THE ROLLER SKATE CRAZE

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, April 28, 1885

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 62, No. 17

THE ROLLER SKATE CRAZE.

THIS amusement, to use no harsher term, is so phenomenal in its rise and present proportions, and so evidently one of the evils for which the last days were to be noted, that any facts and statistics concerning it will be of interest to all the readers of the REVIEW. We find the following in the Manufacturer and Industrial Gazette of April, 1885, the perusal of which will be found not a little instructive in regard to the spirit of our times:—

“Not the least interesting feature of the roller skating craze is the remarkable development of the roller skate industry. There are probably 400 establishments at present engaged in the manufacture of these skates. The monthly product cannot be far from 300,000 pairs. Connecticut and Massachusetts are large producers; and there is a busy nest of manufacturers in and around Richmond and Muncie, Ind. Richmond alone has some 18 different concerns engaged in this line of manufacture, turning out one-third of the product of the United States. One leading manufacturer is netting, it is claimed, $1,000 a day from the manufacture and sale of roller skates alone. A year ago he could scarcely obtain credit for $100 at the bank. To-day he is worth $250,000, and the bankers are eager to accommodate him. He is turning out 1,100 pairs of skates a day, and is 7,000 pairs behind orders. His manufactory, from a mere shed, has grown to be among the largest and most complete industrial establishments of the West. The profits to manufacturers and retailers are enormous. Most of the best skates turned out cost only 55 cents a pair. They are sold to hardware men by the gross at $1.35 per pair, and are retailed at $6. Complete machinery, which performs the entire operation of stamping through several sheets of steel at a time, is the cause of the reduction in the first cost. On February 1 it was estimated that there were 40,000 rinks in the country. There are now probably not less than 45,000 to 50,000. In Cleveland, O., alone there are more than 20, which use constantly about 8,000 pairs of skates. It is estimated by local hardware men that from 10,000 to 15,000 pairs have been sold in Cleveland within the past three months. One rink alone has produced a demand for 10,000 wheels per annum. Of course the manufacture of roller skates will be overdone, but manufacturers are too busy now in reaping profits to pay much attention to competitors.”