June 8, 2010 I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, You’ve got a brand new key…
I’ve heard some people say they were born with a tail or gills because they lived at the neighborhood pool growing up. Well, I was born with roller skates on my feet. In my middle school hay days, I spent at least a couple nights a week at Skate City. The rest of the time, I just buzzed through my neighborhood on my 8 wheels.
When we first came to this country and were very, very poor, my mom bought me a pair of these from the thrift store:
Those things were terrible! I didn’t have to be a good skater to know that they were no good.
In the second grade, at my day care, I sat on Santa’s lap and whispered to him that all I wanted for Christmas was “a pair of Strawberry Shortcake roller skates.” I don’t remember a lot from my early years, but I distinctly remembered being completely amazed when they appeared under the tree that xmas. I don’t remember believing in Santa. Even at age 7, I remember trying to rationalize if the day care told my parents and they bought them and wrapped them and, well, who cared? I got my skates!!!
These are not the actual photos of mine. I don’t even know where mine are. I wore those things until they didn’t fit anymore, then I wore them some more with the velcro open. I wore the toe stops down to the bolt and they had to be rotated and then when the stoppers were complete nubbed, I wore the sides of the wheels down to nothing.
I guess I went through the natural progression of Quad Roller Skates. My next pair was just a basic white artistic style with red wheels and stopper. Again, there was nothing left of those puppies either when I was finished with them.
At age 14, with $114 of my Chinese New Years money, I bought my very first pair of Rollerblades. They had JUST come out and I HAD to have them! They were huge, bulky, uncomfortable, and I never really fell in love with them. I wore them only a few times. They never really fit right or felt right. In hindsight, I would’ve been better off spending the money on a pair of speed skates and becoming a roller derby girl.
Sadly, I haven’t really been on wheels since then.
Fast forward 20 years and I’ve just asked for a brand new (to me) vintage pair of skates that are almost as old as I am. Check these bad boys out:
They are SO HOT! I can’t wait until they get here!!!
Maybe then I’ll be doin’ stuff like this:
- 3 comments
- Posted under Fashion, Fun/Misc, Health/Fitness, Videos
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Robert D. Johnson
said
Yup, In the 60’s I had the skates you showed in your first image. A skate key was used to tighten the clamps around the toes of the shoes you happen to wear. (Sneakers could be worn, but hard shoes worked better.) The straps went up around the ankle and attached on the sides, to the heal of the skate. The length of the skate could be adjusted by tightening a wing nut (underneath) after sliding the front/end parts of the skate.
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Robert D. Johnson
said
And that song by Melanie was one of my favorites.
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greeneggs
said
Thanks, Bob. Yeah, I was telling Mike that the boy in the song has her skate key and wouldn’t give it back. LOL