The history of roller derby traces the evolution of roller skating races into a unique sport which underwent several boom-and-bust cycles throughout the 20th century. Although it was a form of sports entertainment for much of its existence, a grassroots, early 21st century revival spearheaded by women has restored an emphasis on athleticism.
Origins
Endurance races The growing popularity of roller skating in the United States led to the formation of organized endurance races as early as 1884, when skater Victor W. Clough skated 100 miles over the course of nearly ten hours in Geneseo, Illinois. In March 1885, a six-day "go-as-you-please" competition was staged at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with 36 skaters competing for $500$ in recent dollars. in prize money. Two deaths resulted from the six-day race: both the winner, William Donovan, and skater Joseph Cohen died shortly after the race was completed. Though the inquest that resulted from Cohen's death led to a recommendation for a law prohibiting roller skating activities exceeding four hours in length, a second six-day race was announced in May 1885.
The popularity of roller skate racing, including endurance events, continued in the early 20th century. Races routinely featured amateur skaters as well as professionals, some of whom toured as troupes. Due to rowdiness at some events, including tripping and pushing, speed roller skating acquired a reputation for being something less than a legitimate sport. The International Skating Union of America, a competitor of the International Skating Union, formed in 1907 partly in response. This network of regional associations lasted 20 years, organized championship races, and established rules that prohibited rough play.
Although tripping and pushing may not have been allowed at certain events, popular speed and endurance races continued to be held on both flat and banked tracks in the century's first three decades. Among these races was an 8.5-mile roller marathon organized in 1908 by a group of Chicago rink owners, a 24-hour endurance championship held in Milwaukee in 1913, and a 24-hour banked track race held at Madison Square Garden in 1914. The New York Times noted that the crowd at Madison Square Garden enjoyed the sudden sprints and spills during the event's preliminary races.
The term derby, meaning a race or multi-race event, appeared in the press as early as 1922, when the Chicago Tribune announced and reported on the results of two "roller derby" events held that year. These were multi-day events during which various roller skating races were held on a flat track at Chicago's Broadway Armory. “Roland Cloni of Akron, world’s champion roller skater, who yesterday tried out the track in the Broadway armory, where the national roller skating derby will be held this week, asserted new world’s records can be established for flat tracks. The derby will open tomorrow and run until Saturday.”
Seltzer's walkathons In 1929, as the Great Depression began, struggling film publicist Leo Seltzer (1903–1978) observed that cash prize-awarding dance marathons among out-of-work contestants and spectators were undermining attendance at his Oregon cinema chain, so he sought ways to capitalize on the trend. Seltzer began holding his own dance marathons, dubbed "walkathons" since contestants usually ended up just shuffling around for the duration of the contests, which could run as long as 40 days. Hundreds of unemployed people participated, hoping to win cash prizes. The contests were emceed by celebrities like Frankie Laine and Red Skelton, and grossed $6 millionAbout $ in recent dollars. in three years. Seltzer held his first commercial walkathon in 1931 in Denver, Colorado, then held 22 more, grossing $2 millionAbout $ in recent dollars. before retiring, citing that the events had become "vulgar."
In 1933, Seltzer moved his family to Chicago, Illinois and began booking events at the Chicago Coliseum.
Transcontinental Roller Derby In 1935, the novelty of walkathons had worn off, but a roller skating fad arose again. According to folklore, Seltzer read an article in Literary Digest magazine that said ninety-three percent of Americans roller skated at least once in their lives. While discussing the article with regular patrons at Ricketts, a restaurant in Chicago's Near North Side, Seltzer was challenged to invent a sport incorporating roller skating. Jotting his ideas onto a tablecloth, he decided to combine then-popular six-day bicycle races and roller skating. Some sources give co-credit for the idea to Leo's brother Oscar. Roller derby has entertained the masses in one form or another since the 1930s, when brothers Leo and Oscar Seltzer conceptualized the idea of a skating contest on a Chicago restaurant tablecloth. It began as an idea jotted down on the tablecloth when brothers Leo and Oscar Seltzer were out to dinner.
In August of that year, Seltzer organized his own Transcontinental Roller Derby, an event more than a month long. Staged at the Chicago Coliseum, it was a simulation of a cross-country roller skating race in which 25 two-person (male-female) teams circled a wooden, oval, banked track thousands of times, skating 11½ hours a day, to cover 3,000 miles, the distance between Los AngelesThe National Museum of Roller Skating says San Diego, not Los Angeles. and New York City. Team standings were indicated by multicolored lights tracking their imaginary progress on a large map of the United States.Seltzer et al. v. Sunbrock et al.; No. 1292. District Court, S.D. California, Central Division. 22 F. Supp. 621; 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2240. March 8, 1938. Teams were disqualified if both members were off the track during skating times. Sixteen teams dropped out due to injuries or exhaustion, but nine teams finished, and the winning team, Clarice Martin and Bernie McKay, held the lead for the last 11 days of the event. Although Seltzer's spectacle had elements of originality, a U.S. District Court, ruling against Seltzer when he sued a competitor in 1938, found that the marathon roller race concept had long been in the public domain, so Seltzer couldn't claim copyright violation.
Following the first event's success, Seltzer took the Transcontinental Roller Derby on the road, holding similar races throughout the U.S. with a portable track that reportedly cost $20,000.$ in recent dollars. Daily crowds averaged 10,000 in number, with spectators paying 10 to 25 cents admission.$ to $ in recent dollars. These races were billed as covering "4,000 miles" even though the simulated route was still about 3,000, covering the distance from San Diego to New York City. Contestants were the winners of elimination races in Seltzer's Transcontinental Roller Derby Association, which in September 1935 already had 3,000 members, paying $2 each,$ in recent dollars. at 1,600 rinks. By early 1936, Seltzer had selected a group of teams who competed in Chicago, Miami, Louisville, and Detroit. Skaters in these races only had to skate 8 hours nightly, but were encouraged to engage in "jams" and, at specific times, 5-minute sprints referred to in event programs as "open house". Later that year, Transcontinental Roller Derby debuted in New York at the New York Hippodrome, simulating a 21-day "short course" from Salt Lake City to New York. Appearances at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, California attracted celebrities such as W.C. Fields, Mickey Rooney, Eddie Cantor, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Cary Grant and Eleanor Powell.The Pan Pacific Auditorium appearances may have been organized by competing promoters; more sources are needed.
Occasionally, massive collisions and crashes occurred as skaters tried to lap those who were ahead of them. In 1936, 1937, or 1938 (sources vary), after seeing a match in Miami and realizing this was an exciting element of the sport, sportswriter Damon Runyon encouraged Seltzer to tweak the game to maximize physical contact between the skaters, including elbowing, "whipping", and slamming each other into the track's outer rail, as well as exaggerating hits and falls. Seltzer bristled, wanting to keep the sport legitimate, but agreed to the experiment, (link points to the archived article in the Spring 2000 edition of the author's own PopCult Magazine Web site) “The faster skaters would break out and try and get laps so they would get ahead in the race, and some of the slower skaters started to band together to try and hold them back,” says Seltzer. “And at first, they didn’t want to let them do that—but then the people liked it so much, they kind of allowed blocking. Then they came down to Miami–I think it was 1936, early ’37—and Damon Runyon, a very famous sports writer, saw it and he sat down with my father and hammered out the rules, almost exactly as they are today.” which fans ended up loving.
In the Depression's later years, some cities hosted the Derby's "short course" engagements, simulating semi-transcontinental distances. This page also mentions that crash helmets and a penalty box were new that year. Points were accumulated on behalf of three "factions", each named for a color (Black, White, or Green) and consisting of five two-person teams skating in 15-minute shifts. With all three factions on the track at the same time, two teams frequently banded together to rout the third. A more sporting variety followed, with just two teams being named after Indian tribes. This, too, was short-lived. The two-team concept survived, but teams were built around the idea of there always being a "home team" named for wherever the match was being played, even though the skaters were always the same people. By 1939, the organization had four pairs of teams touring the country at the same time, always billed as the home team versus either New York or Chicago. The format of two five-person teams on the track at the same time, with a team scoring points when its members lap members of the other team, is the basic premise of roller derby to this day.
Charter bus disaster On March 24, 1937, 21 members of a touring group of Roller Derby skaters and support personnel were killed when their chartered bus blew a tire while going 40 mph down a hill on U.S. Route 50, collided with a bridge abutment, rolled onto its side and burst into flames, trapping passengers inside. The accident occurred near Salem, Illinois, as the bus was en route from St. Louis to Cincinnati for another performance. Only a few of the 23 passengers escaped the burning wreckage, and two of them died later from their injuries, bringing the total fatalities to 19 or 20 (sources vary).Deford 1971:133 The disaster nearly put Seltzer out of business, but replacement skaters were signed and Roller Derby survived. As a tribute to those killed in the disaster, the number "1" was permanently retired for all Roller Derby teams.
WWII era In Los Angeles, Roller Derby was broadcast on the radio as early as 1939.;
Transcontinental Roller Derby rapidly grew in popularity as a spectator sport. Matches were held in fifty cities in 1940, for more than five million spectators, some of whom formed fan clubs and newsletters like Roller Derby News (later renamed RolleRage). Teams began to represent and compete in other U.S. cities, although some teams were actually the same traveling group that would just change names depending on where they were playing, and all were part of the Seltzer-owned Roller Derby league. The league's own estimates of audiences for 1941 were comparable, with four million Midwestern spectators in 20 cities being claimed.Deford:1971:87.