Roller-skating was introduced in 1863, and it was quickly made fashionable by the elite of New

York City. The 1870’s rinks with hard maple had built floors in nearly every town and city. By paying an admission fee of twenty-five or fifty cents, men, women, and children could participate in races, fancy skating, or dancing on skates. Special skating dresses, which allowed more freedom of movement, became popular by the 1870’s. Indicative of the extent of the craze was this wry comment by the editors of Harper’s weekly, in the form of a potential gravestone inscription for a departed skater:

Our Jane has climbed the golden stair

And passed the jasper gates;

Henceforth she will have wings to wear,

Instead of roller skates.

The popularity of roller skating waned by the 1890’s, but like ice skating it helped lead to more freedom in dress and behavior for women.