I’m going to stick my neck out here and say this was some kind of special even at Hanover Skating Rink. I’m tentative because I don’t remember all those windows. On the other hand, all of my skating was done on Friday nights when it would have been dark outside and the windows wouldn’t have been apparent.
The sleeve says the photos were taken in 1966 but I couldn’t find a story to go with them.
LANDMARK ALERT!
After I hit the PUBLISH button, I noticed that this is the 1000th post I’ve made to the Cape blog. That’s about 987 more than I thought I’d do. I guess I can take a nap now. I guess it’s appropriate to point out that Amazon link at the top left of the page. Think of me when you shop online. There’s a DONATE button, too, but I hate to ask for bucks. Just do your shopping through the link.
OK, It’s not Hanover.
Some folks (see comments) speculated that the rink might have been the Maryann, but Fred Lynch found a Frony photo that eliminated that. Then, he dug some more and found a “mystery photo” that showed Hanover with a tall rounded ceiling in keeping with its Quonset hut past. Click on the links in his comments to see the photos. (You might have to press Ctrl-F5 to refresh your browser to see them)
Other skating stories
- Rollerskating then and now
- Jackson Skating Rink and Principal Wilferth
- Judy Schrader was my skating buddy (but we didn’t do that mushy stuff)
- Remembering my skates and skate case
Hanover photo gallery
Click on any photo to maker it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery. Let me know if I guessed wrong and this ISN’T Hanover.
Ken, I am going to stick my neck out too and say that I believe that these are photos from the Mary Ann Roller Rink that used to be on Kingsway off of Broadway. It sure looks the way I remember it and nothing like the Hanover skating area.
Bill and Darla,
I may be wrong about Hanover, but I’m nearly positive that it’s NOT Maryann. Maryann was the most upscale of the rinks of that era. The floors were highly polished, but more telling is the lack of the roof supports that were in the middle of the floor that you had to dodge (or hold onto in the case of Paul).
If it’s not Hanover, then my second guess would be Jackson.
The picture of the kid holding on to the rail reminds me so much of my skating ability (or lack thereof). My last attempt at putting wheels on my feet was at a Sunday School skating party in my teens where I progressed from holding onto the rail to having two or three people holding me in a some what vertical position as they pushed and pulled me around the rink.
Ken, I agree with Bill, it’s not the Hanover Rink I remember.
Bill Stone is correct. I definitely remember the Maryann Skating Rink just off Kingshighway and Broadway. That is the place I learned to skate and I recognize that rail and those wooden posts in the background. I spent more time on the rail than anywhere else (except on my butt). Lots of good memories there. Doing the hokey-pokey, drinking Pepsi with peanuts poured into the bottle. Skating to “Be My Baby” the Supremes?
One more comment-Every time I hear Bill Swan’s songs Lover Please or I Can Help, I think of Maryann Roller Rink because they are songs with beats that I call roller skating music.
If you recall the Maryann Roller rink always played background music to skate by.
I don’t think it is the Mary Ann Roller Rink.
Here is a Frony photo of the Mary Ann when it opened.
http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/43481
Notice the vaulted ceiling and the lights not in Ken’s photos.
Could it be the Jackson rink?
Thanks, Fred. That pretty much rules out the Maryann.
Have you found any Frony shots of the inside of Hanover?
In this blog of mystery photos solved, we have a photo from inside the Hanover Quonset. It does not look like your skating photos.
http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/48593
OK, Fred. I think you’ve helped narrow down where it is NOT. That high Quanset hut ceiling is more like I remembered it. I guess I’ll have to add a question mark to my headline Hanover Skating Rink.
Thanks for digging. (Speaking of digging, I see you are due for another two inches of snow tonight.)
Ken, I think that was the Jackson Rink. I spent every Friday night and some Sunday afternoons at the Hanover Rink and new from the first picture that was wrong. The Mary An Rink was more up to date than your pic.
anyone know the name of the skating rink that was out kingshighway? It turned into a bar and now it’s something else not sure what…thanks
Ken, It’s definitely the Jackson Skating Rink. I was only there once, but really remember the low, flat ceiling and the rails.
And the windows on the north side of the rink.
I was only there a couple of times.
I’ve not a clue which rink is memorialized in the subject photo, but there was nothing to compare with Couples Spotlight at the Maryann.
I agree with Keith Robinson. One last comment as I have enjoyed the mystery. It has been 50 years for me since I set foot in the Jackson Skating Rink. I was trying to remember it’s features. I don’t think it had center posts and the key for me was the big exhaust fan in the first photo. As I recall Maryann had posts and I don’t recall a big exhaust fan.
What I recall about the Jackson Rink after all the years, is the kindness of the Seabaughs who ran it. As well as the fun I had and the people I met. Good memories!
I love the pic of the boy and girl at the counter, and the one of the girl lacing up her skates. I loved the skating rink when I was a kid.
When I think of roller skating, I think primarily of two places: the Jackson Roll-o-Fun and Kingsway Skateland, which was opened in my high school years (early 70’s) and was a glamorous improvement over the Jackson rink, though there was no band at Kingsway. I wore purple Pom-poms with bells on my skates. Those were some good times. Back then, roller skating was just about the only thing we did on the weekend.
If indeed the picture in question was taken in 1966, the Maryann Roller Rink closed before then. Mr. Al Hoskin and his wife were the owners. It closed in the early 1960’s. After the closing, there was a tent skating rink across the street from the town plaza shopping center that was there for a year or two. The building now occupied by the Teen Challenge Resale store was the next skating rink on Clark Street behind Central High School. The Maryann Roller Rink then became Hopkins Brothers Furniture Store, and I am sure that Bill Hopkins can tell you what year their store opened in Cape Girardeau. I had many birthday parties at the Maryann Roller Rink and skated every Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
I spent my Friday nights at the Jackson Roll-o-Fun until the Kingsway Skateland opened with its hig-tech blue plastic floors. I can still remember the smells — somewhere between Lysol and stnky feet. And there was, of course, the “moonlight” couples’ skate at the end of the evenings. Lots of good times in my purple pom-pommed roller skates and bell-bottomed jeans.