RollerBoy + RollerGirl

July 14, 2007

RollerBoy + RollerGirl

Roller skates are devices worn on the feet to enable the wearer to glide along on wheels propelled by the legs! :D

The four-wheeled turning roller skate, or quad skate, with four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was first designed in 1863 in New York City by James Leonard Plimpton in an attempt to improve upon previous designs. The skate contained a pivoting action using a rubber cushion, and this allowed the skater to skate a curve just by leaning to one side. It was a huge success, so much so that the first public skating rink was opened in 1866 in Newport, Rhode Island with the support of Plimpton. The design of the quad skate allowed easier turns and maneuverability, and the quad skate came to dominate the industry for more than a century.



Roller skates were being mass produced in America as early as the 1880s, the first of the sport's several boom periods. Micajah C. Henley of Richmond, Indiana produced thousands of skates every week during peak sales. Henley skates were the first skate with adjustable tension via a screw, the ancestor of the kingbolt mechanism on modern quad skates.



The design of the quad skate has remained essentially unchanged since then, and in fact remained as the dominant roller skate design until nearly the end of the 20th century.Professional skaters of that era used shoe skates almost exclusively, but the general public did not - clamp-on skates continued to be used in roller rinks until well into the 1950's, as shoe skates were believed to be unhealthy and unsanitary. History has shown, however, that this is the only type of traditional roller skate that we now employ, both for personal and public rink use.