Son Of A Preacher Man: The Sakari Ilmanen Story

Sakari Johannes Ilmanen was born November 3, 1880 in Loppi, a historic municipality in the Tavastia Proper region of Southern Finland. His father Reverend Johannes Ilmanen hailed from Ilmajoki in Finland’s South Ostrobothnia region and served as the vicar and parish priest in Orimattila until 1915, a decade after Sakari graduated from a Helsinki law school. His mother Mathila (Mandberg) Ilmanen raised Sakari and his siblings Martti, Lyyli and Armas and carried out the duties of a turn of the century vicar's wife. Sakari married Aili Lybeck in July 1907 and the following May, the couple welcomed their only child to the world, a daughter named Ilona.

Karl Ollo, Herra Rosenberg, Walter Jakobsson and Sakari Ilmanen in 1907

Details of Sakari's early skating career are murky at best. We know that early in his career he represented the Viborgs Skridskoklubb in Vyborg. In 1905, he gave an exhibition of pairs skating in Porvoo with Nadja Franck and in 1907, he competed in an international competition between Russian and Scandinavian skaters, placing fourth in the singles event behind Per Thorén, Richard Johansson and Fedor Datlin and fourth in the pairs event with partner Neiti Gallén. That same winter, he finished second in a similar competition behind Karl Ollo. However, in both competitions he placed ahead of future Olympic Gold Medallist Walter Jakobsson.

Sakari Ilmanen and Gunnar Jakobsson

After winning the 1908 and 1912 Finnish Championships, Sakari's career was interrupted by both the Great War and the three-month long Finnish Civil War of 1918 between the 'Reds' (the Social Democratic Party) and the 'Whites' (non-Socialist, conservative-led Senate). Sakari would have definitely been on the side of the 'Whites', as he worked as an official with the Vyborg Provincial Administration, was a representative of the President's Office in the Supreme Court and a secretary to Finnish Conservative politician Frans Oskar Lilius.

Sakari Ilmanen, Anna-Lisa Allardt, Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson and Gunnar Jakobsson

In February 1916, two years prior to the Civil War, Sakari won a competition hosted by the Helsingfors Skridskoklubb which aimed to revive skating during wartime. The February 2, 1916 issue of the "Ussi Suometar" reported, "His skating is to be seen by one who generally gives value to artistic motion... It is pleasing to see the gentle and smooth performance and the versatile composition of his free skating program."

Sakari Ilmanen and Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp

In 1920, Sakari reclaimed the Finnish men's title and travelled to Antwerp to compete in the figure skating competition held in conjunction with the Summer Olympic Games as the first skater from Finland to compete in the men's event at the Olympics. Though he was thirty nine years old by this point, he defeated 1908 Olympic Gold Medallist Ulrich Salchow in the free skate and finished an impressive fifth overall, almost twenty points ahead of the sixth place finisher, American Nathaniel Niles. Two judges had him in the top three in the free skating. He went on to place sixth at the 1922 European Championships in Davos, write reports of the 1924 Olympic Games for the "Suomen Voimistelu-ja Urheiluliiton" and win another three Finnish titles before retiring from competition in the mid twenties.

Working for the city of Helsinki as a government secretary for much of the rest of his life, Sakari passed away on February 16, 1968 at the age of eighty seven... the very same day that the men performed their free skates at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The 1936 European Figure Skating Championships

The winner's table... Karl Schäfer, Maxi Herber, Sonja Henie and Ernst Baier in Berlin. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Prior to the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, many of Europe's top skaters got their first taste of what competing in Nazi Germany would be like at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships. 

Photo courtesy Národní muzeum

The event was held from January 24 through 26, 1936 at the Berlin Sportpalast. As at the Olympics, the arena was swimming with S.S. Guards. High-ranking Nazi officials including Reich Minister Of Propaganda And 'Public Enlightment' Paul Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Wilhelm Göring and Hans von Tschammer und Osten watched from the stands.

Christine Engelmann, Karl Schäfer and Sonja Henie in Berlin.  Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

In Berlin, the amateur statuses of both Sonja Henie and Karl Schäfer were hot topics. Reporters jumped on a rumour that ISU officials were investigating "the conditions in which Schäfer's name was used in an advertisement in a sporting goods publication" but nothing ever came of it. If Schäfer kept his mouth shut, Sonja Henie took the opposite approach. Calling a press conference, she denied rumours surrounding her amateur status and announced to reporters, "I will defend all my titles for the last time this year then withdraw from active sport to do only fancy skating for my numerous friends in the world. Preparations for competitions take too much time." Let's take a look at how things played out in Berlin that year!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Violet and Leslie Cliff in Berlin. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Seven teams vied for supremacy at the Sportpalast. Skating to music specially composed for them by Rudolf Zeller, Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier easily defended their European title with first place ordinals from all seven judges. With four second place ordinals, Violet and Leslie Cliff, who trained at the Westover Ice Rink in Bournemouth, narrowly defeated Hungarian siblings Piroska and Attila Szekrényessy for the silver. Ilse and Erik Pausin and Emília Rotter and László Szollás, the teams who would win the silver and bronze in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, did not participate.

The January 27, 1936 issue of the "Wiener Sporttagblatt" offered a review of many of the pairs performances: "The mood in the audience was understandably a very good one as we knew that Herber-Baier, the German couple, had to win. The bad luck of the excellent Hungarian siblings
Piroska and Attilla Szekrényessy was to continue, though some of the judges changed their view of them. The Hungarians are very good, have a lot of energy, but despite bringing difficult figures an interplay doesn't exist at all. Second to skate were the Czechoslovakian combination of [Vera] Treybal and [Josef] Vosolobe. It was evident they had not trained at the Sportpalast. Besides, Fraulein Treybal fell once, so no favourable overall was made. Herber-Baier came next with cheers. With powerful energy, they performed a nice spiral, original pirouette combinations, an Axel Paulsen and new lifting figures. The lifting figures do not quite work out, but they are amazing. Surprisingly, many irregularities were observed as [other teams] attempted them. After the masters the Polish combination of Stephanie and Erwin Kalusz. They skated a really nice program without big highlights but with strong effect in some positions. The audience loved the Berlin couple [Eva] Prawitz and [Otto] Weiß and rightly, since [their program] was formulated according to the Viennese Waltz. They had excellent pirouettes and a lot of difficulty. The couple Violet and Leslie Cliff were next. He was tall and strong, she small and graceful. Despite their differences, they were excellent. Three times, he turned her in a deep pirouette. The Belgians [Louisa] Contamine and [Robert] Verdun skated a light program, but this was almost error-free. The judges completely disregarded the fact that the Hungarians should have been second and the Berliners third."

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Karl Schäfer and Sonja Henie in Berlin.  Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Unphased by the rumours surrounding his amateur status and clearly in a class of his own, Karl Schäfer was unanimously first in both the school figures and free skating on every judge's scorecard in Berlin. However, he struggled on the final two of his six figures. Once Marcus Nikkanen and Freddie Tomlins took themselves out of the running with dismal showings in the school figures, the battle for silver became a four way one between Ernst Baier, Henry Graham Sharp, Felix Kaspar and Elemér Terták. The German judge actually tied Kaspar with Schäfer in the free skate, but three judges actually had Terták second in that phase of the competition. However, once the marks were all added up, Sharp was in second, Baier third, Kaspar fourth and Terták fifth. Despite rallying back with a fine free skate, fifteen year old Tomlins was only able to finish seventh behind Nikkanen and Japan's Toshikazu Katayama, who had learned to skate largely by studying a translated copy of T.D. Richardson's first book. Belgium's Robert van Zeebroeck, the surprise bronze medallist at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, placed only tenth in a failed comeback attempt. More than twelve thousand spectators watched the men's free skate, many standing as the seats were all taken.

The January 27, 1936 issue of the "Wiener Sporttagblatt" offered a review of many of the men's free skating performances: "First, [Ernst] Baier skated into the arena and brought in his elegant, somewhat feminine way, a program which was meant for the audience. His soft, round movements remind one somewhat of [Gillis] Grafström. He was not fully acknowledged by the judges, as his program was full of poses although his program contained the most difficult figures. His Axels were flawless, free and perfect. His varied pirouettes found colossal applause. Kaspar's skating seemed wonderful. His jumps were of a fantastic height and had an unmatched security. His rapid succession of pirouettes had an excellent attitude and technical skill... He made just one mistake but his program was not well distributed. He piled the jumps at the beginning... The German and Finnish judges gave him for the contents the maximum score of 6.0. Nevertheless, that score was not quite right as there was no doubt in the rink he was the second best man in the place. [Freddie] Tomlins (England) skated surprisingly well. To be against the temp was nothing to complain about and his program was good. [Marcus] Nikkanen also received applause, especially for his peculiar zigzag steps and change-over pirouettes. He related extremely well to the audience. The Pole [Walter] Grobert and Berliner [Herbert] Haertel were pretty weak. Then came Schäfer... He received giant applause and showed a fine attitude, security and boldness in his program's conception skating to a combination of waltzes and modern music... He received the mark of 6.0 for both content and execution from the Austrian and Czechoslovakian judges. [Robert] van Zeebroeck skated with an injured foot and failed to make an impression... [Freddy] Mésot was even weaker. [Jean] Henrion skated very slowly, without any momentum. Then came the Hungarian [Elemér] Terták. He showed a program of good humour but without much difficulty. His jumps and repeated pirouettes pleased the audience and the judges were met with curses and whistles for their marks."

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Sonja Henie and Howard Nicholson (left) and Megan Taylor (right) in Berlin. Photos courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Sonja Henie won the school figures with first place ordinals from five of the seven judges. British judge Ian Home Bowhill and Austrian judge Fritz Kachler gave the nod to Cecilia Colledge, with Bowhill actually placing Henie in third behind Colledge and Megan Taylor. Controversially, Bowhill placed Austria's Liselotte Landbeck only twelfth in the first phase of the competition... while every other judge had her in the top five.

Jackie Dunn, Cecilia Colledge, Victoria Lindpaintner, Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier training in Berlin. Photos courtesy National Archives of Poland.

The free skating results mimicked those of the figures, with five of the seven judges placing Henie first and one placing her second and another third. This time, it was the Swedish and German judges who placed her behind Colledge. Interestingly, that same Swedish judge had Vivi-Anne Hultén only seventh in the free skating and the German judge had Maxi Herber only fifth... stopping any cries of nationalistic judging right in their tracks.

Karl Schäfer, Sonja Henie, Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier in Berlin. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

However, after the marks were all tallied Henie was once again first on every judge's scorecard overall, with Colledge and Taylor a firm second and third. Landbeck settled for fourth, ahead of Hultén, Hedy Stenuf, Maxi Herber and Viktoria Lindpaintner.

In ninth place was Etsuko Inada, the first and only woman representing an Asian country to compete at the European Championships. Crippled by low marks in the school figures, the pint-sized star from Japan became something of a media darling in Nazi Germany after delivering an outstanding free skate.  

The January 27, 1936 issue of the "Wiener Sporttagblatt" offered a review of many of the women's free skating performances: "As the first skater, Pamela Prior with a mourning band on the arm, like all the English women, skated surprisingly well. Her dainty figure came off especially well in the pirouettes in her frilly dress. Sonja Henie came out to some heckling, which was not very nice. She showed a wonderful program, without even the slightest technical mistakes. Her program was not too severe in its difficulty, but was perfectly put together. Especially good with her Axel, loop jumps and ballet steps. When she finished, flowers were thrown down and when the German officials left the place, she still boasted of the applause. [Mia] Macklin (England) fell once. Cecilia Colledge's program was similar to [Karl] Schäfer's with maximum difficulty. She did Rittberger jumps, Axel Paulsens and pirouettes, one more beautiful than the other. Her presentation was just wonderful. On the other hand, [Jacqueline] Vaudecrane was too weak for this competition. The Hungarian Éva Botond was liked. She struggled on an Axel Paulsen, but showed a nice, well developed program. The Swiss woman [Anita] Wageler fell in the same place as the Hungarian. The Englishwoman [Gladys] Jagger was a surprise. She skated very quickly and musically and won over the audience. Maxi Herber skated to a waltz and appeared uncertain in her jumps. Twice she had to lean on the ice to avoid a fall. Her program was well-developed. Megan Taylor's program was full of colossal difficulties. She managed smoothly, only the slow pace harmed the overall effect somewhat. Her presentation was wonderful, especially her ballet and dancing steps. Our little Austrian Hedy Stenuf had a big success. She skated without errors, though perhaps not quite as good as in Vienna. She was applauded for her pirouettes and certainly improved her place. The Swedish woman [Vivi-Anne] Hultén skated disappointingly to Hungarian music. Her tempo and swing left much to be desired and a fall on simple [footwork] decreased the impression of her performance. [Györgyi] Botond skated a light program without dificulties. The Czech [Věra] Hrubá skated smoothly as well. [Viktoria] Lindpaintner brought a pleasant program that was technically up to date. In the case of the Japanese [Etsuko] Inada there were differences of opinion between the audience and the judges. She has in the fourteen days since she has been in Europe improved greatly and her Rittberger and Axel were very nice. After her perfect performance, the audience cheered and cheered and when the marks were revealed, the audience jeered. Liselotte Landbeck was also better than at the competition in Vienna. She brought the usual technically first class program full of difficulties and her pirouettes had great effect. Her performance was excellent."

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Dancing Queen: The Nettie Prantel Meier Story

Joseph K. Savage, Ardelle Kloss Sanderson, Nettie Prantel and Roy P. Hunt. Photo courtesy "Skating Through The Years".

Born July 2, 1902 in the South Tyrolean municipality of Sterzing, Italy, Maria 'Nettie' Brandt emigrated to America with her mother and younger sister on the S.S. Furnessia when she was six years old. Her Swiss born father Jacob followed not long after, and the family anglicized their name to Prantel. They took up residence on Fourth Street in Manhattan, in the heart of New York City's Bohemian district, taking in another German man who drove a wagon as a boarder to help pay the bills. Nettie's father worked as a driver for a milk company; her mother took in washing.

The S.S. Furnessia. Photo courtesy Library Of Congress.

How a young woman who came from a family that wasn't well-to-do at all found herself accepted in the rather elitist circles of the Skating Club of New York in the roaring twenties is something of a mystery. Perhaps she was simply too good of a skater to be turned away?

In both 1930 and 1931, Nettie was a member of the Skating Club of New York's four that struck gold at the U.S. Championships. In 1932, she won an informal waltzing contest at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid. In 1934 and 1935, Nettie and partner Roy Hunt claimed the U.S. waltzing titles.

Nettie Prantel and Roy Hunt

In 1936, Nettie teamed up with Harold Hartshorne to win the Sno Birds Competition and two back-to-back U.S. Silver Dance titles and in 1939, Nettie was part of the Skating Club of New York's four that won bronze at the North American Championships. She also won the Waltz title at North Americans that year with Joseph Savage.

Top: A who's who of figure skating at the 1935 North American Championships. Left to right: (top row) Roger Turner, Polly Blodgett, Robin Lee, Veronica Clarke, Osborne Colson, Ardella Kloss, Joseph K. Savage; (second row) Roy Hunt, Donald B. Cruikshank, Estelle and Louise Weigel, Wingate Snaith, Louise Bertram; (third row) Nettie Prantel, William Bruns, Suzanne Davis, Frederick Goodridge; (fourth row) George E.B. Hill, Maribel Vinson, Mrs. William Bruns, Mrs. Margaret Davis, Frances Claudet, James Lester Madden, Grace Madden, Stewart Reburn; (bottom row) Prudence Holbrook, Melville Rogers, Guy Owen, Constance Wilson-Samuel and Bud Wilson. Photo courtesy "Skating Through The Years". Bottom: Joseph Savage, Ardelle Kloss Sanderson, Nettie Prantel and George Boltres.

Also an accomplished singles and pairs skater as well, Nettie won the Eastern junior pairs title in 1939 with George Boltres and finished third in the U.S. junior women's event in 1933. In fact, Nettie placed in the top three in practically every competition she entered for close to a decade, setting the 'gold standard' for American ice dance during a period in which the discipline's popularity was growing by leaps and bounds.

While she was still competing, Nettie served as First Chairman of the USFSA's Dance Committee, becoming the second woman to take on a position which still had 'man' in the title. She also served as a national level dance judge and took the time to assist in judging roller dancing tests. In her spare time, she enjoyed playing golf.

Nettie Prantel with partners Harold Hartshorne and Joseph Savage. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

In November 1940, Nettie married Mahlon Martin Meier of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, the son of a leather belt maker who worked as an attorney for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in New York. The couple settled in East Orange, New Jersey for a time. Nettie later taught ice dancing at the Winter Club of Washington. She passed away in Dennis, Massachusetts on January 4, 1998 at the age of ninety eight.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Skating In The Sands: Middle Eastern Skating History

In the nineteenth century, the British sent multiple shipments of ice skates to Brazil. In 1950, Soviet book distributor ezhdunarodnaya Kniga accidentally exported a shipment of books about figure skating to Albania, yet another country where frost, snow and ice were a completely foreign concept. Tales like these may provide more of a chuckle than anything, but the stories of how ice skating has been embraced in some of the most unexpected of places are quite enthralling. Grab your skates, hop into the time machine and hold on tight! Today on the blog we'll be taking a trip through the history of skating in the Middle East.

HOLIDAY ON ICE AND SAND

Photos courtesy "World Ice Skating Guide"

Holiday On Ice toured the Middle East in 1960, bringing hundreds of skaters and its portable ice rink with it. When the show came to Amman, Jordan, a Roman amphitheatre that had been destroyed by earthquakes some two thousand years prior was reconstructed at a great expense to house the show and some thousand spectators packed the seats for a three week run. King Hussein bin Talal attended the show's second night and posed for pictures with the skaters.

ERNEST AND THE AMIR

Ernest Thompson lived in Afghanistan from 1903 to 1909 with his wife Annie, building an operating a plant that manufactured boots for the Afghan army. In his book "Leaves from an Afghan Scrapbook: The Experiences of an English Official and his Wife in Kabul", he recalled, "Snow generally begins to come early in December, though it seldom lies on the ground for long, and it is not until the end of the month that we get a heavy downfall. The winter of 1903-4 was exceptionally severe, and did not break up until February was over. One week everything in the tannery was completely frozen up, and I was looking out for a decent stretch of ice to skate on, when I heard that the overflow from Kabul River was frozen and clear of snow, some boys having swept it in order to slide. I took my skates, and was soon spinning over the smooth surface. A crowd collected who had never seen skates before, and when I tried outside edge or cutting figures, they exclaimed: 'Name of God, now he's down! Ah! The four friends of the Prophet are keeping him up!' and so on. When I removed my skates, these folks were anxious to examine my skates, these folks were anxious to examine them, and asked how it was that a man could stand with one leg on them and still travel backwards. To keep a very forward questioner quiet, I suggested that, as he was wearing English boots, he ought to try a pair of English skates. He showed some reluctance to, but his friends egged him on, and soon the skates were firmly fixed on his feet, and I set him off on his first trip. Never shall I forget the sight. I laughed till I was obliged to sit down and cover my eyes. Shouts of encouragement from the spectators failed to drown the skater's yells and curses. Up and down he went, till his long turban fell off, and unwinding itself, got mixed up with his legs, whilst his shaven head seemed to bounce about like a large tennis-ball. 'Take these arms of the devil off my feet; for the love of God take them off!' he called to me... News of this new form of entertainment soon spread, and the following morning His Majesty the Amir sent a firman requesting me to appear before him. At 2:30 I presented myself at the arrk, when he asked a good many questions, and ordered his gardeners to prepare me a sheet of ice in his gardens. A few days later, all being ready, I turned out to show him what English skating was like. Habibullah Khān took great interest in it, and said, 'Yes, this is good. Now one of my gholam butchas [court attendants] shall put the skates on.' As a young fellow struggled to obey his orders, the Amir laughed until the tears came. During an interval he observed: 'It is good that all should learn.' No sooner was this remark made than several portly officials, standing by, found that they had urgent business to attend to, and begged leave to go. Prayer-time was near at hand, so the afternoon's entertainment was brought to a close. Habibullah Khān went off to prepare for his devotions, dryly remarking: 'I am pleased to see that my courtiers are more anxious to work than to learn a new sport.'"

GENÇLIK PARKI

Gençlik Parki in Ankara opened on May 19, 1943 during a Turkish national holiday for 'youth and sports'. Designed by Hermann Jansen and constructed by landscape architect Theo Leveau, one of the park's most unusual features was a manmade artificial lake that was engineered by diverting the waters of Benderesi Creek. Although winter temperatures in Turkey's capital rarely dip below zero, back in the forties the Gençlik Parki proved a popular and unlikely skating destination.

DWYER IN DUBAI

Opened in 1980, the ice skating rink at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dubai was the United Arab Emirates' first. In my June 2015 interview with Richard Dwyer - Mr. Debonair himself - talked about his experience teaching there. He explained, "It was from about 1982 to 1988 and I'd go for a few weeks each time but I was there for one whole summer during that time. Ted Wilson had been with Ice Capades and I went over a number of times to do two week shows at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was one hundred and twenty degrees outside but nice and cool inside and the kids were phenomenal."

THE KUWAIT CITY ICE SKATING RINK

In the late seventies, a French construction firm was contracted to construct a two-rink facility in Kuwait City. It was an incredible feat for a city which at the time had no running water and relied solely on water delivered by truck from desalinization plants. The Ice Skating Rink facility opened to the public in March 1980 with a full-sized rink exclusively for the use of men and a second, smaller rink relegated to women and children. Sadly, this rink doubled as a morgue on multiple occasions.

Surya Bonaly performing to "The Cry Of Beirut" by Dana Dragomir at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway

NOT LEBANESE, BLANCHE!

Photo courtesy "Skate" magazine

Designed by French architect Jean Royère, the popular Le Bristol Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon offered a unique attraction in the fifties, sixties and seventies: a lobby level ice rink with skate rentals. The small, circular rink was a popular destination for locals and hotel guests alike. Richard Bevis recalled skating at the hotel rink in 1959 in his travel memoir "Wanderjahr: An Odyssey of Sorts": "The ice was rough and my skates were dull, but I had a good time, despite taking a glorious fall while skating backwards." The Le Bristol Hotel wasn't the only Lebanese rink to install an ice rink during the fifties. The Casino du Liban, a popular casino twenty miles north of Beirut, once staged an ice revue as well.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Fashionista: The Mary Wills Story

Photo courtesy Ingrid Hunnewell

"Designing for the Ice Follies is like painting in action. Ice Follies has the greatest scope and the fastest pace of any form of theatrical entertainment. I consider this one of the biggest challenges of my career." - Mary Wills

The daughter of Mary (Champie) and Dr. Euclid Clarence 'Doc' Wills, Mary Lillian Wills was born July 4, 1914 in Prescott, Arizona. Her father was a family physician and when Mary was a teenager, his work brought the family to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Left: Dr. Euclid Clarence Wills. Right: Mary Wills. Photo courtesy Ingrid Hunnewell.

Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Mary studied theater and art at the University Of Arizona and University Of New Mexico. She was described as having a "bubbling personality [and] astonishing vitality" by her Theta sorority sisters. After completing her studies, she went east to New York City - ignoring the advice of her family and friends - with big dreams of being a big actress, or failing that, a set designer. She maade ends meet by working as a counter salesperson at Saks Fifth Avenue then got her first big break - a scholarship to enter Yale University's Art And Drama School. She earned her masters there and made history as the first woman to graduate from the Costume Design department. Her very first job out of Yale was designing costumes for an ice show in New Haven, Connecticut.

The lure of designing costumes for the silver screen brought Mary to Hollywood. Her exceptional talent for costume design led her to design dresses for plays, summer stock companies, operas, television and film. She even created uniforms for the staff of the Space Needle Restaurant in Seattle. Legendary actresses like Bette Davis and Joan Collins wore her creations. Her many film credits included "The Diary Of Anne Frank", "The Virgin Queen", "Funny Girl", "Hans Christian Anderson" and "Paint Your Wagon". She received no less than seven Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design between 1952 and 1976, winning the coveted award in 1962 for her work on the MGM film "The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm." Like Midas, anything she touched turned to gold. In Hollywood, they called her special flair for fashion 'The Wills Touch'.

Mary Wills' fashions for Ice Follies skaters. Photos courtesy Ingrid Hunnewell.

Largely passed over is Mary's role in shaping the fashions of professional figure skating. She began working as a costume designer for the Ice Follies in 1962, at a time when the show was already hugely popular. With a whopping four hundred thousand dollar budget, Mary and her team at the company's Hollywood costume shop took the look of the tour's skaters to a whole new level of glamour.

Left: Eddie Shipstad and Mary Wills. Right: Mary Wills at the drawing board. Photo courtesy Ingrid Hunnewell.

Mary had lace imported from Belgium and Luxembourg, marabou feathers and ostrich plumes brought in from Africa and white swans breast and stripped peacock feathers delivered from India. Working with everything from nylon tulle to Thai silk, the gowns she created for the women featured in Richard Dwyer's famous Young Debonair act had jaws dropping. In 1966, she remarked, "I used to think the skates hampered me as a designer but now I see them as an advantage. They give you height where you need it - in a long leg line. That's better than putting a tall hat on a little girl."

Mary Wills' fashions for Ice Follies skaters. Photos courtesy Ingrid Hunnewell.

Mary left her position at the Ice Follies in the capable hands of Helen Colvig in 1967 and moved on to other projects but one of her very last jobs before retiring in 1983 was designing Dorothy Hamill's dresses for the television production "The Nutcracker: A Fantasy On Ice". She died of renal failure in Sedona, Arizona at the age of eighty two on February 7, 1997, her contributions to figure skating fashion largely overlooked.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The 1946 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Gloria Peterson, Gretchen Merrill and Barbara Jones. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

World War II might have brought figure skating in many European countries to a halt, but American skating enjoyed an unprecedented boom. Inspired by Sonja Henie pictures and the many touring ice spectacles and hotel shows, more young people took to the ice in the United States than ever before.

The 1946 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Chicago were the first Nationals to be held after the War ended. The event drew seventy five entries though only sixteen men over the three classes, as many men were still in service. It marked the dawning of a new era in American skating as well as a celebration of years past. Not only was it the twenty fifth anniversary of the host Chicago Figure Skating Club, but also the twenty fifth anniversary of the USFSA.

The Chicago Arena circa 1946. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

The event served as a post-War reunion of sorts for many champions and generous media attention, colourful costumes, a printed program and a microphone to announce the scores only added to the excitement.

The Open Marking System was used for all events except ice dance and judging conferences were held in conjunction with the event. The return of the senior men's event after a two year hiatus added another layer of interest to skating aficionados in attendance. Let's take a quick look back at the excitement!

THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR EVENTS

Yvonne Sherman and Robert Swenning

Novice pairs and ice dance events weren't anywhere close to being included on the bill at the U.S. Championships. In novice men's, Dudley Richards of the Skating Club of Boston bested Washington's Walter 'Red' Bainbridge, Philadelphia's Newbold Black and Cleveland's Hayes Alan Jenkins.

Dudley Richards

Detroit's Ginny Baxter led the way after the figures in novice women's, only to drop to second overall after Seattle's Gloria Peterson delivered what was by all accounts a superb free skating performance. Philadelphia's Jane Lemmon edged Helen Geekie of St. Louis and Nancy Lemmon of Philadelphia for the bronze.

Gloria Peterson, Gretchen Van Zandt Merrill and Barbara Jones

Yvonne Sherman and Robert Swenning of the Skating Club Of New York won junior pairs. John Lettengarver of the St. Paul Figure Skating Club defeated Charles Brinkman, Robert Swenning and Carleton Hoffner, Jr. to win the junior men's title. Barbara Jones of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society won the junior women's event, besting Yvonne Sherman, Shirley Lander and Lois Johnson. The Silver (junior) dance title was won by a married couple, Vivian (Halliday) and Richard C. Queisser, representing the Washington Figure Skating Club. The Queisser's were social ice dancers. She had taken up skating in 1941 and spent two summers in Lake Placid. He started skating on ponds at the age of ten and had only really started skating in 1941 as well. The couple both worked for the U.S. government. Vivian's sister Vera placed second with partner E. Tefft Barker, ahead of Camilla Cliff and Sidney J. Moore and Nancy Miller and Don Laws.

THE FOURS, PAIRS AND ICE DANCE COMPETITIONS

Donna J. Pospisil and Jean-Pierre Brunet. Photo courtesy "World Ice Skating Guide".

To the delight of the Chicago crowd, a hometown quartet won the city's only gold medal in the fours event. The team consisted of Jacquelyn Dunne, Joan Yocum and the van der Bosch brothers - Edward and Larry. In Gold (senior) ice dance, a pair of teenagers waltzed away with gold. In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves recalled, "The new Dance Champions, Anne Davies, 15, and Carleton Hoffner, Jr., 14, also liked to play tennis and swim, but they aspired to attend the Olympics in ice dance. They trained in Washington with Norval Baptie. Carleton also trained in Lake Placid with Howard Nicholson and Nancy Allard and planned to study at Annapolis." The bronze went to Carmel Waterbury and Edward Bodel and fourth place to Marcella May Willis and Frank Davenport. The senior pairs event was won by Olympic Gold Medallist Andrée and Pierre Brunet's teenage son Jean-Pierre and his partner, Donna Jeanne Pospisil, representing the Skating Club of New York. Only two years later, Jean-Pierre, who had been awarded a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was killed instantly when the jeep he was driving overturned.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Gretchen Van Zandt Merrill, George Tracey, Carolyn Welch and Jimmy Lochead Jr.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Gretchen Van Zandt Merrill of the Skating Club of Boston, a student of Maribel Vinson Owen, took a decisive lead in the school figures, which accounted for sixty percent of the score. Though Janette Ahrens and Madelon Olson, both of St. Paul, held on to place second and third based on their strong showings in figures, the fourth place finisher made a far greater impression in the free skating competition. Philadelphia's Eileen Seigh was awarded the Oscar L. Richard Trophy for most artistic women's program. The Skating Club of Boston's Barbara Burns rounded out the women's field in fifth.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Dick Button. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Representing the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, a teenage Dick Button entered senior men's event at the U.S. Championships for the first time and walked away a winner. In his book "Dick Button On Skates" he recalled, "At sixteen, I could only hold my breath on entering my first battle for United States supremacy. But the four years of constant training, excellent instruction and the inspirational support of my family paid off... I received a unanimous vote of 5, with James Lochead, Jr. of Berkeley, California, second with 10 and John Tuckerman of Cleveland third with 17. I was told that this was the first time anyone had won the men's novice, junior and senior national titles in successive years. Jimmy Lochead had led me in figures. I could see then that it would be possible to win doing what I liked to - free skate - provided my figures held up." Placing fourth at that event was Chicago's lone entry, Patrick Kazda. The autumn after Button's win, he received a call from Walter S. Powell of the USFSA confirming his spot on the American team which would leave the following January for the European and World Championships. That Chicago win kick-started Dick Button's international career.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.