American skates
• club skates (not yet available)
• figure skates
Belgian skates
• figure skates
Dutch skates
• skates for the Dutch roll
• figure skates
English skates
• club skates
• figure skates (not yet available)
German skates
• club skates (not yet available)
• figure skates (not yet available)

 

Club and figure skates

At present figure skating perhaps better could be called
artistic skating as it is dominated by lots of jumps, spins and daring 'free figures'.
Nowadays figure skating is concentrated on a performance that will attract an audience.

This is quite different from what was the case half a century ago. Then the emphasis lay at so called compulsory figures:
eights, threes, loops, brackets and rockers.
These should be copied in perfection in a stylish way.
The technical abilities of the skater should be demonstrated as such and entertaining an audience was not at all important.

In Anglo-Saxon countries skating figures was originally done
as a club on small indoor ice rinks.
In the Netherlands skating figures never came to prosperity
as the Dutch had an abundance of natural ice to their disposal. They developed what became known as the Dutch roll:
a continues sequence of strokes on the outside edge, left, right, left and so on for miles to go on.
Both 'disciplines', however, required a restrained posture
 without any unnecessary movement and
may be seen as the 'mother' of modern figure skating.
The skates used had a wooden platform and leather straps to tie them on.

Artistic figure skating was introduced during the
4th quarter of the 19th century by Jackson Haines,
an American who may be seen as the 'father' of what became known as the International Style of figure skating.
His jumps required a solid connection between boots and skates and teeth as to be able to jump, stop and spin.
The skates had to be bolted to the boots to enable this.