Post 2: Roller Skating, Sport or Accident?

You’ve roller-skated before, right? Almost everyone has roller-skated at one point in time. Well, have you ever wondered how somebody came up with the idea of roller-skating? After taking a visit to the National, yes I said national, Museum of Roller Skating, I discovered a multitude of information about roller-skating.

It actually all began with a frustrated ice skater, named Hans Brinker, in the early 1700’s. Thinking it would be easier to skate on pavement, rather than on ice, he produced a wheeled skate with several wooden spools in a line. Then over a century later on November 12, 1819, Monsieur Petitbled received the very first patent for roller skates. The wheels were made of wood, metal, or “deluxe” ivory; however, they could only go on straight path. Fortunately, in 1863, James Leonard Plimpton patented his four-wheeled turning roller skate, which quickly revolutionized the roller skate industry. After his improvements people in America, as well as abroad, embraced the art of roller-skating as a fun and social activity. Eventually, during the 1870’s to mid-1890’s, skating at local roller rinks was one of the most popular social events. Then its popularity started to wan in the early 1890’s because many roller rinks gained a bad reputation due to irresponsible management. In order to rebuild the roller rinks popularity, seventeen rink operators formed the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association in 1937.

Today, after all the redesigning and revolutionizing of roller-skates the activity has grown immensely. Now, not only can you skate, but you can also play roller derby, roller hockey, or roller polo. You can also in-line skate, roller figure skate, or dance skate. The opportunities are endless. And to think, it all began with a guy, named Brinker, who just couldn’t figure out the finesse in ice-skating, thank goodness for his clumsiness.