Labor and Rollerskates

2010 March 1
tags: , , ,
by ASHP Staff

rskategirlsConsidering a prominent part of ASHP’s main page is a picture of two girls in roller skates, I thought it would be appropriate to explore a possible connection between the labor movement and  the rollerskating fad of 1884. Apparently the roller skate had undergone a series of rapid re-configurations in the 1870s and 1880s (including ball-bearings) which made it more accessible to the public. The fad took hold across the United States in the 1884, including major cities like New York and Chicago.

Despite the long working day, there was time for recreation in the form of dances, ice and roller skating, sleigh rides, traveling exhibits and circuses. (source)

But the rollerskating boom in the 1880s was directly tied to another movement, which was chronicled in a July 1946 edition of Rochester History:

Summer vacations became customary among professional folk in
the eighties, and boys camps began to appear in the early nineties, but
few workmen as yet dreamed of such opportunities. The Saturday half
holiday seemed a more practical goal. Its first appearance in Rochester
occurred in 1881 when Alfred Wright decided to close his perfume
factory at noon on Saturday so that his workers would have ample time
for their various private affairs and be ready to attend Sabbath school
the next morning. The recreational advantages were stressed four years
later when a movement to close the principal stores one afternoon a
week gave the clerks an opportunity to visit local resorts. One workman
voiced a regret that it was only a “white collar” movement. Even the
clerks did not enjoy this advantage beyond the summer months, and not
every summer, yet new leisure standards were widely heralded and the
movement for shorter hours of labor was encouraged.
Official recognition of the new recreational requirements

Summer vacations became customary among professional folk inthe eighties…The Saturday half holiday seemed a more practical goal. Its first appearance in Rochester occurred in 1881 when Alfred Wright decided to close his perfume factory at noon on Saturday so that his workers would have ample time for their various private affairs and be ready to attend Sabbath school the next morning. The recreational advantages were stressed four years later when a movement to close the principal stores one afternoon a week gave the clerks an opportunity to visit local resorts… new leisure standards were widely heralded and the movement for shorter hours of labor was encouraged. (source .pdf via Monroe County Library)

So in some ways, according to these authors, the labor movement directly influenced the roller skating fad. Though it was serendipitous that just as working Americans were gaining more time for leisure, that the Rollerskate was ready to fill this role. The public’s “craze for wheels” was fickle, as the roller skating fad was quickly replaced by the Bicycle in the 1890s; however, the Bicycle, and later the automobile’s leisure drives would have labor to thank for the time to enjoy it!

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