Category: Stories

The Winter Sport of Skeeing. In the east, the Theo. Johnsen Company of Portland, Maine, sensed the possibilities of a wealthy clientele and produced its finely made Tajco products, which it advertised in America’s …

Ski Manufacturing. Most of the nineteenth-century skis held in museum collections were made by men who, like a gentleman in Minneapolis in 1885, decided to start “a manufacturing establishment in the city to make …

The Lure of Record Breaking. When Ishpeming brought in Red Wing “experts” to promote its tournament in 1901, the organizers added a new event to the regular jumping program, “the long jump.” This proved …

Controlling the Skisport. In order to organize the skisport, it became necessary to set up a bureaucracy to standardize procedures and quantify statistics and to establish a process for making and keeping records to …

The interest that competitors, towns, and the NSA took in the skisport was not merely concern for a fair competition. Communities jealously guarded their jumping success because good jumping brought renown and money to …

Foundation of the new Skisport. In the thirty years from about 1880 to 1910 which coincide with the peak years of Scandinavian immigration, local clubs promoted the skisport and laid the foundation for modern …

Across the river in Vermont, skiing in the ruts of the St. Johnsbury toboggan chute was a popular pastime until 1914. It seemed to have every advantage; with good balance and a little luck, …

Decoration on the ski is another indicator of the origin, value, and purpose of the ski. There were basically two decorative elements: patterns of lines grooved in front and back of the foot plate, …