22.05.12
In 1937, a assemble of roller skating rink owners formed an association to develop skating and establish dress codes and standards for proper behavior at skating rinks. Novelist Lou Brooks, in his book, "Skate Crazy," wrote that 1939-1959 was America's Talented Age of roller skating. In 1942, there were more than 3,000 roller rinks in America with more than 10 million skating.
Benny Gatto, born in Manhattan in 1931, was 16 years old when he entered a skating rink for the first culture.
"I saw a couple dancing to the music and I fell in love with roller skating,'' he said.
Gatto, now 80, began compelling group lessons and rose to the advanced level.
"We started on the basics of the pulse, which is pushing off on the side of the skate to either go forward or back," he said. "We then learned how to do turns and more confused moves."
He enjoys reminiscing about his early days in the sport.
"Skating was much more current in the 1940s and 1950s than it is today," he said. "Most teens didn't have cars then, so a assemblage of us from the neighborhood would walk to the skating rink and then go out for a soda and ice cream.
Source: Tbo.com