Skates and Sleds and Sleighs
by
Carolyn Saul Logan
There’s something from every season at the Humboldt County Museum—farm machinery and tools for spring planting, summer dresses and hats, books and desks for the return to school in the fall—and skates and sleds and sleighs for winter.
Ice skates have been around a long time. The oldest pair known was found in the bottom of a lake in Switzerland and are said to be 3000 years old. The blade was made from the leg bones of some large animal. There are none of these in the Museum. However, in the 1300s the Dutch used wooden platform skates with iron runners. There is an example of this type of skate in the museum. These skates were attached to the feet by leather straps.
There are two pairs of skates with curved runners. One pair was made by the first blacksmith in Goldfield and was donated by R. Saxton. The second pair of curly-toed ice skates is from Norway. Their accession card says they came “from Cruickshank and were once used to settle a $50 debt in full.” It would be interesting to know the details of that story.
The arrival of the industrial revolution had an effect on ice skates. By then skates that could be clamped on to the skater’s boots were in use. The bottom plate, the blades, and the clamps could all be made from iron. In the museum there are several pairs of clamp-on iron skates. One is a pair of men’s skates and another is a matching pair of ladies’ skates. Both pairs have a three-leaf clover cut out in the sole plate of the skate, and an adjustable-width toe. They may have been made by Fred Hawkins, Donna Cooper’s grandfather. Fred and his father Robert were both blacksmiths in Dakota City and later in Humboldt. Marie Phillips, Fred’s daughter, donated the two pairs of skates to the museum.
There are several sleds in the museum. The oldest seems to be a small sled that is all wood, even the runners. The other sleds in the collection are also made of wood but have iron fastened on the wooden runners. This made them glide faster over the snow. One of these sleds belonged to George Bicknell and he may have gone sledding on Johnston Hill. As late as the 1940’s sleds raced there--down Lewis Street, and on to the old Lewis Street Bridge, if possible.
There are two sleighs in the museum. One is a small sleigh that Doctors Nell and Ivan Shultz had restored in red velvet. On the floor of that sleigh is a stone with a handle attached. The stone was warmed and kept the feet of the sleigh’s passenger’s comfortable. The other is a larger, more workday sleigh, complete with buffalo blanket. Sleighing was a winter pastime as well as a means of travel. Sleigh bells jingled on the horses as couples set out for a winter race.
Humboldt residents skated on the rivers when they were completely frozen over for the winter. They also skated on the fish ponds and on the tennis courts in Taft Park, which were converted into a skating rink by Fire Department hoses. A small, warm shed with a stove was nearby. It smelled of wet mittens and socks—skaters retreated there when their feet were numb from the cold. Waltzing music was broadcast for the skaters but the melodies were often drowned out by the noisy hockey game played on one side of the rink.
Ice skating, sledding, and sleighing are no longer popular as winter sports. But you can recapture those days by viewing skates, sleds, and sleighs at the Humboldt County Museum.