onyourtoes Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Someone once mentioned an ice skater who skated on her toes with ballet style skates with the blades at the ends of the toes. They said it once appeared on the early fifties U.S. TV show "You Asked for It." I've periodically tried to find a little more information, but haven't found anything yet, however, I did find a reference to a woman who roller skated like this. I hunted down the article date and eventually bought the magazine on eBay. It's the November 11, 1946 issue of Life magazine. I was less than 2 months old at the time so must have missed the article Also, there are quite a few episodes of "You Asked for It" on YouTube and other places. The contents aren't described so its not going to be a quick search. My scanner is in storage in preparation for a move so I had to photograph it with my digital camera. Other things of interest are a Naturalizer ad for their Penthouse Platforms, "The shoe with a view..." and an article about some high school girls who model for catalogs on the weekend. In the "dressed in typical high school clothing," one of the girls is wearing a pair of white, Swedish style clogs. I never saw those until 1969 or so when our harmonica playing hippie postman started wearing them. Here's the text that accompanies the skating photo: INDIANA SKATER She wants to travel on her toes On a broad highway outside Marion, Ind. last week a young girl named Connie Phares pirouetted back and forth on a pair of tiptoe roller skates. Miss Phares, well-practiced in this peculiar type of exercise, teetered about nonchalantly without falling down. To people who wondered why she skated this way, she explained that she liked to. She has been doing it since she had a dream 10 years ago in which she swirled across the stage as a great tiptoe dancing star. Next day her father built some special skates for her. At first they tortured her legs and ankles, but now she is almost comfortable. Connie is currently looking for someone to sponsor a tiptoe trip from Marion to New York, or from Atlanta to Miami. She would prefer the latter because Ohio is covered with brick roads, skating on which makes her feet tickle. I'll get the other two sightings up in other posts after I get my scanner back in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Wow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB_in_heels Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletboot2000 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I have a copy of the magazine, and it is a great article. Unfortunately, I can't find anything of an update as to whether she made her trip or not. I love the feel of that ultimate lift! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsy Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I have a copy of the magazine, and it is a great article. Unfortunately, I can't find anything of an update as to whether she made her trip or not. I would like to bet that she did not make it. The axles are so close together, I would think it took super-human leg strength, balance & poise just to show the cameras what she could do. I would think that actually skating over distance would be very tiring on all the balance muscles. I do not think she could have managed more than a couple of miles a day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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