What's Old Is New Again: New Articles Re: Figure Skating History

SkateGuard

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The first of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs, Juliet Stanton Adee, A Skater I Can't Say Impressed Me, explores the tale of the first bronze medallist in the women's competition at the U.S. Championships:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2016/11/juliet-stanton-adee-skater-i-cant-say.html

Some other pieces currently in the news re: skaters and stories past...

Yesterday's Nichols At Night interview with Brian Boitano: http://www.kshb.com/entertainment/nichols-at-night/nn-brian-boitano
Observer piece on Timothy Goebel: http://observer.com/2016/11/olympic-medalist-timothy-goebel-skates-over-to-upper-west-side/
 

SkateGuard

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SkateGuard

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Get your Saturday skating history fix!

The latest #SkateGuard blog looks back at The 1965 North American Figure Skating Championships: http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2016/12/the-1965-north-american-figure-skating.html

"Fashion On Ice: London's Skating Craze" from The Museum Of London: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/ice-skating-fashion-craze

Peter Burrows named posthumously to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall Of Fame: http://www.lohud.com/story/sports/2016/12/16/monsey-coach-elected-figure-skating-hall-fame/95515558/
 

aftershocks

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The latest Skate Guard blog takes a brief look at Chef Boiardi And The Winton Hotel's Ice Shows:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2016/12/chef-boiardi-and-winton-hotels-ice-shows.html

Well, I just had to click on this one because I know that Chef Boiardi (aka Chef Boyardee) got his start in Cleveland (he's the famous maker of canned ravioli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_Boyardee). This Boiardi ice show story is fascinating too because it's always cool learning something about my hometown's history, and especially in connection with figure skating history. Thanks, as always. :)

BTW, there was a famous hockey and ice skating rink/ auditorium on Euclid Avenue in the University Circle district near the Cleveland Museum of Art and Severance Hall. It was called the Elysium Arena (demolished in 1951). I read about it in Lost Cleveland: Seven Wonders of the Sixth City, by Michael DeAloia. Cleveland has a very rich architectural and cultural history.

Here's more about the Elysium (scroll through the slideshow to see the interior photo of the rink) and other famous Cleveland landmarks that no longer exist:
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/lost_cleveland_a_look_at_some.html (slideshow & article)

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781596298781 (about the book, Lost Cleveland)
 

SkateGuard

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Happy you enjoyed the blog on the Hotel Winton's shows! I must admit the era of hotel ice shows just fascinates me... I'll definitely be looking at a couple more of these in the future. ;)

Thank you for sharing the Lost Cleveland link - gorgeous photos. Love the old architecture!
 

aftershocks

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It is indeed fascinating. :) The old glory days of Cleveland. The Winton Hotel building is still standing but inside it's a shadow of its former self. I'd love to find more photos of what it used to look like inside. Actually in the 1970s, the whole area went through a period of depression and urban blight. Fortunately, a guy named Ray Shepardson helped lead the fight to save the Playhouse Square theaters that were dilapidated and had been slated to be torn down to make way for yet another parking lot. :duh: That is unfortunately what happened to some really fabulous buildings in Cleveland, as the previously linked article (and book, Lost Cleveland) point out.

Thanks to Shepardson and to the wives of rich Cleveland movers and shakers, the Playhouse Square theaters were rescued from the wrecking ball and renovated over a long period of years. Very fortuitous, since the theater district (the country's most notable outside of NYC) is now the heart of of Cleveland's downtown rejuvenation. Here's an interesting documentary about that fight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXCpNy8Lr_I

Here's more about Chef Boiardi, and how the demand for his delicious pasta led to the eventual mass production of his famous recipes: https://coolhistoryofcleveland.wordpress.com/tag/hotel-winton/

Thanks again, Ryan. There are always so many interesting and inspirational nuggets you generously share with us. And its great to see the history of figure skating intertwined with an understanding of local community history, cultural highlights and inevitable transformations.
 
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SkateGuard

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SkateGuard

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The second to last #SkateGuard blog of 2016 is this month's edition of #Unearthed, a long lost interview with the legendary Arnold Gerschwiler from "Canadian Skater" magazine. Shared with the permission of Skate Canada / Patinage Canada, this piece offers a rare and honest glimpse into the mind of one of skating's great coaches and his opinions of the skating world in the late seventies:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2016/12/unearthed-1979-arnold-gerschwiler.html
 

skatesindreams

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Thank you so much for gaining permission to share that.
His views are particularly interesting when you consider what actually occured in the years following the interview.

I'm pleased that he thought so highly of Toller!
 

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