating. As of this writing, both were still closed to the public due to COVID.

In the meantime, hit the boardwalk or the bay trail with those skates that have been collecting dust- you might see me scuffling along while I figure out how to glide gracefully.  

My new skates (when I was trying them on at the store)

Sources and Additional Info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyU1TPdJzgk
https://calhum.org/the-civil-rights-history-of-roller-skating/
https://dead-rinks.weebly.com/us-rinks.html 
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-roller-skates-1992385 
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/the-birth-of-the-roller-skate/
https://daily.jstor.org/the-history-behind-the-roller-skating-trend/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/whatever-happened-to-roller-skating/362100/


Additional types of roller skates: http://pedespeed.blogspot.com/
http://onewheelskate.tripod.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skating#/media/File:Roller_skates,_1910.jpg