Roller skating stickers, correspondence, and photographs
Creation: circa 1940s-1970sAbstract
Roller skating was a popular recreational hobby between 1935 through the 1970s. Starting in the early 1940s, a handful of enterprising roller skating rink owners looking for a way to promote their rinks began giving away colorful stickers printed with the name of the rink and a skating-related graphic. This collection primarily consists of roller staking rink stickers from various states in the United States and Canada. There are a few photographs of skaters and correspondence about sticker trading.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1940s-1970s
Creator
- Unknown (Organization)
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
General Physical Description
1 item : bumper sticker. 78 stickers. 6 photographic prints : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. 4 items : letters.
Historical Note
Roller skating was a popular recreational hobby between 1935 through the 1970s. Starting in the early 1940s, a handful of enterprising roller skating rink owners looking for a way to promote their rinks began giving away colorful stickers printed with the name of the rink and a skating-related graphic. Available for free from the rink's skate shop, snack stand, or ticket counter, the stickers quickly became wildly popular among the young skating crowd; not only were they great for decorating roller skate cases, but they soon became highly collectible as more and more rinks began printing their own unique stickers, and skaters began trading stickers with other skaters from other states.
As sticker trading heated up, collectors started printing their name and address on the back of stickers, hoping the stickers would reach other collectors interested in swapping by mail. Before long, a network of roller-skating sticker trading existed throughout the United States and Canada. Collectors were happy to mail stickers to complete strangers, and, often, they received new stickers and a friendly note in exchange.
Scope and Content
This collection primarily consists of roller staking rink stickers from various states in the United States and Canada. There are a few photographs of skaters and correspondence about sticker trading. The skating rink stickers are from California, Canada, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, and Washington D.C. The highest concentration of stickers are from California, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. There are two sets of photographs, one of a man and woman skaters, pictured both individually and together. The second set of a two young women, pictured both individually and together. There are four short letters about sticker trading, one is from Genevieve Pittner. There is one bumper sticker that says "Let's Go Roller Skating."
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Subjects
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- Roller skating stickers, correspondence, and photographs
- Author:
- Laurie Sather
- Date:
- 2016
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository
