Chicago Rink Rats: The Roller Capital in Its Heyday

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Synopsis
By 1950, roller skating had emerged as the number-one participatory sport in America. Ironically, the war years launched the Golden Age of Roller Skating. Soldiers serving overseas pleaded for skates along with their usual requests for cigarettes and letters from home. Stateside, skating uplifted morale and kept war factory workers exercising. By the end of the decade, five thousand rinks operated across the country. Its epicenter: Chicago! And no one was left behind! The Blink Bats, a group of Braille Center skaters, held their own at the huge Broadway Armory rink. Meanwhile, the Swank drew South Side crowds to its knee-action floor and stocked jukebox. Eighteen celebrated rinks are now gone, but rinks that remain honor the traditions of the sport's glory years. Author Tom Russo scoured newspaper archives and interviewed skaters of the roller capital's heyday to reveal the enduring legacy of Chicago's rink rats.
Copyright:
2017

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9781439663745
Related ISBNs:
9781625859686
Publisher:
Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Tom Russo, Darius D-Breez" Stroud
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Nonfiction, Sports, Art and Architecture, Home and Garden
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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