The Evolution of Inline Roller Skates

1818 - In Berlin, Germany, inline roller skates made a tasteful entrance into society via a ballet that was choreographed to include ice skating at a time when it was impossible produce ice on a stage.

1819 - The Petitbled, the first roller skate patented, was an inline. This patent was issued in Paris, France, in 1819. M. Petitbled's invention had three inline wheels which were either wood, metal or ivory. He thought his inline skate would allow a skater to simulate ice skating moves, but the wheel construction would not allow it, since the wheels kept slipping on hard surfaces. For the next 40 years, skates were designed with two to six wheels which were aligned in-line. Maneuvering was exceptionally difficult in these early skates.

1823 - Robert John Tyers of London patented a skate called the Rolito with five wheels in a single row on the bottom of a shoe or boot. The Rolito could not follow a curved path like the inline skates we use today.

1860 - Reuben Shaler, an inventor from Madison, Connecticut, developed a new skate design in an effort to solve the maneuverability problem. Shaler patented a Parlor Skate, the first roller skate patent of any kind issued by the U.S. Patent Office, with four wheels attached by axes or pins to a hanger which somewhat resembled today's inline frames. This skate offered a rubber or leather ring on the wheels to allow them to grip the skating surface. These inline skates never caught on.

1863 - James Plimpton invents the quad skate and most roller skate manufacturers abandon inline production. This four-wheeled skate provided greater control than the inline models and was considerably easier to use. In spite of the market domination of the new quad skates, a few companies continued to design skates with inline wheels.

1892 - Walter Nielson of New York gets a patent for his Combined Ice Roller Skate. Nielson left a space at the back of his 14-wheel skate where he wrote in his patent description, "a pad of rubber, leather, or like material should be placed so that when the skater desires to stop, it is only necessary to press the pad against the floor or ground." He was way ahead of his time.

The National Museum of Roller Skating
is your About.com guide's resource for many
of the historical facts in this article.

You can contact the museum by writing to:

The National Museum of Roller Skating
PO Box 6579
Lincoln, NE 68506

Or email:
Roller Skating Museum Curator

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