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Old Arena Images & Beginnings

The Victoria Skating Rink

"The Victoria Skating Rink, built in Montreal in 1862, won its place in history of great hockey buildings for a very simple feat: hosting the first organized hockey game indoors. James Creighton, a native Nova Scotian, came to Montreal and brought the great game of hockey with him. Upon arriving in Montreal, he befriended many avid sportsmen, some of them students at McGill College, and he felt they would enjoy the game from his native province. With the co-operation of the management of the Victoria Skating Rink, Creighton planned the first indoor version of a hockey game that was played on March 3rd 1875."
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/Vie...D94CF04C8D7287?method=preview&lang=EN&id=6228

The Victoria Skating Rink in 1863(The oldest image of an indoor rink in the world)
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Here it is again in 1870.
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Once again in 1885
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http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/search_results.php?Lang=1&keywords=rink
 
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^^^ Woo... that full color lithograph, beautiful. If not for the skates & ice surface youd
think it was a costume party in the Great Hall of some rangy old Castle in the Old Country.

Thanks for sharing that James.
 
Wow very cool thread! I find old sports venues pre-WW2 fascinating. You can tell a lot about the people of a certain era and learn how society has changed throughout time by looking at the hockey arenas and ballparks of the past.

What I wouldn't give to watch one game at Sportsman's Park in the segregation era or Ebbets Field to watch Dem Bums in their golden age before leaving Brooklyn. Or Montreal Forum when it was truly a tale of two solitudes between the French vs. English, or in Chicago Stadium to hear the crowd sing the national anthem in the 90's. Or even to watch a game in Maple Leaf Gardens before they tore down the gondola and the Queen's portrait.

I wonder if anyone who was around back then could answer a few questions:

1) When did they stop singing God Save the Queen at Maple Leaf Gardens? I don't recall them singing it when I went as early as the 1991-92 season, yet when I look at a Youtube video of the Gardens' 60th anniversary in November 1991, they DID sing God Save the Queen along with O Canada. Did they only play it on special occasions, or was I just too young to remember them playing it on a regular basis?

2) When did the crowd stop wearing hats and stop dressing formally for hockey games? I'm guessing sometime in the 60's or 70's? Was it a gradual thing, and did the older generation continue that tradition longer than the younger generation?

3) When did the old arenas get rid of their analog clock/Bulova clocks? They look so classy, but I'd imagine they switched to digital at the first opportunity.

4) Did Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden ever stand a chance of being preserved, or were they just not in the same stratosphere in terms of societal importance as Wrigley and Fenway?
 
Early Halifax Skating rinks

The Halifax Skating Rink aka Horticultural Gardens in 1880.(Built 1863)
halifax-skating-rink.png

The South End Exhibition Rink built in 1880 shown here a little later.
IMG_2675.JPG

The interior of this rink in 1899.
800px-Carnival%2C_South_End_Exhibition_Rink%2C_Halifax%2C_Nova_Scotia%2C_Canada%2C_February_1899.jpg


By 1900 the Empire Rink was built then replaced by the Halifax Arena Rink in 1907.

Hockey games were played in all four of these arena's although the reports are very scarce for the "Horticultural Gardens" games as far back as 1863...
http://www.amazon.com/On-Origin-Hockey-Carl-Gidén/dp/0993799809
 
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Electronic Scoreboards

The first electronic scoreboard used in a hockey arena was at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley
USA.
1a1a1a1a1a1a1a1a163.jpg


The First time it was used in an Professional arena was in 1961 inside the Civic Arena Pittsburgh.
large.582e2f8f1d15c_16-1(1).jpg.1b5a49dc594646e43b533adde952e796.jpg
 
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"The Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a trolley barn, before becoming a multi-purpose arena. The Gardens opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. Over the years, the Gardens was the home arena of several of Pittsburgh's historic sports teams, such as ice hockey's Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Hornets. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was the first ice hockey league to openly hire and trade players, played all of its games at the Gardens. The arena was also the first hockey rink to ever use glass above the dasher boards. Developed locally by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Herculite glass was first tested in Pittsburgh. Most rinks were using wire mesh before the shatterproof glass was invented."
 
The first article mentions that Buffalo once had a Skating Rink that was built in 1858 and added a fence around it by 1859.
Thursday, March 1, 1860 from Cleveland Leader.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/s/...attd&realattid=260b99f0cca49d38_0.1&safe=1&zw

The second article is about the Indoor Montreal Skating Rink(Built in 1859) and how it was to be relocated to Boston by 1860.
The Boston Evening Transcript on Saturday, October 13, 1860.
large.Screenshot_20161122-184746.png.00d34b6b77c73b94bfaaf58a47b2e65d.png
 
greyraven8 said:
Looking forward to this book coming out in Fall 2016 - Architecture on Ice:

http://www.academia.edu/6753767/Architecture_on_Ice

http://www.howardshubert.com/Architecture_Curator/Biography.html
Click to expand...

Received the book a while ago and read it through once but then have lent it to a co-worker who was very interested.
Would recommend it.

here's a link if anyone is thinking of purchasing it:
http://www.mqup.ca/architecture-on-ice-products-9780773548138.php?page_id=73&
 
BayStreetBully said:
Wow very cool thread! I find old sports venues pre-WW2 fascinating. You can tell a lot about the people of a certain era and learn how society has changed throughout time by looking at the hockey arenas and ballparks of the past.

What I wouldn't give to watch one game at Sportsman's Park in the segregation era or Ebbets Field to watch Dem Bums in their golden age before leaving Brooklyn. Or Montreal Forum when it was truly a tale of two solitudes between the French vs. English, or in Chicago Stadium to hear the crowd sing the national anthem in the 90's. Or even to watch a game in Maple Leaf Gardens before they tore down the gondola and the Queen's portrait.

I wonder if anyone who was around back then could answer a few questions:

1) When did they stop singing God Save the Queen at Maple Leaf Gardens? I don't recall them singing it when I went as early as the 1991-92 season, yet when I look at a Youtube video of the Gardens' 60th anniversary in November 1991, they DID sing God Save the Queen along with O Canada. Did they only play it on special occasions, or was I just too young to remember them playing it on a regular basis?

2) When did the crowd stop wearing hats and stop dressing formally for hockey games? I'm guessing sometime in the 60's or 70's? Was it a gradual thing, and did the older generation continue that tradition longer than the younger generation?

3) When did the old arenas get rid of their analog clock/Bulova clocks? They look so classy, but I'd imagine they switched to digital at the first opportunity.

4) Did Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden ever stand a chance of being preserved, or were they just not in the same stratosphere in terms of societal importance as Wrigley and Fenway?
Click to expand...


After the Stanley Cup blackout game in 1988(which I attended) and the death of an electrical worker in an explosion, the old Garden's days were numbered. The history there was unsurpassed, but some in the local media had labeled it a dump for quite some time. We still have Matthews Arena here in Boston, where Northeastern hockey plays, just down the Orange Line subway from where the old Garden stood. It's the oldest indoor hockey arena in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ZA0wPprjI

http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000xNkutJfCTsM/s/500/303/matthews2005.jpg
 
James Laverance said:
tumblr_my4meuFnls1rr5swxo5_1280.jpg


"The Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a trolley barn, before becoming a multi-purpose arena. The Gardens opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. Over the years, the Gardens was the home arena of several of Pittsburgh's historic sports teams, such as ice hockey's Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Hornets. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was the first ice hockey league to openly hire and trade players, played all of its games at the Gardens. The arena was also the first hockey rink to ever use glass above the dasher boards. Developed locally by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Herculite glass was first tested in Pittsburgh. Most rinks were using wire mesh before the shatterproof glass was invented."
Click to expand...

31pittsburgh-jumbo.jpg


I believe there is a portion of the Duquesne Garden wall inside the Consol Energy Center PPG Paints Arena club section.

 
The Winnipeg Auditorium was an indoor arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was the premier site for ice hockey in Winnipeg from the time of its construction in 1898. The Auditorium rink hosted several Stanley Cup championship series. It was located at the intersection of Garry Street and York Avenue. It was destroyed by fire in 1926.
large.Screenshot_20161219-090341.png.e3c0fbb3158fd60b0e7a1073a040932d.png
 
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^^^ That facility if Im not mistaken was a natural ice surface with Winnipeg also having Sheas' Amphitheater, the largest indoor arena with artificial
ice from Vancouver to Toronto for many years. Sheas' went up in 1909, becoming redundant in 1955 when the Winnipeg Arena was constructed.
 
The Philadelphia Arena

The Philadelphia Arena was an arena used mainly for sporting events located in Philadelphia.

The building, originally named the Philadelphia Ice Palace and Auditorium, was located at 4530 Market Street, next to what would become the WFIL TV studio which broadcast American Bandstand. It was built by George F. Pawling, of George F. Pawling & Co., Engineers and Contractors, and opened on Saturday, February 14, 1920. The first event was two nights later, Monday, February 16, 1920, a college hockey game between Yale and Princeton Tigers; the Bulldogs won, 4–0, before a crowd of over 4,000 despite the fact that the arena had only one small entrance at the time.

21bd1852cbee2c7f655ad3b5b1bebaf2.jpg

1749-121.jpg
 
^^^ Wow, quite the slice of Americana, that entrance to the arena. Almost looks staged. Takes you right back to place & time. Very nice.
 
BayStreetBully said:
Wow very cool thread! I find old sports venues pre-WW2 fascinating. You can tell a lot about the people of a certain era and learn how society has changed throughout time by looking at the hockey arenas and ballparks of the past.

What I wouldn't give to watch one game at Sportsman's Park in the segregation era or Ebbets Field to watch Dem Bums in their golden age before leaving Brooklyn. Or Montreal Forum when it was truly a tale of two solitudes between the French vs. English, or in Chicago Stadium to hear the crowd sing the national anthem in the 90's. Or even to watch a game in Maple Leaf Gardens before they tore down the gondola and the Queen's portrait.

I wonder if anyone who was around back then could answer a few questions:

1) When did they stop singing God Save the Queen at Maple Leaf Gardens? I don't recall them singing it when I went as early as the 1991-92 season, yet when I look at a Youtube video of the Gardens' 60th anniversary in November 1991, they DID sing God Save the Queen along with O Canada. Did they only play it on special occasions, or was I just too young to remember them playing it on a regular basis?

2) When did the crowd stop wearing hats and stop dressing formally for hockey games? I'm guessing sometime in the 60's or 70's? Was it a gradual thing, and did the older generation continue that tradition longer than the younger generation?

3) When did the old arenas get rid of their analog clock/Bulova clocks? They look so classy, but I'd imagine they switched to digital at the first opportunity.

4) Did Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden ever stand a chance of being preserved, or were they just not in the same stratosphere in terms of societal importance as Wrigley and Fenway?
Click to expand...

Chicago Stadium was pretty much doomed. It was owned by the Wirtz family and the UC was built right across the street so the site was needed for parking. It wasn't really a dump, as the Wirtzes did do a fairly good job of keeping it as modern as possible, but there was absolutely no room for expansion, for skyboxes, bigger concourses, escalators, dressing rooms that didn't require players walking up stairs, or updated plumbing. There were 120 stairs to the second balcony. no elevator, The concourse were tight, the bathrooms small. It was the best, but unfortunately it couldn't last.
 
Winnipeg Amphitheatre aka Shea's Amphitheatre

1931:
winnipegamphitheatre1.jpg


1910 before a horse show in summer:
winnipegamphitheatre2.jpg


1912 Allan Cup:
Winnipeg Victorias v Montreal Eatons
39251120.3d9ac99e.640.jpg


Undated:
normal.png
 
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