When Marion went Crazy over Toboggans.

News reports last week told of someone else dying in an attempt to get a "selfie" in a dangerous location. There are now whole websites dedicated to distributing the videos these foolish people take. Scientists say we are hard wired to take risks and watch others doing so; in the ancient past we learned from their success or failure, and it prepared us to act when necessary. Some people are addicted to thrill-seeking and the dopamine rush it gives their brains, and the internet provides a large audience today, eager to imagine the risk. Given a choice of channels, TV-watching chimpanzees prefer videos of danger and violence over almost anything else. So evolution may help explain the passion for toboggans that struck the U.S. in the 1880's.

Americans flocked to the inaugural Montreal Ice Carnival in 1883 and experienced the excitement of toboggans for the first time. They went crazy! The speed was like nothing they had ever seen. First-time riders reported feeling "queer" and "a little strange," . . . "like falling in space," only safe, as they quickly learned. (Cedar Rapids Standard; February 10, 1887) The Montreal festival remained a popular tourist attraction for years and many of our winter sports, including hockey, trace their origins to this annual event. U.S. entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the toboggan fad by building slides and marketing special equipment, clothing and accessories like cushions and jewelry.

Local newspapers announced, "Ministers need no longer preach against rollerskating. The rink has had its day, and its new rival, the toboggan slide,will ruin the roller skate trade. Tobogganing is the sport of the future, and it will be useless for any man to resist it." (Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette; March 18, 1885) By 1887 most towns in Iowa, including CR, had formed clubs to erect and manage their own toboggan slides.

The Cedar Rapids Toboggan Club was formed in 1887 and attracted about 30 charter members. The President of the club was attorney and Democratic Party luminary Nicholas McIvor (1860-1915), who was later appointed US Ambassador to Japan. Druggist and all-around sportsman, John Mateer (1850-1937), was elected Secretary. The CR organizers had previously cooperated in an ice skating venture, but their plans had melted away in a standard Iowa mid-winter thaw. (Cedar Rapids Times; January 27, 1887) A meadow near Bever Park was chosen for the 40 ft. high, 160 ft. long toboggan slide, and an estimated 300-400 people came out to participate in the Opening Day excitement. (Cedar Rapids Standard, February 10, 1887. Some who watched the screaming riders swore they wouldn't try it for $100. . . and talked into trying it once, vowed they had never had more fun in their lives and stayed all day! (Cedar Rapids Times; February 10, 1887) That dopamine is dangerous stuff . . . .

Marionites immediately began agitating for their own slide and put out feelers with respect to the Davis hill, just across the creek. Nothing came of it, however, and the town's young people had to content themselves that winter with using the CR and Van Horne slides.

Marion arranged its own toboggan slide, however, the following winter. It was built adjoining the F. A. Knowlton Creamery at 9th Ave. and 7th St. It stood 30 ft. high and was 80 ft. long, and offered 800 ft. of coasting space. Proper dimensions were everything to attract young couples--steep was good, but not so fast and scary that gentlemen were distracted from their courting by the need to watch the course and steer safely.

Our local club officers included: photo studio-owner Herb Elliot (1850-1894), President; Fred Knowlton (1853-1933). Vice-President; druggist, Carl N. Owen (1859-1945), Treasurer, and; Henry A. Stearns (1859-1937), the Linn County Deputy District Clerk, who served as Secretary. They all were active in promoting Marion sports for many years. The slide did a "land office" business in the winter of 1888, attracting crowds late into the evening, and the business performed well the next year too, but the craze ended in 1890. The vagaries of Iowa weather and all-too-common mid-January warm spells made slides difficult to maintain and the returns uncertain. Iowans discovered bicycles about that time too, and toboggans were soon forgotten.

Marion's winter sports-fans rediscovered toboggans in the 1950's when the American Legion Post #298 expanded Veterans Memorial Park, adding 43 acres on the west side of the creek, including a natural amphitheater older Marion residents knew as "Twogood's Hill," and youngsters called "Suicide Hill." However, when the park was sold to the City in 1968 the top portion of the slope was closed and berms were added to flatten the incline and reduce the number of ambulance calls . . . spoiling forever the fun of thrill-seeking residents and perhaps a few TV-watching chimpanzees.

see Henry Stearns at Find a Grave memorial #12084927 (in Oak Shade)
see Carl N. Owen at #21736869 (Oak Shade)
see Herb Elliot at #21736335 (Oak Shade)
Frederick A. Knowlton moved to Seattle and is buried there.
see Mateer at #196154003 (Oak Hill)
see McIvor at #141588862 ... See MoreSee Less

7 hours ago  ·  

Good fun by all at the basketball game Sunday. Many thanks to the Centerpoint Model T's for taking it easy on the Marion Lions & Heritage Center Board. Those ladies still have all the moves! ... See MoreSee Less

4 days ago  ·