Roll in to the National Roller Skating Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska
On a recent visit to Lincoln, Nebraska I had a bit of extra time and I wanted to see something I hadn’t been to before. Since most of the museums were closing soon, I decided to go to the National Museum of Roller Skating, since it was open an hour later and I enjoyed roller skating as a kid - at least most of the time. The was the one time I landed on my tailbone and had serious trouble walking for a week. 🤪 But, that was just once. 😊 I, of course, fell down more than once as a kid while roller skating, but nothing like the one time. I was kind of known for hugging the wall, being a worrywart, so maybe my spidey sense was a good thing. Anyway, I digress. I did enjoy roller skating events as a kid. 🛼
So I found the museum tucked away in a cute neighborhood in Lincoln and made my way to the front door. The first two rooms were smaller but had cases of roller skating memorabilia, so I started browsing. After looking at that I noticed a sign that said there was more of the museum towards the back. I wandered through an office area with cubicles (wondering if I was going the right way) and eventually found a larger room with newer-looking roller skating memorabilia. When I went in the room, the curator stepped in and asked if I had any questions. Not having any at the time, he let me browse.
I will have to say there is more to the sport/activity of roller skating than I originally thought. Did you know folks were roller skating in the early 1900’s? Have you ever heard of roller soccer? How about roller hockey? There’s inline skating, of course. The topic of roller derby was also included. Roller skate technology and roller skating music were featured as well. For a smallish museum, it does cover many aspects of the topic of roller skating. Wardrobes and attire of famous roller skaters and special events were displayed.
I will say this not a high tech kind of museum. Many of the original newspaper articles and artifacts are displayed and it does involve a fair amount of reading. Nonetheless, if you remember roller skating as a kid, you might enjoy spending a bit of time here if you were in Lincoln. I would say 30-60 minutes would be enough time to take it in. The museum is free, so why not stop by sometime if you are in the neighborhood? Here’s a few photos and the website so you can get a feel for it.
