| Children's ice skates (3) |
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Fig.1: Friesland
children's ice skates, around 1880 The broken wood of the prow of one of these ice skates has been repaired by means of a piece of tin plate. This detail makes them interesting as it is a miracle they did survive. Manufacturer: unknown Mark: none Technical data: total length: 25 cm long; height over ice: 6.3 cm; platforms: 18 cm long, 4 cm wide; runner blades: 12 mm tall, 3 mm thick; weight: 113 g |
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Fig.2: Friesland children's ice skates,
around 1930 |
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Fig.3: Friesland children's ice skates,
around 1950 Manufacturer: unknown Mark: none Technical data: total length: 22 cm; height over ice: 4.3 cm; platforms: 18 cm long, 4 cm wide; runner blades: 13 mm tall, 3 mm thick; weight: 110 g including straps |
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Fig.4: Friesland
children's ice skates, around 1970 |
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Learning how to skate literally is a matter of falling and getting up again. Most Dutch children are four when they get their first ice skates. Before they know to skate alone some winters will pass. In the mean time t heir feet grow fast. At present many parents do not see this as a problem: they visit eBay or buy new ones if necessary. But in ancient times this was different as a pair of ice skates cost a day's wage or more and the average family comprised 4-5 children. Therefore the skates went from parents to children and within the family from child to child. Often children learned skating on two different skates that matched more or less. Hence, children's skates were repaired and repaired again and were only thrown away when completely worn out. |
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