After the economic boom of the twenties brought more Americans to roller rinks, popularity then dropped during the Depression when skating was again too costly for most, but rose again after World War II, and again in the ’70s and ’80s when roller-skating-themed movies like “Roller Boogie” came out.
Prior to labor laws, when most people worked much longer hours, it was considered to be an activity for the elite, who wore formal attire while skating. Its popularity ebbs and flows, in large part due to fads and the economy.
Roller skating has been around for more than a hundred years in the United States. All the rinks in those days had organists.” Lillian has been coming to Moonlight since the rink opened, in 1956.
I’d take the bus and go on the weekends, or as much as my mother would let me go. “I started skating at Harry’s in the fifties. “I was born in 1930, and I’ve been skating since I was four years old, out on the street,” she says. Lillian, the rink’s oldest “regular,” makes the hour-long drive to Moonlight from Orange County every Tuesday without fail. There’s a thorough list of rink regulations at the door: No hats, no jackets with wording, no gum, no “in and outs,” etc. Betty welcomes guests to Moonlight Rollerway. Ron Hines, a retired California Highway Patrol officer, calls ahead each week to see if Dominic will be there that night, and will decide against skating if he’s not. Some folks are willing to drive long distances to hear him play – one man even comes up from San Diego on occasion, which can take as long as three hours one way. He started playing organ at the rink in the ’60s, and in 1985, he used his life savings to buy the place. Some of the regulars are such fans of Dominic’s playing, that back in the days when he moved around from rink to rink, they followed along.Ĭangelosi isn’t exactly new to Moonlight, either. His favorite songs to play are “In the Mood,” “Unforgettable,” “It’s a Small World,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and the theme from “I Love Lucy,” which he says is particularly popular with skaters. He has volumes of sheet music and is happy to take requests. Dominic, the owner of Moonlight Rollerway, plays the organ there every Tuesday night. But what is perhaps most remarkable about Moonlight Rollerway is the fact that it is one of the last rinks in the country to feature a live organ player – as was standard in the ’50s – and that some of its current regulars have been coming since it first opened in 1956. Although there are traces of the intervening decades – a disco ball, gold tinsel, a rainbow carpet from the 1980s, a digital photo booth – owner Dominic Cangelosi, 80, has made a point of keeping the place’s character largely true to its original form. Moonlight Rollerway (formerly known as Harry’s Roller Rink) opened in 1956 and occupies a building that was originally built as a factory for aircraft parts during World War II. Despite the fact that she’s recently had spinal surgery, and that her bad knee keeps acting up, and that Tom, one of her regular skating partners, suffers from partial paralysis – Lillian is 86 years old, after all, and Tom’s 72 – they are among the most graceful skaters on the floor. Holding each other like ballroom dancers, she and Tom Clayton move effortlessly to the jaunty, classic tunes played live on a Hammond organ above the Glendale, California, rink. Every Tuesday night, Lillian Tomasino laces up her roller skates, puts her arms around her partner, and glides in sweeping circles across the floor of Moonlight Rollerway.
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