Vigo County Historical Society

Museum offers look at pair of good skates

Victorian and turn-of-the-century Hoosier boys and girls almost always included a pair of skates on their Christmas gift list.

Something about the winter season and simple active pleasures made ice skates desirable and even glamorous items. They found their way into the pictures, the songs and the poems of the age.

In the past, boys were busy at this time of year sharpening and polishing the prized possessions. Brothers and fathers sharpened girls’ skates, for there was a clear line between male and female labor. Only males sharpened ice skates.

The skates featured today are No. 16, size 9 1/2, according to information engraved on the skates. They were clamped to regular shoes which must have had thick soles. No key was necessary because an ingenious screw and level device in the arch made the necessary adjustments. These skates were produced by the Union Hardware Co. at Tarrington, Conn.

A cutout in the toe of the skate was considered by some to be a clover-leaf design. It was told by the donor of the skates, Archie Hamilton, that the cutout was actually a club from a deck of playing cards. This insignia was the trademark of a particularly splendid and popular skate. They were known as club skates.

The skates were a gift from Hamilton’s sister, Beulah Fesant, when he was 16 years old. He lived at Sanford and the gift cost the enormous price of 50 cents.

Skates were carefully dried after each use and laid under the stove to prevent rust from developing. The quarter-inch-wide blade was sharpened on each side.

Skaters used the edged for gliding and maneuvering over the ice. They skates with the side of the foot. With the proper technique, the nearly 80-year-old skates could be used on a rural pond or creek today.

The simple, practical design and excellent materials and workmanship made them a gift to be cherished and preserved by the receiver. They are displayed in the museum’s upstairs nursery.