These days, you don’t see too many people on roller skates, except maybe at a Maine Roller Derby bout or at Happy Wheels Skate Center. But there was a time in the not-so-distant past that roller skating was very popular in Portland, and we’ve got the photos to prove it.
These six Portland Press Herald and Evening Express photos, taken between 1980 and 1988, capture the era when skates weren’t just for recreation. People used them to get around town, deliver newspapers and have a good time.
In this photo n the Evening Express on March 22, 1980, John Gore, 13, left and Tom Gagne, 12, deliver the newspaper on roller skates. (Bill Curran/Staff Photographer)
In this Portland Press Herald photo from Feb. 19, 1981, from left, Janie Splude, 11, Christina Howe, 8, and Eleanor Foster, 11, roller skate past a leopard mural on a 59-degree day at the playground in Portland’s Kennedy Park. (Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer)
In this photo in the Evening Express on Feb. 25, 1981, Suzanne Harris roller skates to her waitressing job at Carbur’s Restaurant in Portland’s Old Port. (Merry Farnum/Staff Photographer)
In this Dec. 30, 1982 Portland Press Herald photo, Kim Rich, right, shows Richard Howe the art of roller skating backwards across the foot bridge at Deering Oaks Park in Portland. (Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer)
In this Portland Press Herald front page photo on April 24, 1982, Peggy Sampson, 11, gives Tara Saunders, 5, a helping hand while roller skating in a Munjoy Hill parking lot in Portland. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
In this photo in the Portland Press Herald on Sept. 9, 1988, Paul Tuttle encounters some rough terrain as he skates up Congress Street in Portland while returning from running an errand for his mother. (David A. Rodgers/Staff Photographer)
Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town…
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