Pair of roller skates, designed to fit any shoe, steel and leather, Union Hardware Company, USA, 1943

Pair of steel and leather roller skates. Each skate can be expanded to fit a range of foot sizes. The bases consist of two plates linked together with two sliding bolts in channels, and a nut which can be tightened. When the nut is loosened the bolts are able to run along the channels to increase or decrease the lengths of the skates. The nut is then tightened to keep the skate stable. Welded to the heel is a semi-circular heel cap. To one side is attached a leather strap and to the other side is a buckle (the right skate is missing its strap). The strap can be fastened around the ankle of the wearer. At the toe end is an expanding clamp operated by a large screw beneath. This screw originally would have been operated by a key supplied with the skates. Beneath the heel and toe are mounted two pairs of metal ball bearing wheels which would have provided a smooth ride. All parts, except the straps and those operated by the key, are welded to the body.

Given by Sir Nicholas Goodison

Given by Sir Nicholas Goodison [91/564]. On entry to the museum the condition was noted as 'fair; metal rusty and leather strap missing.'

Donor's recollections, 11 February 1991:
'...Returning to the skates, I cannot remember how I acquired them. I used them between the ages of 9 and 13 at a school called Durlston Court, which was evacuated during the Second World War to a marvellous 18th century house, Earnshill, Hambridge, Curry Rivel, Somerset. Naturally, we were not allowed to wear such things inside the house, not even in the spacious basement passages. There was, however, a wooden hut erected temporarily in the stable yard which we used as a roller skating rink. It seemed large at the time, but it must in fact have been quite small. It was large enough for violent games of roller-skate hockey, a highly dangerous game on skates of this sort which had no support for the ankles. How we all survived without breaking ankles I know not. It was lucky our mothers didn't know about it. The greatest hazard was from falling and getting a splinter from the wooden floor. When the school moved to Barton-on-Sea after the end of the war, hockey became an outdoor game on tarmac; grazes, rather than splinters, and much more space. The skates have not been used since 1947.'

MISC.298-1991