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Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an
inline skate Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ...
design, effectively an
ice skate Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...
with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad skate" style became more popular, consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car.
Roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
is a hobby, sport, and mode of transportation using roller skates.


History

While the first reported use of wheeled skates was on a London stage in 1743, the first
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
ed "roller skate" was introduced in 1760 by Belgian inventor
John Joseph Merlin John Joseph Merlin (born Jean-Joseph Merlin, 6 September 1735 – 8 May 1803) was a Belgian from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in the Holy Roman Empire. He was a Freemason, clock-maker, musical-instrument maker, and inventor. He moved to England ...
. They were hard to steer and stopping was difficult due to the fact that they did not have any type of braking mechanism and as such they failed to gain popularity. Merlin demonstrated his invention during a party in the city of
Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...
, during which he skated while playing the
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
. In the 1840s, Meyerbeer's opera ''
Le prophète ''Le prophète'' (''The Prophet'') is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the ''Essay on the ...
'' featured a scene in which performers used roller-skates to simulate ice-skating on a frozen lake set on stage. This exposure had an impact on audiences and lead to the rise of roller skating as a new and popular activity throughout the Continent. As ice skaters subsequently developed the art of figure skating, roller skaters wanted the ability to turn in their skates in a similar fashion. In 1863,
James Plimpton James Leonard Plimpton (1828, Medfield, Massachusetts - 1911) was an American inventor who is known for changing the skating world with his patented roller skates in 1863. Plimpton's roller skates were safer and easier to use than the existing vers ...
from Massachusetts invented the "rocking" skate and used a four-wheel configuration for stability, and independent axles that turned by pressing to one side of the skate or the other when the skater wants to create an edge. This was a vast improvement on the Merlin design, one that was easier to use and drove the huge popularity of
roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
, dubbed "rinkomania" in the 1860s and 1870s, which spread to Europe and around the world, and continued through the 1930s. The Plimpton skate is still used today Eventually, roller skating evolved from just a pastime to a competitive
sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
;
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
, racing on skates, and
inline figure skating Inline figure skating is figure skating on inline figure skates—three or fourwheel frames with a toe-stop, mounted on figure skating boots in rockered configuration. Inline figure skating began as an off-ice training alternative for ice fig ...
, very similar to what can be seen in the Olympics on ice. In the mid 1990s roller hockey, played with a ball rather than a puck, became so popular that it even made an appearance in the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in 1992. The National Sporting Goods Association statistics showed, from a 1999 study, that 2.5 million people played roller hockey. Roller skating was considered for the 2012 Summer Olympics but has never become an Olympic event. Other roller skating sports include jam skating and
roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...
. Roller skating popularity exploded during the
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
era but tapered off in the 1980s and 1990s. Sales of roller skates increased during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
as people sought safe outdoor activities. Roller skating saw a revival in the late 2010s and early 2020s, spurred on by a number of viral videos on the popular video sharing app
TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...
. Many popular brands sold out to the point of back-order, with many people taking up the hobby during COVID-19 quarantines across the globe.


Organizations

The
Roller Skating Rink Operators Association Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Road roller, a vehicle for compa ...
was developed in the U.S. in 1937. It is currently named the
Roller Skating Association Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Road roller, a vehicle for compa ...
. The association promotes roller skating and offers classes to the public, aiming to educate the population about roller skating. Its current president is Bobby Pender and the associations headquarters are located in
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.


Gallery

Image:1908-PatinsRoulettes.jpg, An advertisement for an early 20th-century model which fit over regular shoes Image:WOMAN SUFFRAGE PICKETS AT WHITE HOUSE 07351v.jpg, Young woman roller skating beside a group of women's
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
s at the White House, 1917 Image:BayStLouisRollerskates1921crop.jpg, Girl on roller skates, 1921 File:Old roller skates.jpg, Roller skates of a design common in the 1960s Image:Skates.jpg, Skates at
Paul Bunyan Land Paul Bunyan Land is an amusement park in Brainerd, Minnesota, founded in 1950, which is today located on This Old Farm. Its trademark is the animated and talking statue of Paul Bunyan, weighing 5,000 pounds. As guests enter, Paul welcomes them ...
,
Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with ...


Health benefits

The Roller Skating Association's web page offers some health benefits of roller skating. Some of the benefits they list include: * Providing a complete
aerobic workout Aerobic exercise (also known as endurance activities, cardio or cardio-respiratory exercise) is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, in ...
* Burning 330 calories per hour while skating for a 143-pound person or 600 calories while skating . * A study from the University of Massachusetts found that in-line skating causes less than 50% of the impact shock to joints compared to running. * Roller skating is equivalent to jogging in terms of health benefits * The
American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...
recommends roller skating as an aerobic fitness sport.


See also

*
Ice skates Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skate ...
*
Inline skates Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...
*
Rollerblade Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960), Brennan Olson (b. 1964) and Christopher Middlebrook in Minneapoli ...
– a popular brand of inline skates *
Roller shoe Roller shoes are shoes that have wheels protruding slightly from the heel, allowing the wearer to alternate between walking and rolling. There are a number of tricks that can be done with them, including pop wheelies and spins. These shoes comm ...
*
Roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...


References


External links


"How Rink Rollers Are Made", by George W. Waltz
– November 1951 article in ''
Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
'' on how roller skates are manufactured
Court Case Brought by Roller Skating Rinks About Taxes

History of Roller Skating in Canada

homepage for USA Roller Sports

Roller Skating Museum
{{Authority control Belgian inventions Sports footwear Roller skating equipment Land vehicles Wheeled vehicles 1970s fads and trends 2020s fads and trends TikTok