Most people do not know that inline skates are the oldest roller skates in the world. The use of these skates has expanded into new forms of sports that have become wildly popular in the past few decades. Skates of all types have an international flavor to them and are one of the ways that people share a connection around the world. Sports was not the start to attaching implements to shoes and this is why they have such a mark in history. Here is the history of inline skates that go far beyond flying along the ground for points.
Unofficial Beginnings
In the Scandinavian countries, it is essential to have ways to get around in the winter that can snow and ice. Before modern ways, there was ice skating and skiing as a way to handle this. During the warmer months, people decided that they could adapt skates to handle the roads without needing blades. There have been several types of skates that have been found to come from around the early seventeenth century that have wheels on them. There is not much in the way of documentation, but this was an easy evolution to happen for traveling options.
Documentation Starts
There is some documentation in London of a performer using what was probably inline skates in 1743, though not much is known. John Joseph Merlin was the first person to be known to have inline skates in 1760. This was an invention that he did in Belgium and is known as an inventor, clock maker, and musical instrument maker. He made the skates as a publicity stunt and had issues with stopping. He moved in that year from Belgium to England, which means the invention went with him. By 1789, the skate design had moved to Paris, France.
Europe versus America
The design for inline skates was patented in France in 1819 and was popular that way for many years. The American James Plimpton came up with the side by side wheel design and patented this in 1863. During the interlude, the inline skates were being used in Berlin for a ballet type show that incorporated moves from ice skating. There was also a tricycle design done in Austria for skates in 1828. The biggest problem with the inline version was control to be able to what people wanted. This is why the roller skate design became dominant.
Design Changes
All of the patents in the 1800s had different improvements introduced, with some of them being utilized in the modern versions. Ball bearings were introduced in 1852 by Englishman J. Gidman, but this was not fully realized for thirty years. 1859 saw the Woodward skate have vulcanized rubber replaces the iron wheels that had been the staple before this. The main purpose of all of these changes was to allow people to maneuver easier, as many of the customers of these skates were either performers, bar owners, or rink owners. This was all primarily in Europe, not America.
Dark Years
From 1863 until around 1980, there were changes that were done with the design of the inline skate, but they were never popular. Some of these changes made control easier for the skater and others were changes that made them more durable. They were having a hard time surpassing their cousin, the roller skate. That was when Scott and Brennan Olsen saw them in a sporting store and decided they would be what was needed for practicing hockey when there was no ice. They started Rollerblade, Inc, which is the name most people associate with inline skates.
Sport Grows
When the Olsen brothers took the skate design and adapted it to their needs, they saw it only for hockey. This design was used by a popular Russian athlete to train in warmer weather. Eric Heiden, the gold medalist speed skater, was pictured in Life magazine using them to train. Even with some design issues, they grew in popularity and for many years were the only inline skate available. This is why most people call all inline rollerblades, even though the name is trademarked to the company. The company was bought from the Olsens in the early 1980s.
Sports Change
In 1986, Rollerblade, Inc decided to market the skates as a way for people to exercise to open the market up. This led to people realizing that they could do many types of other activities with them. The next evolution was to see people starting to use the skates in a style that is called aggressive. This is the extreme sport that people see in movies and was in the X-Games competitions. This was discontinued, but many people still fly through the air doing stunts this way. This spawned an industry that makes millions fueling many new innovations.
New Avenues
Many people have taken to inline skating to the point that few think about the roller skate design. The first person who skated across America was Jason Lewis in 1996, though he was delayed after getting hit by a car. Kacie Fischer became the first woman and fasted skater to do this in 2012. Inline hockey became part of the Pan American Games in 1999. People have put on shows with the skates for entertainment, with inline artistic competitions starting in 1996. There keep being new ways to show the versatility of the inline design that keeps appearing.
It makes a person wonder if the first people to put wheels on skates could have seen the cultural impact of the designs they came up with. There were many changes over the centuries to inline skates and all of them led to a billion dollar industry that has made changes to sports and entertainment. Ball bearings and wheels may not seem exciting to the everyday person living their life, but such changes have made ways for other people to change their own life. This is the way the history of inline skating has gone in the world.
