Scottish Curlers Visit The Club – Part V 1949

The RCCC curlers arrived in Detroit from Chicago at the Brush Street Train Station at 7:50 a.m. Saturday January 29, 1949.  They were immediately escorted to the Statler Hotel for breakfast.  Saturday morning games were played against Chatham, Forrest, Thedford, Petrolia and Sarnia.  The Scots were defeated by the Ontario teams 51-50.   Saturday evening all the games featured Detroit curlers against the Scots. 

 

The Team was honored Sunday at the Detroit Athletic Club.  After the luncheon their departure was Sunday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. bound for Toronto.

As seen in the pictures above, the entire Scottish team used the curling brush.  The width of the brush is less than a foot; the brush itself is made of coconut fiber.  In some parts of Scotland at this time the brush was made of hair.  They agreed that either fiber or hair serves the same purpose for sweeping the ice, better than Canadian brooms, “which lose their straws and last nowhere nearly as long as ours”.

This was not the first appearance of the brush.  In Part III – 1923 we reported that a few players used the brush.  In Part IV – 1938 we reported that the entire team used the brush.  But, this visit in 1949 set off a chain reaction in the newspapers – especially the U.S. papers.  Here are some of the quotes:

·        … similar to a broom used by office building janitors

·        … a short-bristled affair

·        … brush-type house broom

·        … a garage push-broom

·        … deck brush scrubbing away

·        … long-handled brush-broom

The surprise in the U.S. is understandable - the previous Tour did not visit any U.S. clubs other than Detroit.  Even though some brushes were used in 1923 we have to assume that it was not many since they made no impact on the press writers.

The Scottish curlers maintained “that the brooms used this side of the Atlantic are apt to shed a straw now and then and slow up an already delinquent stone instead of adding distance.”  It seems to me that the brush did not become widely used in North America until the 1980s and for the same reasons that were stated nearly 60 years earlier.

Ma heid’s mince,

Angus MacTavish

Scottish Curlers Visit the Club – Part IV 1938

The Detroit Curling Club was the only U.S. stop on the Scots tour in 1938.   Detroit’s long time membership and participation in the Ontario Curling Association was the reason.
 

This was the first Scottish Tour that the team did not travel with their own curling stones.  Interestingly not much was written about the inconvenience of traveling with 48 curling stones on the previous tours.  Once again they did bring their push-brooms - this time the entire team used them – they claimed that this style of broom was better on artificial ice.  Speaking of which:  This was the first visit when most (if not all) of the curling clubs had artificial or compressor made ice rinks.

Saturday January 22^nd the Royal Caledonian Curling Club’s Team arrived in Detroit from Kitchener, Ontario.  They immediately had morning games against Detroit, Sarnia, Chatham and London.  The Scots met defeat with an aggregate score of 52 – 37 even though the Scots won 3 of the five games. 

Lunch was served at The Club.  During the afternoon the visitors were taken on a tour of Ford Motor Co. and Greenfield Village.

After a dinner at The Club the evening matches saw 5 Detroit teams defeat the visitors with a score of 57 to 38.  It was estimated that 300 Detroiters were in attendance at the old club on Forest that night.

Sunday morning the team attended services at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church.  They laid a wreath at the foot of the Robert Burns statue in Cass Park.  The upcoming Tuesday would mark the anniversary of Burns’ birth.  A dinner was held at the Detroit Athletic Club and the team departed at 4:45 p.m. for Toronto.

                

Y’r ob’dn’t s’vn’t,

Angus MacTavish

Scottish Curlers Visit The Club – Part III 1923

The Scottish Curlers were met at the railway station in Durand, MI at 9 a.m. Saturday February 17, 1923.  Two DCC members, D.B. Duffield & A.B.D VanZandt, had arranged breakfast at the station.  Since the train was over two hours late, the first item on the Detroit agenda had to be cancelled – a trip across the Detroit River and a tour of the Hiram Walker & Son’s Distillery.

At the Detroit station a large contingent of DCC members met The Team and escorted them to the Hotel Wolverine.  A luncheon was held at The Detroit Athletic Club.  During their stay the Scots were declared Honorary members of the DAC.  Then off to the curling club for six 12-end games against Detroit curlers.  The Scots won 58 to 56.

Dinner was served at The Club and the six evening games were won by Detroit 69 to 56.  During these evening games the weather turned extremely cold and many of the motor cars outside would not start so taxis were called to transport the visitors to the hotel.

Sunday morning February 18, 1923 was a much appreciated rest time for the Scotchmen.  Some toured sites in the city on their own.  In the afternoon the team was taken to Lake St. Clair to see ice-yachting as the 1912 Team had visited this spectacle as well.  Many were taken for rides.  The remaining portion of the day and evening was dedicated to rest and relaxation.

Monday morning the Scots were taken to Dearborn to see “the immense works of Henry Ford”.  They toured the car assembly line.  They drove back to Detroit for lunch at The Detroit Public Library. 

The afternoon saw games against the Ontario clubs of Sarnia, Petrolia and Chatham.  The Canadians won by a narrow margin 63 to 60.  An informal dinner was held at The Club.  It was reported that over 200 local curlers were present at The Club.  Six evening games were played against Detroit with the Scots winning 86 to 41.

After the games The Team was driven to the railway station for an 11:25 p.m. train to Niagara Falls, Ontario.  On this 1923 team were seven members who had been on the 1912 team and one member who had been on the 1903 and 1912 teams.

Trivia:  Many of the Scottish curlers used brushes or push-brooms.  This may have been the first time the brush was used in Canada and/or the U.S.  

Where to Curl in Detroit and Michigan - UPDATE

This is an updated list of the places where curlers met in the Metro Detroit area.  The original article was posted on January 9, 2013.  click here  The added places are marked with an *

It all depends on WHEN...

1832 –   Pine Lake & Orchard Lake:  Orchard Lake Curling Club (wooden ‘stones’)

1843 –   Detroit River:  Detroit Curling Club (iron ‘stones’)

1845 –   Milwaukee Junction (near East Grand Blvd & St. Aubin):  Detroit & Mackinac Railway       employees.

*1860s – In The Detroit Dry Dock Company dry dock – Orleans St. and Atwater St.

*1862 -  On the Detroit River “above the city” (FREEP 13 Feb 1862).  Clubs unnamed.

*1863 – Woodward Avenue Skating Park.  Detroit (City) Curling Club. New park old Fair Grounds on Woodward.

1864 – Woodward Avenue Skating Rink: two unnamed Curling Clubs (iron ‘stones’)

*1864 – Union Skating Park.– Feb 8:  “The old Granite club was organized”.  Freep 1900 Feb 04, “The games this year were played on a sheet of ice in the Detroit & Milwaukee yards”.

*1867 – Jefferson Avenue Skating Rink.

*1868 – Feb 28^th Whiting’s Park:  Thistle Club (at the end of the Jefferson Ave. Railroad Freep 11 Dec 1866)

1868 –   Woodward Skating Rink:  Granite CC (covered building) – On Erskine St. & Woodward.  Erected a building furnishing two rinks and a waiting room.

1868 –   Jefferson Avenue Skating Park (Whiting’s): Thistle CC (granite stones from Waterloo, Ont. replaced irons)

1870 –   Woodward Skating Rink hosted The Western National Curling Tournament:  Milwaukee City Club,     Buffalo Queen City Club, Detroit Thistle CC, Buffalo Caledonia CC, Orchard Lake CC, Detroit Granite CC,   Cleveland CC, and Hamilton CC.

*1872 – Detroit River near the dry docks.  Granite vs Cleveland.

*1873 – Detroit River near Brooks & Adams’ saw mills – 471 Woodbridge St (now Jefferson) near 14^th Street – now a RR Yard.

1875 –   Peninsular Cricket Club (Woodward Ave original site of the Detroit Athletic Club):  Granite CC (covered building 160 x 35 feet)

1884 –   Detroit Zoo (Michigan Ave. Corktown):  Granite CC, Thistle CC

*1884 -   Recreation Park:  Granite CC and The St. Andrew’s Club

1885 -    The Granite Rink:  Granite CC

(NOTE:  Freep 13 Dec 1886:  “For many winters, the Granite, St. Andrews, Orchard Lake, Burns, St. George and  Detroit Curling Clubs being prominent clubs of the past.)

1887 –   Detroit Athletic Club (Woodward Ave.):  Detroit Curling Club

*1887 –  Ice Rink on Alexandrine Ave btw 2^nd & 3^rd.  Almost rented or bought by DCC in 1887.

1888 –   Forest & Gold:  Detroit CC

*1893 –   Bay City CC, Covered Rink built August 1893 on Tenth Street

1895 -    Forest & Fourth Ave:  Detroit CC

1898 –   Belle Isle:  Detroit CC (International Bonspiel)

1898 -    Pontiac (not sure where):  Pontiac Curling Club formed

1902 -    Detroit East Woodbridge St:  Detroit Racquet & Curling Club

1916 -    Grosse Pointe at the home of Horace E. Dodge on Lake St. Clair:   Detroit CC

1941 -    Ann Arbor (U of M Coliseum Ice Arena):  University of Michigan

1958 -    East Lansing:  Michigan State University (42 DCC members attended)

1970s – Birmingham Skating Rink:  Birmingham CC

1970s – Southfield (Beechwood Ice Arena):  unknown if a club existed

1980s – West Bloomfield (Drake Rd.):  Detroit CC

1980s -  Jackson:  Cascades CC

Present – Ferndale:  Detroit CC

Outside the greater Detroit area curling clubs have been or still are in:

Toledo (Freep 19 Feb 1896, 13 Mar 1897), Lansing, Flint, Midland, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lewiston, Sault Ste. Marie, Port Huron, Bay City (Freep 09 Jul 1893, 19 Feb 1896)

Can you name another place or two?  Please send us a message.

Scottish Curlers Visit The Club – Part II 1912

“Clansman, we gie ye the best o’ a’ Hielan’ welcome” said Detroit Mayor William Thompson to the arriving Royal Caledonian Curlers at the Canadian Pacific railway station on Friday February 2, 1912.  A parade was formed headed by a pipe band and a march made to city hall and then to St. Andrew’s Hall on Congress Street.  After a few speeches (none more than 3 minutes in length) and refreshments the parade reformed and the pipers led the Highlanders to the Hotel Cadillac where dinner was served.

Later at The Detroit Curling Club the visitors played six games (16 ends per game) against Detroit curlers.  Detroit was victorious with a total score of 89 to 85.

Saturday morning the visitors were taken on a trolley ride along the banks of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.  Upon arrival at the lake, ice boats were waiting and curlers given rides over the ice.  Then the group headed back to The Detroit Curling Club on Forest Avenue where curlers from Grand Rapids, Toledo, Petrolia, Sarnia, Chatham and Windsor were waiting.

It took the Scottish visitors some time to become accustomed to Detroit’s climate and ice conditions, but when they got the hang of it, they proved to be masters on the ice.  They played six matches and won with a total score of 84 to 58.  After an evening banquet the visitors returned to the train station for a night train to Chicago.  One of the visitors declared that “Detroit leads the World for hospitality and good fellowship.  We did not have a dull moment from first to last and that the entertainment was delightfully informal”.

The commemorative pin shown above was given to each of the visiting Scots.  I do not believe that any pins were given to the local curlers.  This is the only example that I have seen (either in person or online).  It was acquired on eBay from a pin collector in Japan – go figure.  The Detroit Curling Club’s pin used during this time period displayed the city of Detroit seal.  This commemorative pin displays the Coat of Arms of the State of Michigan.  Both were designed by DCC member John Kay and manufactured by Wright-Kay Jewelers.  The slogan “In Detroit Life Is Worth Living” is from a poem written in 1908 by Edgar A. Guest, Poet Laureate of Detroit.  The poem was used by the Detroit Convention and Tourist Bureau in 1911 for a visitors’ brochure promoting the city of Detroit.  The slogan was used on buttons and other souvenirs.  It has also been copied and reworded by countless cities, counties and states throughout the years.  

Good Curling,

Angus

Scottish Curlers Visit The Club – Part I 1903

The upcoming Scots visit on January 29, 2017 is the tenth visit to The Detroit Curling Club by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club teams that have toured Canada and the U.S.A.  The DCC may be the most visited curling club in the U.S.A.  Scottish Tours have curled at Detroit in 1903, 1912, 1923, 1938, 1949, 1955, 1967, 1987 and 2007.  The Detroit Curling Club was the only USA club visited by the 1938 tour.  The two missed tours were in 1977 and 1997.  During each of these years The Club was in the transition of moving to new facilities.

The idea of a visit to Canada and The United States by Scottish curlers goes as far back as 1858.  The invitation was not meant as a challenge but as friendly matches.  It was not until April of 1902 that a Tour was approved and a plan was put in place.

It must be pointed out that the Scots were accustomed to vastly different conditions.  Games in Scotland were played outdoors on natural ice which can be soft from the sunshine.  They threw the stone from a standing position on a crampit.  The average curler in Scotland was lucky to curl three or four games in a winter, not three or four games a week.  When they arrived in Canada they had to adjust to indoor conditions, man-made lighting, throwing from a hack and even playing against iron rocks in Quebec.  They conquered all these challenges and improved their skills at every stop along the route.

The Visitors landed in Halifax, played at many clubs through Nova Scotia, Quebec, Montreal and Toronto before arriving in Windsor, Ontario on January 30, 1903.   After a luncheon the games began at 4 o’clock, three rinks of the Scots playing against Windsor, Detroit and Sarnia.  In the evening three Scottish rinks engaged Windsor, Petrolia and Detroit.  Detroit won the first game 14 to 12 and lost the other 7 to 12.

Saturday January 31^st the Scots crossed the river into Detroit, “the cleanest, brightest, neatest city in all the States” said one visitor.  After a tour of the city they curled at The Club.  The Detroit Free Press stated:  “Climatic conditions were more favorable to the touring Scots…they showed their brawn and muscle to advantage when it required more strength to place the stones on the sticky ice.”   Three eight-end games were played and Detroit lost with a combined score of 6 to 24.  Only in town for the day the visitors returned to Windsor for the night.  The next day they continued their travels heading to Winnipeg.

Sidebar:  A report by a member of the Scottish team stated:  “Detroit and Windsor are the happy homes for the indolent and unpunctual.  They have three times – Eastern Standard, Central Standard and Solar.  An hour divided the first two; the third comes halfway between.  It is indeed hard if an appointment cannot be kept according to one of the modes of reckoning.”

Ed. note:  Detroit kept local or sun time until 1900, when the City Council decreed that clocks should be put back 28 minutes to Central Standard Time. Half the city obeyed, while half refused. After considerable debate, the decision was rescinded and the city reverted to sun time (solar time; some called it God’s time).   A derisive offer to erect a sundial in front of the city hall was referred to the Committee on Sewers.  In 1905 Central Standard Time was adopted by a city wide vote.  Detroit switched to Eastern Standard Time in 1918.

Devil's Brew at Sinners' Bonspiel

 

We recently acquired this stemmed bar glass (shown above) less than 6 inches tall which raises many questions.  Searching through the old DCC minute books and Scots Wha Hae issues we discovered:

The event called a Sinners’ Bonspiel first appeared in Nov. 1940 and remained on the calendar until it was changed to Sinners’ Bonspiel & Breakfast in Nov. 1950.  The word Bonspiel was last used in Nov. 1971.  Beginning in Dec 1971 Sunday mornings were designated Sinners’ Breakfast & Curling.  Eventually, Sunday morning calendars would use the term Sinners’ Meeting or just Sinners.

The events were always held on Sunday mornings – 9 a.m. breakfast and 10 a.m. curling.  In 1945-1947 they shared one-half the ice with 10 a.m. ice skating!  We have not uncovered the format of a Sinners’ Bonspiel, but we assume it was an open draw:  teams formed on the day of the event based upon who wanted to curl.

Therefore this glass could have been used anywhere from the 1940s to the 1970s.  We did not find any reference to Devil’s Brew.  Searching the Internet we did not find a bartender’s recipe for Devil’s Brew (accept for a modern-day drink that used Red Bull) nor could we find the specific name or style of this stemmed glass or when a savvy bartender would use it.

We end with more questions than answers and a new item in the collection.

Good curling,

Angus

How & Why stones "curl" video

Click Here to see a good video trying to explain how and why stones curl across the ice.

History of the DCC – K-W Exchange

The 2016-2017 curling season marks the 100^th Anniversary of the First DCC-KW Exchange.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Curling Exchanges (Home and Home games) were much more popular than Bonspiels.  Bonspiels (as today) were held over multiple days.  Many curling clubs from various towns are represented at a bonspiel.   The winner is typically the only undefeated team after some sort of elimination matrix of matches.

 

Exchanges were typically one day events pitting one club’s teams against another club’s teams.  The visiting team typically arrives the day before the event for a banquet presented by the host club.  The amount of teams per club can vary from 2 or 3 to 8 or 10.  The winning club is typically determined by totaling the scores of all the games played.  At some future date in the season the exchange is continued at the other club.  The club which scores the most points at both sites wins the competition for the year.

The Detroit CC was very active with home-and-home exchanges.  We have found reference to exchanges with curling clubs in Sarnia, Ridgetown, Thamesville, Petrolia, Chatham, London (City, Asylum & Thistles), St. Thomas, Brantford, Glencoe, Galt & Galt Granite, Niagara Falls, Pontiac, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, Toledo and The Detroit Racquets & Curling Club.

Surprisingly, no reference has been found to a Detroit CC - Windsor CC exchange.  These two clubs played games at each other’s facility on a weekly basis throughout the winter.  They played for trophies, badges, dinners, Ontario Tankard qualifying and for charities.

According to legend and the K-W webpages:  “The K-W/Detroit Exchange began in 1917 when four gentlemen curlers (two from the old Waterloo Curling Club and two from Kitchener) travelled by horse-drawn cutter and train to curl in Detroit. It turned out to be a two-week trip because they made several side stops before ending up at the Detroit Curling Club.  We must assume that the first trip to Detroit was in January or February in 1917.  Natural ice for curling rarely occurred in December.  The event was such a success that the cross-border clubs reunited in Kitchener later in the year for another weekend of fellowship and curling.”

Or so the story goes.

But, we found references to Detroit-Waterloo games in 1913, 1914, 1915 and 1916.   In February 1913, 3 DCC teams travelled to the Galt Granite Club and two weeks later 3 or 4 rinks from Galt visited Detroit.  In February 1914 eight Detroiters were in Waterloo.  Then 20 men from Galt were in Detroit.  March of 1915 and January of 1916 each saw 12 Waterloo curlers in Detroit. 

So, how do we define the DCC – KW exchange?  When “any” curlers from the Waterloo area play against Detroit? 

The first 1917 reference found was published on January 26, 1917 in the Detroit Free Press when three DCC teams were in Waterloo – but – they were at the Galt CC and no mention of other curling clubs in attendance (Galt won 32-27).  The second reference found was in The Detroit Free Press (Feb 23, 1917) when 12 men from St Mary’s, 12 from the Galt CC and 12 curlers from Galt Granite CC visited DCC (the visitors won 108-85). 

Curiously a January 19, 1931 Detroit Free Press article stated that the January 3, 1931 games in Kitchener and the January 16, 1931 games in Detroit were “the fifteenth annual visit of Waterloo County curlers to Detroit”.  This supports the idea of 1917 being the first exchange year.  It is the oldest article found that states a number of years the exchange had taken place.  And by describing the Canadians as “Waterloo County curlers” we can include the curlers from all the Waterloo area clubs.  (But, wait…that would mean 1913 was the first event!!)

The first reference found that used the “Waterloo Curling Club” name was January 1919.  The first reference found for the “Kitchener Curling Club” was 1925.  All earlier references do not specifically state “club” but rather curlers from the Waterloo or Kitchener cities.  Therefore the actual clubs that these curlers came from in those years is in question.

We may never know when the first DCC-KW exchange took place, so 1917 is as good a starting point as any.

Let’s celebrate,

Angus MacTavish

The ice is IN! But, where?

In 1926 Thomas Williamson wrote in his history booklet (Curling in Detroit and Vicinity) that the curlers in Detroit played on the Detroit River.  In 1956 John Taylor in his history booklet (An Early History of Curling in Detroit) wrote that the games were played on a “sheltered spot on the Detroit River”.  Some have said near the foot of Jos. Campau.  Others have said near Atwater St.

Here is “the rest of the story”…

In 1860 the company of Campbell & Owen, a ship repair yard at the foot of Orleans St. and Atwater St.  constructed a 260 foot dry dock on the Detroit River.  Imagine this dry dock in the winter.  The ships are not moving due to the ice.  The dry dock is empty of ships.  They can control the depth of the water and add more when they want to resurface the ice.  Protected from the winter winds.  A perfect place to curl on a winter’s day.

The Detroit Dry Dock in 1870

The Detroit River in 2016

Today the old Dry Dock is still apparent.  It is near the east end of the Detroit Riverwalk and part of the Wm. G. Milliken State Park.  The old Engine Works & Foundry is now the DNR operated Outdoor Adventure Center.

Is this theory just speculation?  Just a guess?  Well, yes, in a way.  Then we discovered that James McMillan was a part owner of the Detroit Dry Dock Company and eventually company president.  He was also a prominent member of the old Detroit City Curling Club.  He later became a member of the current Detroit Curling Club and was elected an Honorary Member.

It was also uncovered that Thomas Fairburn Jr., Thomas Linn and William Barclay also worked for The Detroit Dry Dock Company and they were all members of the Detroit City Curling Club.

Speculation?  A wild guess?  You be the judge.

Good curling during the upcoming season.

Angus MacTavish

Curling in Traverse City Michigan

The earliest curling reference we have found in the Traverse City area is from the Record Eagle dated February 4, 1949.  The article indicated that so many people were attending the outdoor hockey games at Thirlby Field that the need for a civic auditorium was one of the community’s biggest needs.  This indoor ice facility could also be used for curling since “a few curling enthusiasts were also looking for a rink”.

The two men initiating the attempt to bring curling to Traverse City were John Quigley and Lee Caldwell.  Mr. Quigley was born November 23, 1876 at Grass Lake in Jackson County.  He moved to Traverse City in 1901.  For 22 years he operated a grocery store at 822 Cass Street.  Mr. Caldwell was born in 1886; he was a farmer in Mapleton, MI.  They were 73 and 63 respectively!!   

In 1950 these curling wannabees travelled to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to see the skating and curling accommodations at the new $800,000 municipal auditorium.  Throughout the next three years these two gentlemen gave presentations to City, County and other organizations trying to generate interest in the sport.

Finally in January 1953 a curling club was organized as the Tam O’Shanter Curling Club.  Lee Caldwell was named President.  Quigley and Caldwell had joined forces with Bill Fleming and Gerald Williams, the city park department superintendent.  The plans were in motion to utilize the dairy cattle barn at the Fairgrounds as a covered rink area for the sport.

Curling at the Fairgrounds was made possible through the loan of several sets of curling stones from the Wausau, Wisconsin Curling Club.  During the winters of 1954 and 1955 in addition to the Tam O’Shanter CC the parks department promoted curling demonstrations and lessons to adults and high school students.  Unfortunately, we have found no more information of curling at the fairgrounds after 1955.

Jump forward to December 1971 and it was announced that Northwestern Michigan College Physical Education Department would be offering several interesting and unusual winter sports activities:  Snow-Shoeing and Curling were added to their other classes in Alpine and cross country skiing.  These classes were open to students and community residents.  In 1972 NMC held a weeklong Winter Carnival and a curling demonstration was part of the agenda each day.

In March 1976 members of the Lewiston Curling Club held a curling exhibition at the Glacier Dome on Barlow Street in Traverse City.  Over one hundred people watched and participated in the demonstration.

Now we fast forward to 2014 when Organizer Don Piche and 55 curling enthusiasts held an organizational meeting to form The Traverse City Curling Club.  The TC Curling Club has games all winter long and hosts a very large and well run Bonspiel in April at Centre Ice Arena.  We highly recommend that you consider attending a TCCC Cherry Bombspiel in the future – you will not be disappointed.  For more information go to www.tccurling.org.

This Floored Me

When the Detroit Curling Club was formed they played first at the Athletic Field, a large parcel of property surrounded by Woodward, Canfield, Cass and Forest. The two rinks were located approximately where The Whitney (built in 1890) stands today.  They built sidewalls in order to flood the ground.  The ice surface was 40 feet wide by 200 feet long - plenty of room for two rinks.

By 1888 The Club had bought the Forest Ave. property and built a covered rink.  The ice surface was 85 feet wide and 165 feet long, and the ice was reported to be at least 4 inches thick.

In those days the curling season was primarily January and February.  December games were possible, but the curlers could not rely on Mother Nature for the right conditions.

During November 1890 The Club installed a level floor over the ground in order to make ice with less water and easier to freeze.  The floor was 85 feet wide by 160 long.  The Detroit Free Press called it:  “the largest unobstructed floor space in the city of Detroit”.  WHAT?  Say that again.  “The largest unobstructed floor space in the city of Detroit”.  Wow!

On December 4, 1890 there were four games being played on one-half an inch of ice.  According to The Club President:  “These are probably the first games of curling in America this season”.  The new floor and thinner ice also extended the season into March.

In 1924 The Club raised $30,000.00 through the sale of bonds to the members.  This money was used to install an ice making refrigeration system and a concrete floor interlaced with pipes to allow the flow of the ammonia based coolant.  Ice was typically an inch thick.

(Sidebar:  After the Stock Market Crash of 1929 most of the members lost their businesses, jobs and income.  Many members in the early 1930s demanded repayment of their bonds.  This time-frame was financially the worst time in the history of The Detroit Curling Club.  Thanks to a handful of members The Club survived).

The move to West Bloomfield in 1979 returned the ice to a dirt floor with the refrigeration pipes laid within the sand and dirt.  Some years the ice was over 2-3 inches thick.  You do not know fear until you witness a small geyser of glycol squirting up through the ice.  Not an easy repair in mid-season – it happened more than a few times.

Enjoy the ice we have now.  A little run; a little fall just adds to the fun.

Angus

What's The Score?

One of many confusing things to a non-curler is how to read the scoreboard.  The Club has had a number of scoreboards over the years.  We needed new scoreboards when we moved to Ferndale.  Todd Gault volunteered to build them.  He bought the lumber, paint and other supplies.  Carried everything to his basement and built the scoreboards you see and use today.

Todd made one mistake…the finished products were so big he could not get them out of the basement!  The scoreboards had to be partially disassembled and a wall in his house had to be partially removed.  Thanks Todd for a well done job. 

During the move to West Bloomfield in 1979, The Club had a friend and fellow curler in Windsor who had connections with the Labatt’s beer company.  The company gave us the scoreboards – we just had to go to Windsor to get them.  Someone must have a story about getting through U.S. customs.

When The Club was on Forest Ave. in Detroit, there had been three generations of scoreboards.  We found photographs from 1957, 1945 and 1938.  The 1957 boards went up to 20.

The boards used in the 1940's are interesting.  Notice that they only tell you the current score and end.  No indication of when the points were scored.  Games in this time frame played 12 – 16 ends.  

The 1938 scoreboards tallied points up to 30.  In the late 1800s and early 1900s games were not played by specified number of ends – they played until one team scored 31 points.

Scoring when the game was played outside was accomplished by the skip notching the points into his broom handle.  This led to a number of problems:  a weakened broom-handle; wood shavings on the ice and distrust between teams!

May the score be with you.  Angus

Curling Clubs in Detroit & Vicinity 1840 - 1911

The Switch to Granite

The Orchard Lake Curling Club in the 1830s used wooden curling stones for lack of granite.  The Detroit City; The Granite and The Thistle Curling Clubs in Detroit during the same time-frame used iron stones.  The iron stones were at least 15 pounds heavier than the wooden blocks.  Below is a picture of an iron stone once used in Detroit.  It is currently in storage at The Detroit Historical Society.  (Just a tad rusty).

The switch to granite stones began in 1868 when members of the Detroit Thistle Club began to “rapidly substitute their barbarous cast-iron decoy-duck, teapot looking amazements with real stones, polished out of the hardest granite, obtained from experienced makers in Gault County, Waterloo, Ontario.” 

Today curlers around the world cherish the granite from Ailsa Craig.  But, in 1868 one author wrote:  “A few specimens of Ailsa Craig stones have recently been introduced to the ice.  They are tolerably keen runners, but light in proportion to their bulk”. 

The concave bottom or running surface of the stone was not proposed until the 1870s.  So, the first stones (iron and granite) in Detroit were the flat bottom variety. 

My, oh my.  How times have changed.

Good Curling, Angus.

Honey! I shrunk the House.

Since the mid 1800’s the rules of curling, as written by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, described the house as a circle with a seven foot radius - or a diameter of 14 feet.  These rules were reiterated by the Grand National Curling Club in the USA. 

During the Scots Tour to Canada and The USA in 1937-38 nearly all USA and Canadian curling clubs were playing on ice where the house had a diameter 12 feet.  A clear violation of the Rules of the game.  How, why and exactly when this evolved is unclear.  At the 1938 annual meeting of the Royal Club, the Scots that had curled on the smaller ice proposed that the rules be modified to stipulate that the scoring area be not less than 12 feet in diameter and not more than 14 feet in diameter.  This was approved and the rules published in 1938 stated this changed.

Though a member of The Grand National Curling Club, The Detroit Curling Club was more aligned with the Ontario Curling Association.  Perhaps the OCA modified the rules earlier.  Newspaper articles we have uncovered about The Club state that the house was a 14 foot circle from 1886 to 1903.  We have not found any photos to verify this fact.

In 1906 when the building and clubhouse were rebuilt the ice contained six sheets and the size of the house shrank to 12 feet in diameter, which remains the size of the house we use today.

Pictures of The Club in 1935 show unpainted ice and only black lines outlining the house, button, tee line and the line from tee to hack (no center line from tee to tee existed).  Painting the rings did not start until 1936.  These pictures are B&W so we are not positive what colors were used.  The main sheet of ice remained unpainted so that you could see the concrete floor below the ice.

Lang may ur lum reek, Angus.

Bonspiel Rap

First – The Meeting

Filled with admiration

For this great occasion,

Calls for explanation

And illumination

In elegant narration,

Men of every nation,

Every age and station,

Wild with fascination

Or hallucination

Met to play the game of curling

                        On the slippery ice,

Polished granites deftly hurling,

                        By the skip’s advice.

Second – The Playing

Some with animation,

Some with perturbation,

Some with exultation,

Others with vexation,

With good calculation

And determination

To make a great sensation

And raise their estimation,

And all with inclination

To duly play the game of curling,

                        On the slippery ice,

Polished granites deftly hurling,

                        By the skip’s advice.

Anon.

Euphemistically yours, Angus.