The 1950 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Dick Button and Yvonne Sherman at the 1950 U.S. Championships

The 1950 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held from March 22 to 26 in Washington, D.C. at the opulent Uline Arena, which was renamed the Washington Coliseum in the sixties. Less than a decade before the 1950 U.S. Championships when the Uline Arena was built, it was only one of two arenas in the country with a concrete dome. The intimate venue seated only fifty four hundred spectators, who got to take in a five day skating event while reclining in leather opera chairs, instead of old cold rink bleachers. As far as skating competitions in the fifties went, it was pretty swanky stuff.

Walter Muehlbronner, Irene Maguire, Mayor Lloyd Jackson, Sonya Klopfer and Hayes Alan Jenkins signing the guestbook at City Hall in Hamilton, Ontario at a carnival just prior to the 1950 World and U.S. Championships. Photo courtesy Hamilton Public Library.

The event was well two weeks after the World Championships in London, England, where Dick Button had won the men's event, Karol and Peter Kennedy had won America's first World pairs title and Lois Waring and Michael McGean had won the first 'unofficial' international ice dance competition held in conjunction with the World Championships. Patriotism was high and Dallas Dort, the President of the Washington Figure Skating Club beamed as the host club won the coveted Harned Trophy for the highest number of points earned by one club for the first time in history. Let's take a look back at how things all played out at this fascinating competition in what is very much a 'before they were stars' edition of the blog!

THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR EVENTS

It wasn't even really that close in the novice men's event when thirteen year old Ronnie Robertson of Los Angeles defeated Akron, Ohio's David Jenkins 675.54 to 644.49 for the novice men's title. Though St. Paul's Richard Branvold earned more points, the judges placements saw William T. Lemmon Jr. of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society earn the bronze. In an extremely close competition, Pat Quick of Berkeley, California moved up from second after figures to defeat Akron, Ohio's Nancy Mineard in the novice women's event. Catherine Machado of Los Angeles edged New York's Carol Heiss for the bronze by 4.8 points. Enough names already? Those were just the novice events!

Tenley Albright. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

With Maribel Vinson Owen looking on from the boards, Tenley Albright of the Skating Club Of Boston took home the gold in the junior women's event. The March 26, 1950 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer boasted, "The 14-year old miss drew the plaudits of the crowd with her smooth grace in the free skating event."

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Left: Janet Gerhauser and John Nightingale. Right: Danny Ryan and Carol Ann Peters. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine.

The junior pairs title was won by Janet Gerhauser and John Nightingale of the St. Paul Figure Skating Club. Fourteen couples entered the Silver (junior) dance event, with ten eliminated before the finals. In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves recalled, "The stately couple of Carol Ann Peters and Daniel Ryan won with their unison and delightful lilt. Carol was about to enter college and Danny attended college. They had been skating together for just over a year. Danny had roller danced for six years and placed second in the 1949 Roller Nationals in Senior Men's. Asked whether he liked roller or ice better, he responded 'both best.'" The silver went to Caryl Johns and Jack Jost, the bronze to Vera Halliday and Edward Picken and fourth place to Virginia Hoyns and Donald Jacoby. In seventh place was Bill Kipp of the Penguin Figure Skating Club, skating with partner Theda Beck.

Virginia Hoyns and Donald Jacoby. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

In front of a hometown crowd, Don Laws rallied from behind with an amazing skate to claim the junior men's title. The silver medal went to Barry Gorman of Berkeley; the bronze to Lake Placid's Evy Scotvold. Sixth was future USFSA President Hugh C. Graham. The leader after the junior men's figures was actually Dudley Richards of The Skating Club Of Boston but a poor free skate dropped him down to fourth. Richards, along with Bill Kipp, Danny Ryan and Maribel Vinson Owen, would all perish in the 1961 Sabena Crash.

THE PAIRS AND FOURS COMPETITIONS

Karol and Peter Kennedy

Seattle's Karol and Peter Kennedy arrived back on U.S. soil after winning the World Championships aboard a Scandinavian airliner, with less than two weeks before they had to compete in Washington. It didn't really matter. The Kennedy Kids' win in Washington was a cakewalk. With what papers from New York to Seattle termed only as "another dazzling performance", they were first on every judge's scorecard. Irene Maguire and Walter Muehlbronner of New York finished second, Anne Davies and Carleton Hoffner of Washington third and Patsy Hamm and Jack Boyle of Tacoma, Washington fourth.

Irene Maguire and Walter Muehlbronner. Photo courtesy Joseph Butchko Collection, an acquisition of the Skate Guard Archive.

Defending their national title were the fours team from St. Paul, consisting of Janet Gerhauser, John Nightingale, Marilyn Thomsen and Marlyn Thomsen. No, not a typo... Marilyn and Marlyn were fraternal twins. When someone backed out at the last minute from the Washington fours team, Danny Ryan volunteered to fill their spot... and won the silver medal with Dorothy Dort, Richard Juten and Mary Lou King. Finishing third was the fours team representing the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, which consisted of Barbara Davis, Elizabeth Jones, William T. Lemmon and James Coote.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Yvonne Sherman (left) and Andra McLaughlin (right)

After the school figures, nineteen year old Yvonne Sherman of New York, the 1950 World Bronze Medallist, led fifteen year old Sonya Klopfer (Dunfield) of Long Island by a mere four points. With a dazzling free skate, she only expanded upon her figures lead and took the gold medal with 1724.38 points out of a possible 1910 and first place ordinals from every judge. Klopfer was second with 1707.46, Ginny Baxter of Detroit third with 1686.06, Andra McLaughlin of Colorado Springs fourth with 1639.46 and Helen Geekie of St. Louis fifth with 1628.18. In his book "Dick Button On Skates", Dick Button described Yvonne as "tall and beautiful and very artistic in her skating" and Sonya as "the most dynamic free skater of the era among the ladies" and a skater "who had speed, power and strength in skating which few men could display."

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Left: Irene Maguire and Walter Muehlbronner. Right: Lois Waring and Michael McGean. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine.

A record five thousand spectators attended the finals of the gold (senior) dance competition. The event initially started with six teams, with Vera Ruth Elliott and Rex Cook and Jean Coulter and Don Laws eliminated before the final round of competition. Lynn Copley-Graves described how it all played out thusly: "Lois Waring and her new partner, Michael McGean, confirmed their superiority. Runners-up Irene Maguire and Walter Muehlbronner realized this young couple could not be beaten. Irene announced her retirement from competition and prepared for her first teaching assignment in Lake Placid during the summer. Lois planned to design more skating dresses during the summer and to enter college in the fall. Michael, a Dartmouth class of '49 graduate, balanced skating with studies toward a masters degree in economics. In 1945, he had a grand slam in Midwestern Senior Men's, Pairs and Dance. Lois played tennis, and Michael played on the Dartmouth squash team." Anne Davies and Carleton Hoffner won their second medal of the Championships, edging Carmel and Edward Bodel for the bronze.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Dick Button

Exams at Harvard University ended the day before Dick Button had to compete in Washington. He took a red eye train, arriving from Boston forty minutes before he took the ice to skate his first of six school figures. A sleep-deprived Button earned 942.1 points out of 1,050 in the figures - not his best showing - but still had a healthy lead over Hayes Alan Jenkins of Akron, Ohio with 881.7 and C. Austin Holt and Richard Dwyer (both of Berkeley, California) with 871.4 and 864.5. The March 24, 1950 issue of "The Times Record" noted, "The five judges varied widely in rating the champ's performance... One judge gave Button nine points or better on each figure. One gave his four nines or better and two scores above 8.4. Another gave him five nines or better and one 8.6. But the other two gave him much lower scores across the board. One rated him with two nines or better and and four 8.5's or better. And the other gave him but one nine and five eights." In case you are wondering, yes, the scores were out of 10.0 and not 6.0 at the U.S. Championships during this era. Button rallied in the free skate to win his fifth U.S. title ahead of Jenkins, Dwyer and Holt.

In his book "Dick Button On Skates", Dick Button recalled, "Jenkins, with [Jimmy] Grogan absent due to injury, was held to 12 placings, against my five firsts. The marks given me for free skating were very generous, and no doubt reflected to some measure the judges' reaction to the three double loops in succession on one foot which I did for the first time. For contents of performance, out of a possible 10, I received 9.9, 9.8, 9.7, 9.5 and 9.3 from the five judges. For performance I got 9.9, 9.9, 9.8, 9.7, and 9.6." In a 2003 interview, Hayes Alan Jenkins spoke about his perspective when he was competing against Dick thusly: "It was not uncomfortable to follow in Dick's shadow... I was certainly doing my best to try and win, but also being realistic." Richard Dwyer - yes, Mr. Debonair himself - actually beat Hayes in the free skate that year but ultimately bowed out of competing at the World Championships the following year. In his June 2015 Skate Guard interview, he reflected, "You know, I am at peace with what happened. I made the World team when I won junior Nationals and then I qualified again in 1950 but in that era you had to pay your own way to Worlds and my Dad just couldn't afford to send me. I was fourteen and a half and I got to skate in Ice Chips with Dick and Jacqueline du Bief instead and that was an incredible opportunity in itself."

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.

Full Circle In Vienna: Franz Gräffer, The Music And The Rink

"Walking, dancing, driving, riding and swimming, all these movements are far surpassed by skating... the moderate exertion and strengthening of the muscles, the feeling of power and well-being, the comfortable and exhilirating influence on the mental mood... are the peculiar advantages of skating." - Franz Gräffer, "Das Schlittschuhfahren", 1827

In researching history, there always seems to be one recurring theme... the fact that whatever innovation one may think of, whatever invention... someone we may never have heard of may have thought of it first. In the case of skating to music, one man conceived the idea a good thirty years before Jackson Haines' birth... and when he tried to make it happen, it didn't go so well for the poor lad.

Franz Arnold Gräffer was born in Vienna, Austria on January 7, 1785. He was the son of bookseller August Gräffer. After spending some time as a young man studying art, he abandoned his studies and acted as the librarian to Prince Maurice of Liechtenstein and the Count Karl Philip Harrach, the brother of Auguste von Harrach, the second wife of King Frederick William III of Prussia. He decided to focus his time on following in his father's footsteps and working in the family business. Fortunately, as the bookselling business floundered and he lost much of his money, he found great success as a writer. He also fell in love with skating.

Mary Louise Adams' book "Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits Of Sport" (an invaluable resource on more than one occasion, trust me) offered the most detailed account of what happened next I could find: "In 1810 a Viennese bookseller named Franz Gräffer - a 'fanatical skater' who, decades before Haines, had wanted to combine skating with music - tried to open an ice rink. He was refused permission by the police and for another fifty years Viennese skaters had to make do with the uncertain ice on the narrow River Wien and on ponds in city parks." Skate Austria's website echoes that "the Police Chief Directorate" shot down Gräffer's big notion. The reason provided was that his skating rink "could never benefit in political nor military educational views." 

You'd think that a firm and flat no from a police chief might deter someone's passion for skating, but in Franz's case, to the contrary. In 1827, he penned the book "Das Schlittschuhfahren", an instructional manual of sorts for those wishing to take up "the noble art" of figure skating, under a pseudonym.

Plates from Franz Gräffer's 1827 book

Franz wrote over fifty books on everything from skating to Viennese daily life to freemasonry and founded the first Austrian lexicon, but he died in poverty in October of 1852 without seeing his dream of skating to music take off. It seems only fitting that after Jackson Haines' much acclaimed exhibition of free skating to waltz music in Vienna in 1868, Eduard Engelmann Sr. would go home and have an ice rink built in his large garden. His son Eduard Engelmann Jr. would carry on his father's tradition, building Vienna's first artificial ice rink in 1909 and winning the European skating titles for three consecutive years in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Fittingly, Eduard Jr.'s daughter Christine would marry two time Olympic Gold Medallist Karl Schäfer, who would skate at this rink himself and become one of history's great masters of interpreting music on ice. Through Jackson Haines and Vienna's rich skating tradition, Franz's dreams were posthumously realized in the grandest of ways. 

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 1957 Canadian Figure Skating Championships

The 1957 Canadian Figure Skating Championships were held at the Winnipeg Winter Club and the brand spanking new, two million dollar Winnipeg Arena from February 14 to 16, 1957. The decision to host the event in the dead of winter in the prairies was announced at the CFSA's Annual General Meeting in Vancouver in late October 1956, to the shigrin of some. Jack Abra, a doctor who was a member of the Winnipeg Winter Club, served as the Chairman of the Competitions Committee.

Many of the top competitors had competed at the North American Championships only a week earlier in Rochester, New York and were exhausted when they arrived with little time to practice, but the show went on, sans a fours competition which was cancelled when only one team from Vancouver entered and decided not to make the trip with no one to compete against.

Out-of-town skaters, judges and officials stayed at the Fort Garry Hotel, which was only six blocks away from the Winnipeg Winter Club. John Stewart McDiarmid, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, acted as a patron for the event. He had good reason. His granddaughter Margaret was one of the judges' caddies who held up marks after each skater's performance! The caddies were dressed in gold lamé leotards, emulating the historic Golden Boy which sat atop Manitoba's Legislative building. They earned their jobs as winners of a ticket-selling contest. Speaking of historic, Arthur F. Preusch of St. Paul made history in Winnipeg as the first American to judge at the Canadian Championships.

With two thousand, five hundred spectators, the event received excellent coverage in the local print media and it is from a treasure trove of clippings from "The Winnipeg Tribune" and its evening and weekend versions that I was able to discern a great deal about how this forgotten event all played out. Grab yourself a nice cup of coffee and hop in the time machine as we explore the skaters and stories from this fascinating competition from days past!

THE JUNIOR COMPETITIONS

Joan McLeod and Carl Harrison

The first gold medals to be awarded in Winnipeg were in the junior pairs competition, which consisted of a single free skate performance. With first place marks from three of the five judges, Joan McLeod and Carl Harrison of the Granite Club in Toronto took top honours ahead of Jane Sinclair and Larry Rost of the Winnipeg Winter Club, Patricia Scott and Ian Knight of the Lachine Figure Skating Club, Sandra Mooney and Dennis McFarlane of Saskatoon and Dona Kulai and Frank Clark of the Connaught Skating Club. McLeod was a graduate of Northern Technical School and worked as a secretary. Her sister Eleanor competed in the junior women's event. Six foot tall Harrison worked in a pharmacy and excelled at baseball, track and field and swimming.

Hugh Ernest Smith and Doreen Lister

Hugh Ernest Smith of the Toronto Skating Club trounced the competition in the junior men's event, taking a twenty four point lead over his closest competitor, junior pairs champion Carl Harrison in the school figures and only expanding upon it in the free skate. Harry Nevard of the Connaught Skating Club placed third ahead of entries from Winnipeg, Toronto and Vancouver. Smith was also an ice dancer and had won the Canadian junior title in 1956 with Beverley Orr. He was a seventeen year old student at Oshawa Collegiate.

Fourteen young women contested the junior women's title in Winnipeg and it was a fourteen year old, Doreen Lister of the Porcupine Skating Club, who took an early lead and maintained it through all five school figures, placing twelve points ahead of her closest rival, Sandra Tewkesbury of the Chatham Figure Skating Club. Skating to Amilcare Ponchielli's "Dance Of The Hours", Lister unanimously won the free skate and gold medal in graceful fashion ahead of Eleanor McLeod of the Granite Club and Tewkesbury. Diane Frith-Smith of the Galt Skating Club placed second in the free skate to vault from eleventh after figures to fourth overall. Lister was an honour student who took ballet, sang in her school's glee club and played badminton.

Elaine Protheroe and Bill Trimble

The Winnipeg crowd was elated when two of their own, Elaine Protheroe and Bill Trimble, took gold in the junior ice dance event.  They edged siblings Svata and Mirek Staroba by 2.8 points. Two teams from Kerrisdale, Florence and Jack Morgan and Vivian and John Mitchell, claimed the bottom two spots. Two time Canadian Medallist Sheila Quinton (Smith) remarked, "The Protheroe-Trimble dance pair was the smoothest. They were in closer unison that their opponents and displayed cleaner turns. The Starobas, however, were not quite as stiff and very rhythmic."

THE PAIRS AND ICE DANCE COMPETITIONS

Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul

As expected, Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul of the Toronto Skating Club defended the Canadian title they had won the year before in Galt, in a four-one decision over runners-up Maria and Otto Jelinek, students of Marg and Bruce Hyland. Wagner and Paul's training mates, Barbara Bourne and Thomas Monypenny, claimed the bronze medal.

Maria and Otto Jelinek. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Prior to the ice dance competition, defending champions Lindis and Jeffery Johnston delivered a shock to CFSA officials when they headed straight home to London, Ontario after the North American Championships and announced they had no plans to defend their title because of "the reaction of the judges to our style of skating". They had been placed fourth at the North American Championships and believed Canadian judges were unsupportive of their shift to a more American style of ice dancing. Separate Waltz, Tenstep and Championship Dance competitions were held and the same three teams placed in the same order in all three.

Geraldine Fenton and Bill McLachlan

Geraldine Fenton and her bespectacled partner Bill McLachlan, coached by Jean Westwood, easily defeated junior men's champion Hugh Ernest Smith and his partner Beverley Orr and Winnipeg's Elaine Protheroe and William Trimble, junior ice dance champions 'skating up' in the senior event. Smith caused quite a stir, going against convention by matching his partner's shadow blue costume. Lindsay Crysler wrote, "The youthful eastern couple left the Winnipeg Arena Saturday night bearing two trophies and a rose bowl after accomplishing a clean sweep of top honours in the three major dance events."

THE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S COMPETITIONS

Charles Snelling and Carole Jane Pachl

Defending champion, nineteen year old Charles Snelling of Toronto's Granite Club, took a hefty lead over two Otto Gold students, Donald Jackson and Eddie Collins, in the school figures and coasted to victory in the free skate. Snelling wasn't perfect, however. He fell once, but it was two times less than runner-up Jackson, who tumbled no less than three times, once less than he did at the North American Championships in Rochester. Collins claimed the bronze, besting Dick Rimmer of Toronto.

Left: Margaret Crosland and Hans Gerschwiler. Right: Karen Dixon. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Nineteen year old Carole Jane Pachl was a heavy favourite, having won the Canadian senior women's title the two previous years and finishing a strong second at the North American Championships only a week prior to the Winnipeg event.  It was initially thought that her biggest competition would come from seventeen year old Hans Gerschwiler student Margaret Crosland of Winnipeg, the defending junior champion, but in the end it was Karen Dixon of the Glencoe Club in Calgary who took the silver. Pachl was in a class of her own and won unanimously by a wide margin, dressed to the nines in royal blue chiffon with silver sequins.

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.

A Feather In Her Cap: The Lillian Cramer Story

Born in October of 1894 in New York City, Lillian Olga Levy was the daughter of Samuel and Annie Levinson, Russian Polish immigrants. The Levinson's, who were Jewish, anglicized their name to Levy not long after arriving at Ellis Island. Lillian's father and older brother Sydney manufactured ostrich feathers, which were in high demand in the millinery trade at the time. The Levinson/Levy family had worldwide ties in the trade at the time. One of Lillian's relatives, English author and playwright Samuel Levy Bensusan, was also the child of an ostrich feather manufacturer.

Lillian grew up in the lap of luxury on East 64th Street in Manhattan, with two live-in servants catering to her needs when she wasn't away at boarding school. When she was twenty one on Valentine's Day, 1916, she married Adolph Bernard (Goldstein) Cramer, a hosiery salesman. The happy couple took up residence in a row house on East 70th Street.

It was during the Great War - the height of a skating craze in New York City fuelled by Charlotte Oelschlägel's popularity on Broadway at The Hippodrome - that Lillian decided to pursue figure skating seriously. From 1920 to 1923, she amassed three medals at the U.S. Championships - a silver and two bronzes. On each occasion, her losses came at the hands of Theresa Weld Blanchard. She didn't appear at the 1922 U.S. Championships as she was mourning the death of her first child, who passed away when she was only seven months old. She continued to compete as late as 1928, when she finished a very close second in 'Class A' women's free skating in the Skating Club Of New York's Championships to Gertrude Meredith.

Although her competitive record was nothing to sneeze at, the real feather in Lillian's cap was the fact that she was one of the first female figure skating judges in America. She was the only female judge at the U.S. Championships that decided the American team that competed at the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid. By the early forties, she was one of only six American women who held the distinction of being selected by the USFSA as international judges.

During the thirties, Lillian was a perennial judge at the U.S. and North American Championships. She also often travelled to clubs outside of New York to judge high level tests, all the while continuing to perform in the Skating Club Of New York's annual carnivals for many years. She was an avid collector of trade cards that depicted skating scenes. In 1944, she wrote to "Skating" magazine about her hobby. "Everyone in big business used them," she recalled. "They covered every subject, but mine are all skating ones. They are cute, funny, colourful and gay. The skates, costumes and positions, to say the least, would put any of us in the best of humour. The cost is trivial, some as low as five cents, none over a dollar."

Although little is known about Lillian's later life, her role in skating history as a pioneering female judge and one of America's first Jewish figure skaters of note was certainly of significance.

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 1968 World Figure Skating Championships

Photo courtesy Judy Sladky

Watchmaking, fine chocolate, cheese fondue and yodelling... these were the associations many made at the time when thinking of Switzerland. From February 27 to March 3, 1968, figure skaters from around the world got to experience these long-standing traditions for themselves at the World Championships in Geneva, held at the ten year old Patinoire des Vernets. Many of the competitors who had competed outdoors the previous two years in Davos and Vienna were thrilled to be skating entirely indoors for the first time at the World Championships since 1965. As the ice surface at the Patinoire des Vernets was seventy by forty feet - larger than the regulation competition size at the time - a sixty by thirty foot area was used for the free skating, with seventy large flower troughs bordering the outside of the rink.

Two members of the Skating Club of New York living in the resort town of Montreux arranged for the American team to practice in Villars following the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France. John Hayes, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, generously donated to a fundraising campaign organized to cover the U.S. World Team expenses, which raised an impressive four thousand dollars.
The Canadian team travelled from Grenoble to Zweibrucken, West Germany on a night bus. They stayed at the Third Wing of the Canadian Air Force Base, which had a covered arena where they were able to train for eight hours a day. During their stay, they gave an exhibition for the members of the Canadian military stationed there. Jay Humphry recalled, "They had a great hockey rink there and we had it to ourselves for the time between the championships.... It was like being at home in Canada in the middle of Germany."

The 1968 American and Canadian World teams. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine.

North American skating fans with the means to travel could join one of the first package 'skating tours', first travelling to Villars to watch the U.S. team practice then staying at the Hotel Intercontinental in Geneva while taking in the competition. The tour was arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Shearer, a couple from Burlington, Vermont. Those unable to attend could watch television coverage from the comfort of their living rooms. Let's reimagine what those spectators would have seen!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

The required elements in the pairs compulsory program were a single Axel Paulsen lift, split jump, pair sit spin, flying camel spin, death spiral, straight line step sequence and serpentine step sequence. The leaders after the first phase of the competition - to no one's surprise - were two time Olympic Gold Medallists Ludmila (Belousova) and Oleg Protopopov.

The Protopopov's performed equally as beautifully in the free skate to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Tchaikovsky's "Fifth Symphony" and Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 1". However, they were actually placed second in that phase of the event by Canadian judge Bill Lewis behind Americans Cynthia and Ron Kauffman.

Cynthia and Ron Kauffman. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

After having placed fifth in the compulsory program, the Kauffman's brought down the house with a flawless free skate set to "Tara's Theme" from "Gone With The Wind". Their effort earned them the bronze medal, behind Soviets Tatiana Zhuk and Alexandr Gorelik, who skated to music from the Aleksandr Faynsimmer film "Ovod". The Kauffman's received two low marks from Eastern European judges, which were heartily whistled and booed. Canada's only entry, Betty and John McKilligan, placed thirteenth. The pair who finished dead last, Glenda and Brian O'Shea, were the first South African pairs team in history to compete at the World Championships. Two years later, the South African Olympic Association would be expelled by the IOC due to the laws of the South African government with respect to apartheid.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

By the time she'd skated the final school figure - the RFO-LFI paragraph bracket - nineteen year old Olympic Gold Medallist Peggy Fleming had amassed an incredible seventy four point lead over Gaby Seyfert. It's interesting to note that two judges placed Trixi Schuba ahead of Seyfert in the figures, recognizing her uncanny tracing ability in only her second trip to the World Championships. She managed to finish a solid third, ahead of Hana Mašková, the bronze medallist at the Grenoble Games.

Peggy Fleming skated brilliantly in the free skate, earning first place marks from all but the Austrian and East German judges who opted for Gaby Seyfert. Swiss skating historian Nigel Brown commented, "Peggy Fleming's middle sequence in her free program marks a chapter in the art. Phases of ballet have been attempted often by individual girl skaters. Imitation of it, however, is the most that can be said of such endeavours. Peggy's interpretation was beautiful, and, as she did it, ballet has a rightful place on the ice."

Peggy Fleming and Gaby Seyfert. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

A tenth place finish in the figures dropped Trixi Schuba behind Seyfert and Mašková... meaning the medallists from the Olympic Games had finished in the exact same order at the subsequent World Championships just as Sjoukje Dijkstra, Regine Heitzer and Petra Burka had in Dortmund in 1964. Canada's Karen Magnussen finished seventh in her second trip to the World Championships, earning third place ordinals in free skating from  the Australian and Canadian judges. Canada's second entry, Linda Carbonetto, moved up to thirteenth with a lovely free skate after a disappointing eighteenth place showing in the figures.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, Peggy Fleming and Emmerich Danzer

Emmerich Danzer in 1968. Photo courtesy Bildarchiv Austria.

Austria's Wolfgang Schwarz was the only winner at the Winter Olympic Games not in attendance in Geneva. The surprise Olympic winner had turned professional and planned to tour with the Ice Capades. After the twenty men's competitors skated their six school figures, America's Tim Wood had managed a slim lead over two time and defending World Champion Emmerich Danzer of Austria. How close was it? The panel was split five-four in favour of Wood, with a fourth place for Danzer from the American judge being one of the deciding factors. France's Patrick Péra, the bronze medallist at the Grenoble Games, stood third, followed by Scotty Allen and Gary Visconti.

Twenty three year old Emmerich Danzer rebounded with a fine yet somewhat conservative free skating performance, earning first place ordinals from all but the American judge, a string of 5.9's and a perfect 6.0 from the British judge.

Tim Wood, who finished second, missed a triple Salchow but skated an otherwise outstanding program. He told Associated Press reporters, "I think I was good enough to win, despite that slip. I skated my full program and made no other mistakes." Patrick Péra had fewer points than fourth place Scotty Allen, but he took the bronze based on his ordinal placings. His free skating program was set to a piece called "Concertino en Ut", composed especially for him by Eddie Warner, who composed much of the official music used at the Grenoble Games. Danzer's win was regarded as quite controversial at the time and he announced his retirement from competition to reporters in Geneva.

Two of the biggest audience favourites in Geneva were Gary Visconti and Jay Humphry, who earned third and fourth place in the free skating with dazzling performances. They placed fifth and seventh overall, held back by their placements in the compulsories. Canada's second entry, David McGillvray of Toronto, skated well in the free skate but placed tenth.

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Photo courtesy BIS Archives

Fifteen teams choctawed and cross-rolled their way through the Foxtrot, Westminster Waltz, Kilian and Blues but no one even came close to three time World Champions Diane Towler and Bernard Ford. They brought down the house with their fast-paced free dance ending in "Zorba The Greek", earning unanimous first place marks and their fourth World title.

In the battle for silver, Yvonne Suddick and Malcolm Cannon defeated Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane by the narrowest of margins. Both teams tied in total ordinal points, with Sawbridge and Lane placing ahead of Suddick and Cannon in the free dance. Ultimately, half an ordinal placing determined Suddick and Cannon's silver medal. Though British ice dancers had been on the podium every year since ice dance had been included as a discipline at the World Championships, it was the first British sweep of the World podium in any discipline since 1956. Canada's two entries, Joni Graham and Don Phillips and Donna Taylor and Bruce Lennie, placed ninth and thirteenth... meaning that Canadian skaters had placed an unlucky thirteenth in all but one discipline at this particular World Championships.

Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Following the event, Rudolph Loeser of Wakefield, Massachusetts complained in "Skating" magazine, "I sat down in front of the television set, anticipating a full hour of ice dancing, waiting to see all the new and original dance steps. It was very beautiful to watch each couple skating as one, but the programs were free-skating programs without lifts. There were few new dance steps or sequences to be seen anywhere. A mini free-skating program has no place in dance competition. Free dancing needs to be re-examined and the 'dance' put back into dancing."

THE AFTERMATH

Karen Magnussen skating to "Second Hand Rose" on the ISU World Tour

On the closing Sunday, an exhibition was held at three in the afternoon, followed by a gala dinner banquet at the Hotel Des Bergues that evening where prizes were awarded. Following the banquet, many of the top skaters in Geneva embarked on an ISU World tour that visited East and West Germany, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, France and England.

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.

Inside Edges In The Iridium Room

Near the theatre district on Fifth Avenue and Fifty Sixth Street in New York City, the lavish, white tie Iridium Room supper club at the historic St. Regis Hotel was a perfectly located spot for playgoers to stop and have a bite to eat before they took in a show on Broadway. 'Before they took in a show' isn't exactly accurate... for customers at the Iridium Room were treated to a fabulous nightly ice show while they dined.

The Iridium Room's ice shows began in 1940 as twice nightly affairs, with one show at nine or nine-thirty serving as an evening matinee to the main event... the Midnight Ice Show. For approximately fifteen dollars, patrons could enjoy squab guinea hen en casserole, cream of corn soup and the St. Regis' dessert speciality - frozen cake - while watching skaters whirl around on a twenty square foot skating rink mounted on rubber rollers.

Three time U.S. Silver Medallist Erle Reiter skating at the Iridium Room. Photo courtesy Minnesota State Archives.

When the hotel decided to discontinue the skating shows briefly in favour of other entertainment, patrons complained so much that Vincent Astor himself ordered that they be reinstated. The St. Regis wasn't the only hotel in the Big Apple at the time offering suppertime ice shows during the World War II era. The Biltmore Hotel and the Terrace Room in the Hotel New Yorker's ice shows were perhaps better-known and often drew in bigger names.

Stars of the shows - which had names like "Ice Frolics", "Adventure On Ice", "Ice Pictorials" and "Ice Quakes" - included Carol Lynne, Rudy Richards, Dorothy Lewis, twins Jack and Bob Heasley, Hazel Franklin, Joan Hyldoft and adagio pair Bob and Peggy White. For a time in 1943, Gustave Lussi himself acted as the director of these shows, which were produced by Marjory Fielding. Interestingly, Lussi had worked as a dishwasher at the hotel when he immigrated to America from Switzerland in 1915.

The Heasley twins

There wasn't a record player in sight. Skating to everything from minuets to "Malaguena", skaters were accompanied by live bands lead by the likes of Freddie Miller, Theodora Brooks and Gus Martel. Reviewing one of the shows in "The New York Sun" on October 29, 1941, Malcolm Johnson noted, "It is a handsome show, attractively costumed and moves swiftly, running not more than twenty minutes."

For nearly a decade, the ice shows in the Iridium Room at the St. Regis Hotel were well-attended and received favourable press. It wasn't until after World War II, when a cabaret tax was imposed on New York City supper clubs that offered entertainment that the management of the hotel gave the ice shows the old heave ho. Sadly, as is often the case in the skating world, the demise of great skating shows often comes down to the almighty dollar.

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.