The museum’s 19th century patent models for figure skates shown here, accompanied by their patent drawings, illustrate the inventive spirit that the mid-nineteenth-century skating craze kicked off, with consequent variety in designs. Clockwise from upper left: John A. Winslow ice skate patent model, US Patent 17,179, 1857; T. W. Brown ice skate patent model, US Patent 26,882, 1860; A. F. Migeon ice skate patent model, US Patent 77,901, 1868; Elisha Foote ice skate patent model, US Patent 45,148, 1864. Courtesy of National Museum of American History and USPTO