And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Not necessarily. My dad had a set of indoor skates that required a pair of dress shoes to be modified. The chassis had the front edge hooks that grabbed the thick sole like those old metal wheel skates that used keys, but these were preset to fit. The heel of the shoes had an insert set into the center that was the fixed half of a dzus fitting, and the chassis had the rotating insert mounted with a lever that folded alongside the shoe when turned to engage. I was told they were designed for skating rink personnel so they could quickly switch between walking and skating. I'm guessing he got them in the 1940's. Born in '25.
Dad said he would hide the skate chassis pair in a cubbyhole outside the South Philly skating arena which also had a dance club next door. If he saw a girl he liked, he was set to do either skate or dance at a moments notice, and could be much quicker to act than the other guys hanging around waiting for girls to show up.
I really wanted those skates, but they disappeared when he died. I figured one of my sisters tossed them, thinking they were an old broken set of skates, since they were just a bare metal chassis with wooden wheels. I put new wheels and bearings on them about ten years before he died, in case he got the urge to hit a rink. He had his skate shoes refurbished, which is why I did the new wheels, just in case. The original wheels were really worn thin.
Gene Kelley
ReplyDeleteWhen you needed a key for your rollerskates
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. My dad had a set of indoor skates that required a pair of dress shoes to be modified. The chassis had the front edge hooks that grabbed the thick sole like those old metal wheel skates that used keys, but these were preset to fit. The heel of the shoes had an insert set into the center that was the fixed half of a dzus fitting, and the chassis had the rotating insert mounted with a lever that folded alongside the shoe when turned to engage. I was told they were designed for skating rink personnel so they could quickly switch between walking and skating. I'm guessing he got them in the 1940's. Born in '25.
DeleteDad said he would hide the skate chassis pair in a cubbyhole outside the South Philly skating arena which also had a dance club next door. If he saw a girl he liked, he was set to do either skate or dance at a moments notice, and could be much quicker to act than the other guys hanging around waiting for girls to show up.
I really wanted those skates, but they disappeared when he died. I figured one of my sisters tossed them, thinking they were an old broken set of skates, since they were just a bare metal chassis with wooden wheels. I put new wheels and bearings on them about ten years before he died, in case he got the urge to hit a rink. He had his skate shoes refurbished, which is why I did the new wheels, just in case. The original wheels were really worn thin.
Gene Kelly in "It's Always Fair Weather". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAISjlN_p8E
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