Roller Derby research/Chronology
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Chronology
This began as an aborted Aug 2006 effort to distill the Wikipedia article's history section down to a simple list of cited claims.
1920s
- 1922 - First mention of roller derby in Chicago Tribune (April and December)
1930s
- 1935 - Seltzer's first derby
- 57,000 laps (source: Batz)
- 1936 - attempted NY debut (source: Village Voice)
- 1938 - Damon Runyon attends Miami match, suggests developing game (source: Andrews, paraphrasing sports encyclopedist Ralph Hickok)
1940s
- 1941-1945 - League reduced to one team skating for entertainment of U.S. soldiers (source:
- 1945 - Growth resumes
- 1946 - NY Polo Grounds 12-day rainout
- 1947 - ABC TV debut
- 1947 - Leo changes his residence to Los Angeles
- late 1948 - Transcontinental Roller Derby came to New York City (source: Andrews)
- 1948-1951 - New York Times devotes serious coverage to the sport, including lineups and box scores (source: Andrews)
- 1949 - National Roller Derby League formed (source: ?)
- Brooklyn Red Devils featured Marjorie (Midge) "Toughie" Brasuhn Monte (source: Andrews)
- Toughie was captain from 1949-1953 (source: Andrews, quoting Toughie's obit in Sports Illustrated 23 Aug 1971)
- New York Chiefs featured Geraldine “Gerry” Murray (source: Andrews)
- 1949 - Televised matches move to ABC (source: Village Voice)
- 1949 - NRDL playoffs sell out Madison Square Garden (source: ?)
- 1949 - Business Week article “Roller Derby—An Industry Made by Television” reports that three armories in New York City had attracted 311,000 people to the Roller Derby (source: Andrews)
1950s
- 1950 - Leo moves operations to New York (source: User:Keithcop)
- 1950 - CBS televises matches from 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan or the 14th Street armory in Brooklyn (source: Andrews)
- 1950 - Jerry moves operations to Los Angeles (source: Rollersport)
- 195? - Brooklyn Red Devils became the Jersey Jolters (source: Andrews)
- 1954 - SF Bay Bombers established
- as an 'expansion' team (source: KTVU)
- as Roller Derby's 'move to San Francisco' (source: Village Voice)
- by Leo Seltzer, who was in the Bay Area (source: Calvello)
- 1958 - Operations moved to Northern California to secure larger venues (source: Rollersport)
- 19?? - Roller Derby was very popular on TV
- at one point it was on all three networks, several times a week (source: Batz)
- at one point in the 1950s all three networks were vying to televise it live (source: Andrews, paraphrasing Deford in Sports Illustrated)
1960s
- 19?? - Roller Games formed
- by skaters who chose not to move to Northern California (source: Rollersport)
- promoted primarily as 'public exhibition form of entertainment' (source: Rollersport)
1970s
- 1970 - Nearly 20,000 watch Roller Derby at Madison Square Garden (source: Village Voice)
- 1971 - Roller Derby at commercial peak in SF Bay Area (source: Andrews)
- 1972 - Jerry Seltzer sells Bay Bombers to settle alimony suit (source: Andrews)
- 1973 - Jerry Seltzer lost television syndication rights (source: Andrews)
- 1973 - After skaters try to unionize, Jerry Seltzer sells remaining teams to an LA promoter, who incorporates them into Roller Games (source: Andrews)
- 1973 - Roller Derby operations shut down (source: Village Voice)
- expensive travel costs due to gasoline shortage was one reason (source: Calvello)
- 1975 - Roller Games operations shut down (source: Batz)
- 1976 - Roller Derby reappears in syndication on cable TV (source: Andrews)
- 1977 - International Roller Skating League formed (source: Batz)
1980s
- 1983 - Newsweek article “Can Roller Derby Get Back on the Track?” reports on IRSL (source: Andrews)
- mid-1980s - IRSL traveling teams sell out the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (source: Batz)
- 1985 - ESPN broadcasts "Slams & Jams" Tuesday night pro wrestling / roller derby doubleheader (source: Batz)
Sources
Andrews
http://www.toad.net/~andrews/Toughie.htm A BELATED TRIBUTE TO TOUGHIE (A Roller Derby Memoir) Allan Roy Andrews January 2006
Batz
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06081/674316.stm Roller derby is really a blast from the past Bob Batz Jr. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 22, 2006
Village Voice
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9903,koerner,3593,3.html This Ain't No Roller Disco The Badass New York Enforcers Aim To Keep the Wussy Skaters In-Line Brandan I. Koerner January 20-26, 1999
User:Keithcop
Wikipedia contributor, probably Keith Coppage
Calvello
Ann Calvello interview (see Wikipedia article references)
Rollersport
See Wikipedia article references