1975 Canadian Championships at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins
Quebec City, capital of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec, is a sister city of sorts to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when it comes to frequency of having hosted a national figure skating championship. Each city has hosted their respective national event exactly one time—creating an unintentional “one and done” legacy. For Quebec City, the 1975 Canadian Figure Skating Championships were in town in late January while for Tulsa the 1970 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were contested five years prior in early February. See the blog about the pin from the Tulsa event.
A fierce snowstorm wreaked havoc with the 1975 Canadians, causing the opening ceremony to be postponed by a day and competitors in the early events seeing few spectators in the stands during their performances. But the show had to go on, and it did. Commemorating the event were at least two pins, a main logo pin and a larger pin produced for and given only to competitors, officials, and selected others. Both are shown in the gallery below.
The logo pin for the 1975 Canadian Figure Skating Championships is among the smallest ever issued for a major event and may very well be the smallest pin ever issued for a Canadians itself.
The logo pin, measuring approximately 1/2″ in diameter (1.3 cm), is among the smallest ever issued for a major event and may very well be the smallest pin ever issued for a Canadian Championship. At the center of the pin is a maple leaf in red with the likeness of a skater in white; lettering in blue stands off from the overall white background. The illustration is oddly drawn, appearing to represent a female figure skater in motion but with arms all akimbo and either in a semi-squatting position or perhaps just preparing to sit down.
The 1975 Canadians pin includes event information in both French and English since the official language of Quebec is French and both English and French are the official languages of Canada. So along the top circumference is the event name in French: “Championnats Canadiens de Patinage Artistique.” The event location, year, and event name are in English along the bottom circumference: “Québec, 1975, Canadian Figure Skating Championships.” An epoxy dome covers an offset design, which is set onto a gold-color base metal.
The larger pin repurposes the same design and format as the logo pin but in an enlarged size mounted in the center of a shiny, gold-color base metal. The scalloped edge and textured surface of the base create visual interest and help to identify the pin as unique and special compared to the more simplistic logo version.
Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: A Canadian One and Done. 1975.
1975 Canadian Figure Skating Championships Pin Gallery
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