By Ben Marks — At last count, there were no less than six Disney on Ice shows touring the United States. In “Worlds of Fantasy,” costumed cartoon characters from “Toy Story,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Cars” glide across the ice via skates strapped to their feet, fins, and tires. “Passport to Adventure” promises an icy escapade starring Pumbaa and Timon from “The Lion King” and Lilo and Stitch from their eponymous animated feature. As for the main draws in “Frozen,” you get one guess. "Morris Chalfen...

Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession

By Lisa Hix — Vintage kites from all over the world hang from the ceiling and walls of the late Richard Dermer’s popular Hideaway Pizza restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma—and that’s only a fraction of his collection. To many locals, the kites might just seem like another piece of quirky décor. But not so. Dermer, who spoke with us before he passed away in March 2014, was an avid kite enthusiast, and each has a personal meaning. “Three of those kites were made by people who won national championships for...

Love Boats: The Delightfully Sinful History of Canoes

By Hunter Oatman-Stanford — Before the youth of America fooled around at drive-ins and necked on Lover’s Lane, they coupled in canoes. Boatloads of them. In the early 1900s, canoes offered randy young guys and gals a means of escape to a semi-private setting, away from the prying eyes of their pious Victorian chaperones. “To go canoeing on the weekend was pretty much what you did with your best girl," says canoe enthusiast and collector Roger Young. "There weren’t a whole lot of motorcars around at that time. You...

Vintage Snowmobiles: From Model T to Mod

By Mike Anderson — While many sources state the first snowmobile was made by Joseph Armond Bombardier or Edgar Hetten of Arctic Cat, that is not the case. It was actually a converted Ford Model T, made by Virgil D. White of Ossipee, New Hampshire. The Ford Model T Snowmobile patent was issued to Mr. White in 1917, but pictures of his earlier creations date back to 1910. The front tires were removed, a set of wooden skis were added, and a set of heavy track-like chains connected the dual axels. The Ford...

Gliding Back to the Smiley Days of Skating

By Lisa Hix — The SFGate's The Poop just took me on a giddy trip through the wayback machine, and I don't wanna come back. Digging through the San Francisco Chronicle's photo morgue (from back when newspapers processed film photographs), Peter Hartlaub emerged a folder packed with smiling, giddy roller skaters from the late 1970s and early '80s. All the sunny, beaming faces prompted Hartlaub to marvel, "I forgot how happy everyone was in the 1970s and early '80s. I don't like to make promises, but...