Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
December 4, 1983
By Susie Dewey
Vigo County Historical Society
Ice skates were prized possessions
Victorian and turn of the century Hoosier boys and girls almost always included a pair of skates in 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.
Such a pair of ice skates is the featured historical treasure of the week.
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 then. Only males sharpened ice skates.
Archie Hamilton, a retired farmer who now lives near New Goshen, gave the museum one of his prized possessions when he parted with these cast steel skates. They 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 lever device in the arch made the necessary adjustments. These skates were produced the Union Hardware Company at Tarrington, Connecticut.
A cut out in the toe of the skates was considered by some to be a clover-leaf design. Hamilton, however, set the record straight when he declared the cut out was a club from a deck of playing cards. This insignia was the trade-mark of a particularly splendid and popular skate. They were known as club skates.
Hamilton reminisces with pleasure about the skates. They were a gift from his sister, Beulah Fesant, when he was 16 years old. He lived at Sanford, Ind., and the gift cost the enormous price of 50 cents. He asked if the skates are still bright and shiny. . . they are.
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. Hamilton states that skaters used the edges for gliding and maneuvering over the ice. They skated with the side of the foot. With the proper technique, he 60 year old skates could be used n a rural pond or creek today.
The simple, practical design and the excellent materials and workmanship made them a gift to be cherished and preserved by the receiver.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.