The Winter Olympics are right around the corner (February 9th) and I’m ridiculously excited because they are hands down my favourite (sorry Summer). Maybe it was because I grew up downhill skiing, watched figure skating on TV with my mother and cheered on Canada’s hockey team to gold medal wins. Whatever it is, I love these Olympics and so today’s Vintage Photo Tuesday is dedicated to them.
Vintage Photos of the Winter Olympics-1920’s to 1950’s
1st Winter Olympics: Chamonix, France 1924
General view of the Olympic Stadium.
Figure skaters Medalists-Herma Planck-Szabo of Hungary, Ethel Muckelt of Britain and Beatrix Loughran of the U.S.A. Planck-Szabo won gold, with Loughran and Muckelt taking silver and bronze respectively.
Pairs Figure Skating: Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet (FRA) 3rd.
English speed skaters training in Chamonix for the Games.
British Four-Man Bobsleigh team (this totally looks safe).
28th January 1924: The British Curling team.
St. Moritz, Switzerland 1928
These Winter Games were the first to be held in a different nation from the Summer Games of the same year.
Opening ceremony-the Canadian delegation.
Competitor jumping over barrels.
15-year-old figure skater, Sonja Henie of Norway takes the Gold during the Games. Her record as the youngest winner of an individual event stood for 74 years.
Lake Placid, United States 1932
Group portrait of the American men’s Olympic ski team seen on the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, February 4, 1932.
Ski trail finish line.
Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany 1936
Alpine Skiing-Oddbjörn Hagen.
German skater Maxi Herber practives her jumps in preparation for her performance, with partner Ernst Baier, in the Mixed Doubles Figure Skating Competition. Herber and Baier went on to win the gold medal in the event.
16 Feb 1936: Fireworks explode above the big ski jump tower during the Closing Ceremony.
St. Moritz, Switzerland 1948
After a 12-year break, caused by World War II these Games were named the “Games of Renewal”.
Hedy Schlunegger (Switzerland-Left) becomes first women’s downhill ski winner.
Barbara Ann Scott (Canada’s Sweetheart) becomes the first and only Canadian woman to win figure skating gold.
FURTHER READING: Barbara Ann Scott “Canada’s Sweetheart” on Figure Skates
Oslo, Norway 1952
Austrian skier Trude Beiser-Jochum (#8, left) and German skier Anne Marie Buchner (#3) watch one of their competitors in the Women’s Slalom event.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy 1956
Speed Skaters Training.
Anne Heggtveit (CAN) 29th, at the start of her downhill skiing race.
This last image is the conclusion of our Vintage Photo Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed taking a chilly but interesting walk down Winter Olympics lane?
Question Time: Are you a fan of the Olympics? And if so what is your favourite sport? Share in the comments below and Happy Tuesday Friends!
FURTHER READING: 1928-Canada’s First Female Olympic Medalists & Vintage Summer Olympic Posters & Advertisements
Liz
Great photos! I love the one you posted on Instagram of the three figure skaters, it’s such an adorable photo. The one of the finish line at Lake Placid makes it look so basic to what we have now. xx
Even the stadiums were so much smaller. Very very different then what we have now 🙂
I like the lunch break one the best, but these are all so neat. I confess I don’t like cold weather, so most of these make me shiver and say “no, thank you.” The closest I want to get to snow is watching snow in a Hallmark movie, but more power to the athletes. I wince just thinking how quickly a back could get thrown out!
LOL! And back then the clothes would of be so much lighter then what we have now to keep us warm. I was also thinking about how quickly one could die from no helmets on some of these sports. yikes!
Looking at these photos I’m struck by the massive difference in the clothes. These people were just in their ordinary winter outfits. I wonder what today’s competitors would make of competing dressed that way.
I would think that they would say that they looked great, but so not efficient lol!