From Skisport to Skiing: One Hundred Years of an American Sport, 1840-1940 - Hardcover

Allen, E. John B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870238442 ISBN 13: 9780870238444

Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Allen (history, Plymouth State College) covers the history of skiing in the US from its origins in practical necessity to the evolution of the current sport. He deals with the social impulses (health, purity, vitality...) that fueled development after WWII of the present precious industry. Many (b&w) photos. Huge bibliography. A fine piece of scholarship. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Introduced to America by Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the upper Midwest, skiing also took hold in other areas, facilitating mail delivery, doctors' house calls and even shopping. According to Allen, a history professor at Plymouth State College in Massachusetts, "skisport" (the 19th-century term) was the cross-country variety, and not until the turn of the century did Alpine events like downhill and the slalom become popular. The sport called skiing grew exponentially in the 1930s as lifts were introduced and the sale of special attire and equipment burgeoned. Allen's prose is occasionally academic, as in the phrase "ludic divertissement," but this exhaustively researched study may well interest ardent fans of the sport. Illustrated.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0870238442
• ISBN 13: 9780870238444
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240