Last Updated on December 28, 2021 by Netropolitan Museum
1959 World Championships at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins
Rushing to Colorado Springs, Colorado, from the world over—north, south, east, and west—those who gathered for the 1959 World Figure Skating Championships were greeted with a lapel pin that truly captured the elements of the sport, the location, and the international aspect of the prestigious annual event. It was the second time in three years that Colorado Springs, a skating mecca, had hosted the World event. 1959 also marked the centennial of the famed Colorado Gold Rush.
As noted in the past here at The Netropolitan, figure skating pins made to commemorate events held decades ago are typically the most interesting and intricate, displaying fine detail and quality of design and production that is long lost and never matched today. The pins from the 1959 World Championships are perfect examples of these ideas and ideals.
Officials of the event were presented with a similar pin, although a more distinctive one, to mark their association with the 1959 World Championships.
A world globe and figure skating blades are fused to create one of the most interestingly shaped and creatively designed pins ever issued to commemorate a World Championship. Angled, opposing skate blades in silver support the globe, which is in a light blue color while the four compass points are in red. At the center of the globe is an illustration in white of the continental United States, and layered over that is an illustration in red of The Broadmoor Hotel, where the event took place at the old Broadmoor World Arena. The year, “1959,” sits just to the right of The Broadmoor. Below the South compass point, on a red background, is the event name: “World Figure Skating Championships.”
There is a slight convex shape to the pin, and the pierced areas around the blades are quite well done. The main logo pin is on a silver-colored base metal with enamel fills. The reverse of the pin (not shown) features a traditional pinback and a slide mechanism to accommodate a cord so the pin also could be worn as a bolo tie. An example of the pin with the original bolo cord also is in the collection of The Netropolitan.
Officials were presented with a similar pin, although a more distinctive one, to mark their association with the 1959 World Championships. On a warm, gold-colored base metal that harkens of the gold rush, the pin is strikingly different in color from the main logo pin, and “World Figure Skating Championships” instead is split above and below the central design and is snaked between latitude lines. Below the South compass point, on red, is the special designation: “Official.” This pin also has a slight convex shape and features the same bolo mechanism as the logo pin. Both the logo and the Official’s pin measure approximately 1-3/8″ x 2″ (3.5 cm x 5 cm).
The Official’s pin would have been worn proudly and likely would have remained a cherished keepsake from the championship. And had it been worn as a bolo tie, perhaps at a rodeo in Colorado Springs, it may have been a topic for conversation, for surely a bolo would have been a gentleman’s tie of choice at such an event.
Enjoy Rush to the Rockies. 1959.
1959 World Figure Skating Championships Pin Gallery
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