Old Arena Images & Beginnings

[Killion]

^^^ Nice find James, and thanks for bumping this thread, one of my favorites.... Its my understanding the 1st indoor rink in Quebec City was actually located on a pier that jutted out into the St.Lawrence. Do you know if thats a rendering of that facility or is it of unknown location?

 

[James Laverance]

Do you know if thats a rendering of that facility or is it of unknown location?

It says here that the rink was located on a dock near the St. Lawrence River built in 1851.I would assume that is the same rink.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Skating_Rink

 

[sr edler]

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

The First time it was used in an Professional arena was in 1961 inside the Civic Arena Pittsburgh.

An electrical scoreboard was introduced at the St. Nicholas Skating Rink in Manhattan during the 1910–11 AAHL season. I have no photos on it but newspaper retellings.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Digital

An electrical scoreboard was introduced at the St. Nicholas Skating Rink in Manhattan during the 1910–11 AAHL season. I have no photos on it but newspaper retellings.

Squaw Valley saw the first digital scoreboard and clock as opposed to the traditional "moving hands" clock.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Quebec Skating Club

^^^ Nice find James, and thanks for bumping this thread, one of my favorites.... Its my understanding the 1st indoor rink in Quebec City was actually located on a pier that jutted out into the St.Lawrence. Do you know if thats a rendering of that facility or is it of unknown location?

Brief history with images linked:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Skating_Rink#/media/File:Early_indoor_ice_rink.jpg

Shows the similar pattern of of skating moving from an off shore activity to inland near shore (access to water) to a ways inland.

Montreal before bridges and the seaway ere built winter traffic across the river between Montreal and the south or north shore was over the ice. Sleigh, walk, skate.

 

[James Laverance]

Montreal before bridges and the seaway ere built winter traffic across the river between Montreal and the south or north shore was over the ice. Sleigh, walk, skate.

It must have looked something like this.

 

[Killion]

Brief history with images linked:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Skating_Rink#/media/File:Early_indoor_ice_rink.jpg

Shows the similar pattern of of skating moving from an off shore activity to inland near shore (access to water) to a ways inland.

Montreal before bridges and the seaway ere built winter traffic across the river between Montreal and the south or north shore was over the ice. Sleigh, walk, skate.

Woo. Thats an old beauty!

It must have looked something like this...

Ya, and wonderful old etching. I grewup in suburban Toronto & we were able to skate from our doorsteps to the local school rink & some shinny about 5 blocks away for at least portions of most winters back in the 50's & 60's. But that was a "suburban" landscape. Post war houses, bungalows & ranchers, no sidewalks, just skate along the roads no problem. But nothing like the above, Montreal & that kind of urban setting, the rivers etc. Hockey itself didnt arrive until later in Toronto. Called "Muddy York" for a reason & I cant imagine the unpaved, log & board streets streets of downtown Toronto contemporaneous to the picture above conducive to skating let alone shinny.

 

[Boxscore]

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.

This is amazing. I've driven by this address many times in my life - obviously way after the arena gone. Awesome.

 

[James Laverance]

Alaska

These are some earlier images of Skating Rinks in Alaska.

http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Hockey/order/nosort

 

[tarheelhockey]

What's that last one? A plastic dome?

 

[James Laverance]

What's that last one? A plastic dome?

Here it is from the outside.

 

[Hackett]

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.

I heard that staff at Chicago Stadium were responsible for labelling each seat with chalk.... And I'm talking around the late 80s.

Any truth to that?

 

[James Laverance]

Skating in Central Park on Christmas Day 1859...

 

[Killion]

^^^ Very cool. Bottom picture, Conga Line goin on.
... over 100yrs before its popularization in the US from its Cuban antecedents.
.... also, while not explicit some of the small groups "could be playing shinny". Hard to be sure.

 

[Albatros]

Very interesting pictures here, learned new things. Especially the Maple Leaf Gardens ones remind me quite a bit of our local arenas in Berlin, just not on the wrong side of history.

 

[VanIslander]

The original home of the Boston Bruins is still in use today!

Matthews Arena where Cornell defeated Harvard and Dartmouth durings it run to the 1911 IHA Championship.

Matthews Arena - Boston, MA:

The oldest hockey arena and oldest multi-use facility in the world, Matthews Arena opened in 1910. Due to fires and subsequent renovations in 1918 and again in 1948, Matthews is not the oldest continually operating arena out there, but it would be hard to argue that anywhere is more important to sports history. Matthews, originally known as Boston Arena, was the original home of the Boston Bruins of the NHL, the New England Whalers of the WHA (who later became the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL), the Boston Tigers (and later Cubs, Tiger Cubs and Bruin Cubs) of the Can-Am Hockey League (predecessor to the AHL), the Boston Olympics of the EAHL, the Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern University hockey programs of the NCAA as well as a number of Division II and III NCAA programs, and was the first indoor arena used by the Harvard University hockey program. It was also one the original homes of the Boston Celtics of the NBA. It has hosted ECAC Championship games, Hockey East Tournament games, the 1960 NCAA National Championship game, was the original home venue of the Beanpot Tournament, and even hosted a series between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Wanderers of NHA way back in 1911.

 

[James Laverance]

^^^ Very cool. Bottom Picture...
while not explicit some of the small groups "could be playing shinny". Hard to be sure.

Well Indeed they were playing Shinny as it confirms here in the following report...

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/attachments/pl_010052017_0138_14315_217-1-pdf.78253/

Date: Tuesday, December 27, 1859 Paper: New York Herald (New York, New York) Page: 1

 

[James Laverance]

The Lexington Avenue Ice Palace New York

Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1897-1900, January 01, 1898, Image 16 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/l...ockey+in+rink&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

 

[James Laverance]

Pittsburgh Duquesne Gardens in January 1900.

 

[Killion]

^^^ Wow. Thats a pretty gritty looking old joint huh? Checkout the gap between the bottom of the dasher boards & the ice surface. What is up with that? Recipe for disaster when trying to dig out a puck or God Forbid a player should slide right into it, under it. Like crawling out of a sewer.

 

[mbhhofr]

My first arena. Carruther's Community Club.

Yes, those are streetcars in the background. and the warming shack that had a wood burning stove to keep us warm.

 

[Killion]

My first arena. Carruther's Community Club.

Yes, those are streetcars in the background. and the warming shack that had a wood burning stove to keep us warm.

... I assume thats you on the ice?..... in Winnipeg?.... great shot.... I too started playing organized hockey at an outdoor rink & it to had a "warmup shack" with a pot bellied wood burning stove..... so.... how many pucks did you put through the windows of those streetcars mbh? Pretty tempting target if you ask me.... but dont.... ooops.... not me.... didnt see a thing.

 

[mbhhofr]

Yes, that's me when I was twelve years old, 1951, in Winnipeg. Didn't break any streetcar windows, but would get into them and move them a few feet. No collisions.

 

[Killion]

Yes, that's me when I was twelve years old, 1951, in Winnipeg. Didn't break any streetcar windows, but would get into them and move them a few feet. No collisions.

... playing Conductor huh?.... I dont believe the Carruthers Community Center exists anymore or is that the one they re-named the Burton Cummings Community Center?.... Interesting as well, theres a Curler from Winnipeg, younger guy in his early or mid thirties who's done quite well for himself.

 

[Canadiens1958]

My first arena. Carruther's Community Club.

Yes, those are streetcars in the background. and the warming shack that had a wood burning stove to keep us warm.


View attachment 81829

Very nice. Curious was the Carruther's in a re-cycled building that had another vocation previously? Then became a community club that would use available space seasonally as beneficial.