September 15, 1922. Clarence E. Sherrell, son of the Washington, D.C., super- intendent of public buildings. View full size. National Photo Co. Collection.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 12:48am.
When I was a kid in the 40s and 50s, we used to make two versions of a thing we called a "skate-a-mobile". These were made from clamp-on roller skates. One skate was pulled apart so that one half became the front wheels and the other half the back.
The upright version was like a scooter. It had a footboard with wheels attached, and an upright at the front with a crosspiece nailed to it for handlebars.
The flat version had only the footboard, but with "handlebars" at the front. It was rather like a skateboard but we never used it that way. It was used in the manner that this picture shows, or headfirst if you were daring.
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Thu, 11/29/2007 - 11:10pm.
Let's not forget those hollow metal two-piece wheels from hell. On asphalt they would spark like flint and slide like skates...till they split in half and almost kill you.
Not really, but if you've ever seen that crazy X-Games style sport you'd recognize the way Clarence is lying on whatever wheeled contraption he's lying on as a classic luger's posture. Of course these days he'd be wearing a helmet.
