Victorian Ice Skating

Ice Skating Provided Fine Opportunities for Winter Socialising
Cold weather meant nothing but fun for one group of Winona youngsters 100 years ago this week. An item in the 13 December 1900 Winona Herald reported, "A movement is on foot among some of the young people of the city to have a skating party on Lake Winona some evening either this week or next. A band will furnish music and after skating during the early part of the evening the skaters will enjoy a supper at the residence of one of the party, after which the remainder of the evening will be spent in dancing."
Ice skating was one of Winona's most popular entertainments 100 years ago. While some communities featured skating rinks (New York's Central Park rink drew tens-of-thousands of people per day during the mid-1800s), most people skated on the rivers, canals, lakes, and ponds near which their communities had been built.
Ice skates were simple 100 years ago - little more than blades on frames designed to be strapped to the bottom of shoes or boots - but they weren't cheap. The 1902 Sears catalog offered a pair of primitive-looking blades for $2.38: the rough equivalent of $100 today. Nevertheless, people of all social classes found the means to go skating.
One of the main reasons so many people skated was that there were few other forms of popular entertainment to be had. Movies would not be widely available for several more years, radio was still two decades away, and television was, for most people, a half-century or more in the future. The local opera house might feature travelling troupes of actors or musicians once or twice a week, and dances several times per month, but once the weather turned cold, there were almost always sociable skaters on nearby rivers and lakes.
Unfortunately, the fact that virtually every stretch of frozen water was seen as a potential skating rink 100 years ago led to many thousands of tragedies. Drownings were common, not only as a result of skaters venturing onto thin ice, but also because ice harvesting - cutting blocks of ice for the following summer's refrigeration needs - left holes that often claimed nighttime skaters at unlit locations.
Many rinks were lit, though, with what were, for some communities, among the first electric lights to be installed. The new technology added to skating's excitement and appeal, as did regular appearances by local brass bands, which were then among the mainstays of virtually every community.
As other forms of entertainment became popular in the early 1900s, ice skating became less about socialising and more about sports. Figure skating was included at the 1908 Olympics, with ice hockey following 12 years later.
Source: The Winona Post December 2000