The Silver Skates Derby, often called the New York Silver Skates, was an amateur speed skating tournament organized by the New York Daily News, and hosted at several New York City locations over its existence. It was first held in 1922, with the last edition on record taking place in 1960. It was part of a number of similarly named competitions that accompanied a boom in the sport's popularity in early 20th century United States.
History Origins The event was created and originally organized by Daily News sports writer Al Copland, with assistance from colleague and later novelist Paul Gallico. Shortly after its announcement, it received approval from the Middle Atlantic Skating Association, the sport's regional governing body. Starting in 1927, the organization was credited to an affiliated entity, first the New York Daily News' Athletic Association, and later the New York Daily News' Welfare Association, that newspaper's charitable foundation. The net profit was distributed to an ecumenical selection of New York area religious charities, as well as secular relief groups such as the Red Cross and the United Hospital Fund.
The event's name was inspired by the fictional speed skating contest entered by the hero of Mary Mapes Dodge's young adult novel Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates. Due to the book's popularity at the time, the name was shared with many other speed skating competitions of varying stature throughout the U.S. The inaugural edition was won by Al Leitch of West Orange, New Jersey, in front of 12,000 spectators at Lewisohn Stadium, in a time of 6:56.2-5 over 2 miles. After four years there, the event moved to Central Park, which already hosted the Metropolitan Skating Championships and Ice Carnival since 1923.
The contest's immediate success inspired the Daily News to create a similar one for amateur boxing, the New York Golden Gloves, which was launched in 1926. In the pre-World War II period, the New York Silver Skates enjoyed sizeable participation, drawing 1,625 entrants in 1940. It was one the three leading events promoted by the paper, with the Golden Gloves and dancesport's Harvest Moon Ball, which were also held at Madison Square Garden for much of their history.
Transition to indoors The New York Silver Skates started as an outdoor meet, and were sometimes disrupted by warm weather. The tenth edition, initially held on 18 January 1931, was stopped three laps into the Men's senior race as the ice was looking increasingly dangerous, with Herbert Taylor leading in front of a reported 40,000. It was rescheduled on the following weekend, but attendance suffered, falling to just 10,000. The event was postponed indefinitely and later cancelled in 1932 and 1933. It was able to take place in 1934 but was postponed four times in 1935, including on 3 February when a 35,000-strong crowd had to be sent home, before being cancelled again. To avoid further disappointments, it was decided to take the event indoors at Madison Square Garden, starting in 1936. The decision was taken on short notice, as registration forms left the location TBA, and the final announcement was made by the Daily News in early January.
Format The meet was sanctioned by the Middle Atlantic Skating Association, the regional affiliate of the Amateur Skating Union of the United States. Its main event was the Silver Skates Derby, the men's senior final, which gave the entire gathering its name.
The competition featured races for NY area skaters of both genders in a number of age classes and distances. The Silver Skate Derby, or Men's senior race, was 2-mile long in the inaugural event, as in the final edition on record. The 1922 installment also comprised a Junior Silver Skates Derby for boys, and a Girl's Derby. These two races were originally 1 mile in length. The length of a lap was fixed at 1/6-mile. More classes were later added, and the length of the undercard races varied. When the event moved indoors at MSG, it adopted a 110-yard lap length, or approximately 100-metre, shorter than the 111-metre of modern ISU regulations.
For most of the tournament's history, the Men's senior and Girl's senior events could only be won once by the same person. The 1958 edition, however, changed those eligibility rules for the Girl's senior class only, which allowed reigning champion Marian "Micki" Finch to return and successfully defend her 1957 crown.
A team classification existed for a decade between 1948 and 1957, which rewarded the best club based on points accrued by its competitors across the various individual races.
Race of Champions In 1929, a special race was organized between victors of past New York Silver Skates Derbies. Contested over 1 mile, it was won by 1926 champion Irving Jaffee with a time of 3:02 2–5. Although it was initially promoted of as a one-off, that race was retroactively included in the Race of Champions' history.
When the event moved to Madison Square Garden in 1936, a new event was added to the schedule, called the "International Inter-City Race" and raced over 2 miles like the New York Silver Skates Derby itself. Pitched by the Daily News as an "Arctic World Series", it pitted the most recent New York Silver Skates champion, Joe Bree, against the reigning champions of other major Silver Skates, initially those in Boston, Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis. The winners of other tournaments were subsequently added, most notably those of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Inter-City champion would return to defend his title the following year, in addition to the new champion from his region. Joe Bree won the inaugural event, although his time was actually 5 seconds slower than the 6:57.4 the New York Silver Skates winner, Cliff Spellman, who would win the Inter-City race himself in 1937. The race would later be known by the name "Championship of Champions" before settling on "Race of Champions".
As World War II and the advent of conscription prevented the gathering of current regional champions, the entry list reverted to a selection of past winners, often slanted towards New York area participants. The formula stuck after the conflict ended, with the race now billed as purely invitational, and mixing popular New York skaters with select representatives from other regions.
In 1955, a women's version of the Race of Champions was introduced, run on a shorter 3/4-mile distance. It was won by Janet Backman Tighe from the New England skating hotbed of Wilmington, with a time of 2:32.5, after local rival Jean Ashforth, who was on track for a record time, crashed when she hit a track marking block. However, the experiment was not renewed in subsequent years.
Qualifying As the contest grew in popularity, the number of participants required preliminary rounds to be held in advance of the finals. In the outdoor days, they often took place at the same venue. Following the move to the Garden's short track, qualifications originally took place at the Ice Club (later Iceland), the arena's secondary rink. Other facilities, such as the Brooklyn Ice Palace and Flushing Meadows Ice Rink were also used over the years, as was Central Park's outdoor Wollman Rink.
Exhibitions The event's program also featured some novelty attractions, which changed from year to year. The inaugural edition featured a time trial exhibition by 11-year-old blue chip prospect Raymond Murray. The 1936 edition featured a demonstration of barrel jumping (a precursor to ice cross) by specialist Bobby Hearn. Other numbers were performed by skating revues and some of the better North American-based figure skaters of the day, such as Maria and Otto Jelinek, Nancy and Ronald Ludington, Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards, Ronald Robertson, Hayes Alan Jenkins and Donald Jackson. Eleanor "Ellie" Sommers, who performed an exhibition during the 1956 Silver Skates, went on to play Hans Brinker's sister Trinka in NBC's adaptation the eponymous novel in 1958.
Masters of Ceremonies Between 1945 and 1955, the show's regular master of ceremony was anchorman and journalist Ed Sullivan, who had a longstanding association with the Daily News. Final editions were anchored by well-known pageant host Bob Russell.
Trophies The winner of the Men's senior Silver Skate Derby received a sculpture made of solid silver representing a pair of ice skates, as in the novel Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates. Winners in the other NY classes received silver plated skates. First, second and third placed skaters in the Race of Champions received a gold, silver and bronze plated replica of the Victory of Samothrace, respectively. Although the team classification predates it, 1955 was the first edition to award a formal trophy to the best team.
Winners Year Men's Senior(18 and over) Girls' Senior(16 and over) Race of Champions Team classification Venue 1922 Al Leitch Elsie MullerNot heldNo team classificationLewisohn Stadium, New York City1923West BeckerHattie Dose1924Paul ForsmanDorothy Jackson1925Lou MorrisCaroline Breiter1926Irving JaffeeEsther ZimmermanConservatory Lake at Central Park,New York City1927Eddie SearleOlga Fischer1928William CaseyLee Bertsch 1929Andy RoeschGene MackieIrving Jaffee1930Carl SpringerMildred MangoldNot held1931Herbert "Bert" TaylorLiliane Corke1932Cancelled due to weather conditions19331934Joe BreeMuriel WilsonNot held No team classification Conservatory Lake at Central Park,New York City1935Cancelled due to weather conditions1936Cliff SpellmanAlice BurnhamJoe BreeNo team classificationMadison Square Garden,New York City1937Joe DilleHelen BahilCliff Spellman1938John RoukemaEdna HanleyDon Johnson1939Dick WernerHilda ReutherJohn Roukema1940Roy EricksonEsther Williams1941Herman Van PuttenVirginia JahnCharles Leighton1942Robert JahnMargie CummingsHerman Van Putten1943Ray BlumHelen CarlescoJohn Simmons1944Frank BriggsTheresa RentonRay Blum1945Gilbert SwordsmaMarion HanleyJoe Bree1946John StrasserNorma DavisRoy Erickson1947Henry SwordsmaMarion DavisRay Blum1948Al CasaleMary LynchFrank BriggsPatterson SC1949Don McDermottMyra ShapiroRay Blum1950Joe WalshLouise DaubDon McDermott1951John StormMarion TomlinsonQueensbrook SC1952Dick KingCaroline CrudeleMario Trafeli, Jr.Grossinger SC1953Bill CooneyGloria RattayEdgar Dame Jr.Norsemen SC1954Arnold UhrlassJoan RussellMario Trafeli, Jr.Flushing Meadows Speed Skating Club1955Charles RussoLynn FinneganArnold Uhrlass1956Jay HasbrouckChristine MarkleyKenneth LeBelWollman Rink SC1957Robert NelsonMarion "Micki" FinchArnold UhrlassFlushing Meadows Speed Skating Club19581Steve StensonBill DisneyNo team classificationBob FischerArnold Uhrlass1959Donald BeamDarlene SechanicJohn Walsh1960Bob McCarthyBarbara SulcArnold Uhrlass
Footnotes The 34th and 35th editions were both staged in the calendar year 1958, as the event moved up from January to the previous December.
Records EventDistanceDateRecordSkaterMen's senior race2 miles8 December 19606:34.3Bob McCarthyGirl's senior race660 yards112 January 19531:14.8Gloria Rattay1/2-mile117 December 19591:38.5Darlene SechanicRace of Champions2 miles8 December 19606:13.2Arnold Uhrlass
Footnotes The distance for the Girl's senior race fluctuated depending on the year.
See also Silver Skates (Boston) Silver Skates (Chicago) Silver Skates (Detroit) Silver Skates (Minneapolis) Silver Skates (St. Paul) Silver Skates (St. Louis) Golden Skates (speed skating), a defunct Tri-State speed skating championship New York Golden Gloves, a sister competition for amateur boxers
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