D.O.G. Establishes Ski Museum

EMBRYO COLLECTION IN WILSON HALL BELIEVED TO BEFIRST OF ITS KIND ON THIS SIDE OF ATLANTIC

THE RAPIDITY with which ski equipment becomes obsolete, and the realization that the skis of a decade ago are, almost literally, museum pieces, have led the Dartmouth Outing Club to organize what is believed to be the first ski museum in America. The museum was formally opened on December 13 in the front room of the Wilson Museum with an exhibit of a dozen pair of skis of definite historic interest, and a miscellaneous assortment of poles and bindings.

The Dartmouth museum frankly owes its conception to the inspiration offered by the Norwegian ski museum near Oslo, visited by several Dartmouth men last year. That such a museum would eventually be established in America seemed probable, and with full cooperation of the Dartmouth Outing Club a collection has been started which will include skis, boots, bindings, waxes, and other equipment significant in the development of skiing. Arrangements have been pushed by Robert D. Mussey '38, assistant ski manager, with the assistance of W. Wedgewood Bowen, supervisor of Wilson Museum.

The nucleus of the Dartmouth collection is a long, crude pair of skis which has a fair claim to being the first pair used in Hanover. They were given to the D. O. C. a year and a half ago by Dr. J. B. Thomes '96m, of Pittsfield, Mass., and were bought from a Swede in Cumberland, Maine, in 1887. Dr. Thomes brought them to Hanover when he entered the medical school in 1892, and made many trips on them in the vicinity.

He writes: "Never did any stunts, and do not know that I ever saw any other person on skis, excepting the man I got mine from. There was no harness with the exception of toe straps (loops), and sheep skin tacked to the skis, on which to stand .... for a pole I usually had an old rake handle."

A tall thin pair, perhaps eight and a half feet long, and possessed of an unusually high ridged top, were made by Finnish miners in northern Ontario in 1909. Constructed from unseasoned yellow birch, the only tools used were a block plane, a curved knife, and a half-inch chisel. They were presented by C. M. Auer of Hanover. Professor Charles A. Proctor 'OO gave a wooden form, used for bending skis, and a pair of thin ash skis with round tips, supposedly made by the college carpenter 30 years ago.

A short pair of maple skis, whose first recorded use was in Berlin, N. H., in 1911, was given by Seldon Hannah '35, captain of the Dartmouth ski team in 1934-1935. Hannah inherited them from a brother in 1917, and learned to ski on them. Attempting to copy the "irons" used by jumpers at that time, he added a heel-strap to the toestrap binding, which anchored his feet more securely to the boards. Using broomstick poles, he skied on them until 1923.

One of the more interesting exhibits is a huge pair of skis lacking a pedigree, bought by the Outing Club from a secondhand store in Hanover several years ago. They are approximately six inches wide, with a tip bent into a round bow.

Otto Schniebs, for six years coach of the Dartmouth ski team, contributed a pair of Japanese jumping skis of etaya wood, given to him by the manager of the Japanese Olympic team at Lake Placid in 1932. Numerous experimental poles come from Otto, split bamboo covered with pyrolin, a celluloid product, specimens of aluminum poles, and specially prepared bamboo. One of the prize exhibits is a ski equipped with everything from an automobile horn to a steel bumper, presented to Otto by his admirers, and pictured in the 1934-1935 Ski Annual.

"Bern" Woods, captain of the Dartmouth ski team in 1935-36 has given old equipment, including langlauf and downhill skis used in the Olympic trials on Mt. Rainier and in important eastern meets.

It is perhaps inevitable that establishing a museum should bring forth contradictory claims as to the first skis used in Hanover. The pair presented by Dr. Thomes, used here in 1892, heads the list at present. The Class of 1899, however, presented the Outing Club several years ago with a framed and printed letter from John W. Ash of that class, telling of making skis in Hanover in 1896. Mr. Ash had made skis before he came to Hanover, and repeated the process at Thanksgiving time in 1896. He made the skis with Ralph S. Wilder '99. Mr. Ash writes:

"We procured .... a couple of one inch spruce boards, straight-grained. As I was living down on the Fuller Farm by the old Thayer School Building, and did a lot of repair work around the barns .... the tools were ready for my purpose, and we had the shop there to work in. Out of the boards we had borrowed we cut four pieces about five inches wide and seven and a half feet long. We bevelled down the boards so that they tapered each way from the center, which was left the original thickness, to about half an inch thick at the back end, and not over a quarter of an inch at the front end. The latter we brought to a point, and bent up about six inches by steaming. We did the steaming by holding the thin pointed ends in hot water until we could bend them. The

boards being soft, we held the curve in place by a piece of fine wire running back a foot or so from the point to the body of the ski. We nailed on some narrow straps about the center of the ski, through which to pass the front part of the foot. A small cleat was nailed on top of the ski, back of the strap, to prevent the heel from sliding forward. When all was done we got some candles in lieu of paraffin. We heated the skis on the bottom over the oil stove contraption and rubbed the candles on them while still hot, to make the bottoms slick and smooth." Mr. Ash goes on to describe using the skis in the Vale of Tenrpe and up and down the valley.

Various ski companies have promised exhibits showing the process of making skis to supplement the Dartmouth museum, and numerous individuals have offered equipment. The museum is in the very initial stages of development, however, and collecting will be a slow process. The Dartmouth Outing Club feels that there is a need for such a museum, and that to assemble and preserve historic ski equipment will be a definite service to skiing in America. If the museum is to become the continuous, growing institution that is anticipated, it will depend entirely on the contributions, cooperation, and response of the skiing public.

A PRIZE ITEM Warren Chivers '38, captain of the Dartmouth ski team and, a member of the 1936United States Olympic ski team, inspectsone of the historic items in the OutingClub's museum collection. Young Chiversis the son of Prof. Arthur H. Chivers '02 ofthe Biology Department.