These thousand year old skates were used to cope with a once frozen land. They were attached to a leather thong and then strapped onto your foot for a way of getting from place to place.
	For many, may years, skating history was made upon the lakes, rivers and inland seas and canals. The earth's terrain was everything. For a period of time, skating was central to one of the most powerful nations in the world, The Netherlands.
These are a pair of Dutch skates from the 1700's. Their curved metal toes make them quite unique.
Skates from the 1800's came in many different styles that greatly differ from those of today. The range in price for these skates during the 1800's was $0.25 to $25.00. Today figure skates can cost anywhere from $40 to $500 or more!
	Ladies' costumes have greatly changed from that of the 1800's. Pictured here, is a dress from the late 1800's and while they were fitted well for the figure, they did not allow ladies to be able to move freely enough to do good jumps and spins. So, the costumes began to alter for lady free-style skaters.
	André Joly and Pierre Brunet were early pair figure skaters of the 1900's. This pair, from France, won the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Gold medals.
Sonja Henie, an Olympic champion of 1927, "wowed" the audience and judges with her ability, smile and wardrobe that blew the other girls away.
By the mid 1930's, many people enjoyed to skate. Pictured here are people skating in Central Park in New York City, NY.