Roller Skating Anyone?

An early adopter

Aug 21, 2022

∙ Paid

At the pub the night before it seemed like such a great idea. The guys couldn’t wait to get home and begin work on the brilliant gizmo that was going to revolutionize transportation as we knew it and of course, make them rich as Midas.

They came up with a working prototype in just two weeks and could hardly constrain their rush to get the photos and ad copy ready. The above is what they came up with - not as spiffy as today’s advertising standards admittedly but it clearly tells a story.

A story of twisted ankles and big bruises is what it told me. What were they thinking? To tell the truth I don’t really know if it was a team of designers or just one guy tinkering in his shop that finally came up with this little item, and I don’t think it matters in this day and age. I guess the best that can be said for it is that it was a first step. The idea of wheels on your feet was, as it turned out, a good one. It’s just that a few iterations needed to be iterated before the concept really got off the ground.

It is quite a shame that this bit of fascinating mechanical history popped up before movies were a practical way to promote one’s big idea. I would have loved to have seen this guy in action on his amazing foot-size bicycles. Even so, this professional studio shot tells much about the product, at least enough to let him be the first to try it!

If you know someone who likes to skate, they need to see this. CLICK

The Eklectika NFT collection is now launched. This is going to be (as the name suggests) a survey of my photography for the past 50 years, with some oddities thrown in and I promise it will be genuinely eclectic. If you’ve thought about collecting NFTs now is the time - it’s a buyers market!