Girls roller-skating

Girls roller-skating in Colorado Springs
United States — 1918 🛼

This charming photograph captures a group of young girls posing on roller skates along a quiet residential sidewalk in Colorado Springs, in the U.S. state of Colorado, around 1918.

The girls stand proudly in a row, bundled in coats and hats typical of the late 1910s, suggesting the photo was likely taken during the colder months. Their metal roller skates, strapped directly onto their shoes, were a popular recreational novelty of the era and an early form of personal mobility for children in American towns.

Scenes like this reveal everyday life during the closing months of World War I, when despite global turmoil, ordinary childhood moments continued in neighborhoods across the United States. The leafless trees, wide sidewalks, and early 20th-century houses evoke the character of growing American cities during this period.

Beyond its simplicity, the image is a small window into urban childhood, leisure, and street life in early 20th-century America, when sidewalks served not just as passageways but as playgrounds and social spaces.