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A Crash Course in the History of Ice Skating

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Charlotte Charles Dillingham, Get Together, 1949
Charlotte Charles Dillingham, Get Together, 1949. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Public Domain.

Ice skating enthusiasts in Virginia first began recording their experiences on ice early in the 1700s!

By Sherry Teal | DHR Project Review Architectural Historian

Considering the freezing temperatures and snow we have endured, what better way to celebrate January than a little article about the history of ice skating? We all deserve high marks for our skating acrobatics in our neighborhood driveways lately. How do you measure up against the skaters from A.D. 1396, 1916, or the 1940s?

Ice skating as a leisure activity was first documented in the Netherlands and Austria around the mid-14th century. Scandinavian and Russian bones sharpened to travel long distances have been found and dated to about 3000 B.C. (Stefan Lovgren, Jan 2008). An artist in 1396 A.D. in the Netherlands created a wood-cut print thought to be one of the earliest depictions of ice skaters in Europe.

saint liedwi illustration
Unattributed artist, “First Known Skating Illustration,” 1396. Source: Library of Congress, Houdini Collection, Rare Book & Special Collections Division.

Virginia is one of the first places in the United States where enthusiasts recorded enjoying the thrill of skating as early as 1709 (Jane Carson, 1965). In 1852, Richmond’s love affair with ice skating was mentioned in The Daily Dispatch as “fancy skating”. By the 1860s, Americans were starting to flash their flare on frozen ponds in public exhibitions. Jackson Haines was one of the first who incorporated ballet-like moves on ice. He is known as the Father of Figure Skating. While Europe was organizing its skating clubs long before the U.S., it didn’t take Americans long to fall in love with the woosh and swoop of blades on ice.

John Collet, The Pleasures of Ice Skaiting[sic], or The View in Winter, 1780
John Collet, The Pleasures of Ice Skaiting[sic], or The View in Winter, 1780. Source: The British Museum, Public Domain.
Central Park in New York had a skating rink as early as 1850, and Boston Common, America’s oldest city park, had a rink in the late 19th century. The Boston Common’s rink is called the Boston Frog. West Brook Ice Rink in Biddeford, Maine, which is over 100 years old, was recently rescued after years of disrepair and its restoration was part of the 2022 Great American Main Street Award.

Currier & Ives, The Skating Pond, Lithograph, 1862
Currier & Ives, The Skating Pond, Lithograph, 1862. Source: Library of Congress, Public Domain.

Around 1912, skaters began publishing activity books about how to skate well with a focus on how to look good doing it. Skating was an activity that women championed and social norms at the time were encouraging it in most circles (pardon the pun). Books such as Artistic Skating for Women and Handbook of Figure Skating flew off the shelves of bookstores and were celebrated in newspapers. Charlotte Oelschlägel’s performance in New York enamored the likes of Harry Houdini, who owned books about Charotte’s skill. In 1916, demand for ice rinks in the country was so high that many towns could not build enough of them.

Fräulein Opika von Meray-Horvath, of Budapest, 1912
Fräulein Opika von Meray-Horvath, of Budapest, 1912. Source: Library of Congress, Public Domain.

By 1929, American cities were constructing ice rinks to attract the Winter Olympics, including Yosemite Valley, California, and Lake Placid, New York. Yosemite’s skating pond was constructed in the 1920s, and by the late 1930s, it featured outdoor lighting, small bleachers for viewing, and a concessions stand to serve crowds.

Yosemite National Park Ice Skating Rink, circa 1937
Yosemite National Park Ice Skating Rink, circa 1937. Source: William M. McCarthy Photography Collection, California State Library.

The Winter Olympics continued to celebrate the popularity of skating on television. The first televised Olympic ice-skating competition was broadcast on February 19, 1960, from Blyth Arena in Squaw Valley, California, where Carol Heiss won gold with a perfect score from all judges. The rest, as they say, is history! And a very fashionable history at that.

Carol Heiss, 1960 Winter Olympics, Blythe Arena, California
Carol Heiss, 1960 Winter Olympics, Blythe Arena, California. Source: Chronicling America, Library of Congress.

 

References:

Figure Skating: Topics in Chronicling America, Timeline. Library of Congress Research Guides, Library of Congress, April 11, 2019. https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-figure-skating. (Accessed January 17, 2025).

Somolinos, Haley. "9 Historic Ice Rinks Where You Can Take a Spin". National Trust for Historic Preservation. December 12, 2022. https://savingplaces.org/stories/9-historic-ice-rinks-where-you-can-take-a-spin. (Accessed January 17, 2025).

Stevens, Ryan, "Rockers in Richmond: Virginia's Early Skating History". Skateguardblog.com, June 6, 2024. https://www.skateguardblog.com/2017/10/rockers-in-richmond-virginias-early.html. (Accessed January 17, 2024).

Zimmerman, Amanda. "Skating Into Winter," December 20, 2024. Library of Congress Blogs, Bibliomania, Rare Books & Special Collections. https://blogs.loc.gov/bibliomania/2024/12/20/skating-into-winter/. (Accessed January 17, 2025).

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