A Hot Craze for Cold Days

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

It was too cold to go out.  There was nothing to do.  Some form of amusement was sorely needed as the city was almost entirely destitute of leisure entertainment.  What did the people of Ahnapee want to do?  Roller skate!

No skating rink?  No problem.  John McDonald would build one.  It was March, 1885.  Building could commence--just as soon as the frost was out of the ground.

Roller skating was a hot craze, sweeping the nation.  A medical journal described the interest to be spreading like influenza.  It said:  “.…the vibrating brain-cells of the enthusiastic roller-skater communicate their rhythmical pulsations to the previously insensitive spectator. Whatever the mechanism, there is certainly at present a morbidly exaggerated passion for, and indulgence in, roller-skating.”

Roller skates were first patented in 1760.  With improvements made around 1863, four-wheeled skates had springy carriages which allowed the skater to turn by leaning in the desired direction.   

John McDonald decided his roller skating hall would be 50’ by 115’ on a stone foundation.  Anton Leiberg was awarded the contract for the Third Street building.  Expected cost was in the neighborhood of $3,000 (estimated to be about $74,000 in today’s dollars).

The entrance end featured a ticket office, hat and cloak room, and a sitting room.  The gallery accommodated from 150 to 200 spectators.  On either side of the ground floor there were seats provided for onlookers and skaters in need of a rest.  A break in the railings on one side allowed skaters to leave the floor.  The rink was large enough to hold 80 sets of dancers at one time so there would be room for everybody.  A band stand sat in the middle of the skating floor.  Opposite the entrance was an exit—in case of a stampede.  The maple wood skating floor was 44’ by 100’, with corners laid to allow skaters to follow the grain of the wood making skating much easier than it otherwise would be, according to an Ahnapee Record news article.

Building progressed nicely except for a temporary concern.  It was feared that siding ordered from a Manistee, Michigan company might not arrive on time.  It did; the building was completed on time.    

McDonald hired a brass band from Sturgeon Bay.  He extended a cordial invitation to the public.  Everyone was welcome! On opening day, July 3, 1885, a flag—a gift of appreciation from Ahnapee citizens--was raised on a staff on the building.   

Opening night attracted a large crowd.  About 100 skaters took to the floor.  There was just one problem.  The band hired to furnish the music for the event that evening was unprepared to play anything but round dances.  They needed free-style dance music.  So, McDonald quickly found ex-Mayor Perry and Mr. C.G. Boalt.  They rescued the night by taking to the band stand, providing excellent music until the party broke up at midnight.    

After the grand opening, the hall was open daily for roller skating.  In the morning from 9 to 11 a.m. and afternoons from 1 to 6 p.m., admission was free; skates were 15 cents.  Ladies enjoyed free nights, except Wednesday and Saturday which were band nights.  On band nights, admission was 25 cents for guys; 15 cents for ladies.  Children skated free on Saturday afternoons and paid 10 cents for skates.   Prices were adjusted as needed.        

Deemed to be one of the finest and largest skating rinks in Northeastern Wisconsin--if not the state—the rink was a success.   Like all good proprietors, McDonald needed to keep the experience fresh and new.  He bought a polo set.  Polo was a new name for what was previously called “shinny” (a game like street hockey).  Customers may have felt shinny was a more fitting name as the game frequently resulted in skinned shins.  In addition to regular open skating, grand masquerades and skating carnivals were planned for important celebrations like Washington’s birthday in February.

When the city council levied a license fee of one hundred dollars on the hall, John McDonald considered the amount exorbitant.  He immediately closed the skating rink doors when his first license expired.  This created a state of, as then President Grover Cleveland would describe, “innocuous desuetude”—complete inactivity.  The Record newspaper opined that, instead, “the council should tender him (John McDonald) a vote of thanks” for bringing some means of amusement to the city.  The common council met and voted unanimously to reduce the fee to twenty-five dollars.  Mr. McDonald renewed the license and made plans for a grand reopening. 

The city once again had a roller skating rink to entertain the rabid roller skaters of Ahnapee.