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.