Teri Anderson
Because the roller derby sport is a team sport there are many athletes that I was able to meet, travel and compete with. Being a skater in the Roller Derby you formed very close bonds with other skaters that lasted our whole life time. It didn't matter what team you skated for, we became a Roller Derby family. This column is dedicated to the amusing and amazing stories of a great skater who set foot on the banked track in 1949. She is a wonderful friend of mine and stays in contact with our derby family through the Internet today. Her name is Teri Anderson and here is part one of her true story as an athlete from the 1950's roller derby.
Love,
Loretta
Meet Teri Anderson
My Roller Derby Days
by Teri Anderson
I never heard of Roller Derby until one night in 1949. On that night, my parents said, "It's home for you tonight." I didn't want to stay home. But it didn't matter what I wanted. Sooo, I stayed home.
My next step was to make them so miserable that they would say, "OK, get out of here and make sure your home early tonight." Of course that didn't happen. I knew my parents well enough to know they wouldn't change their mind and I knew I would still try to get out of the house.
They were downstairs watching TV. I kept pacing up and down, making a path in the carpet between them and the TV, trying to disturb them. I was wasting my time. They were so interested in what they were watching, they didn't pay any attention to what I was doing. They just moved their head from left to right (to go the opposite way of my body movements) in order not to miss a second of what was happening on the TV.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something very exciting going on. There were people skating at high speed on a banked track. They wore black tights and helmets. They were falling down and popping right back up into the action. It looked fast and exciting.
My mother said to sit down and watch this Roller Derby. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help myself. I sat on the arm of the chair and watched with big wide eyes. I started to realize how exciting and thrilling this game was. I thought to myself, "I know I can do that". Excited, I jumped up and said, "That's it! I'm leaving home and joining the Roller Derby." My Mom replied, "Good! I'll pack your bags."
It was impossible for me to get to sleep that night. I couldn't get Roller Derby out of my mind. I made a mental list of all the information I would need to get started on my quest. I was going to be a Roller Derby star.
I found all the places in New York and in New Jersey where there would be Derby games and tryouts. I lived in New Jersey, and worked in New York at Lord & Taylor's on Fifth Avenue. This made it easy for me to be in either place.
When the Roller Derby had tryouts in New York, I would tell my supervisor I had to leave work early because of a doctor's appointment, as it was the only appointment available. OK, it was a little white lie! I would go to my locker, pick up my skates and I was off to Roller Derby tryouts. I made it my business never to miss the tryouts that were in my vicinity. At the tryouts there were a lot of "WANNABES" but, I was a "GUNNABE."
That Lucky Break
My lucky day came at the armory in Patterson in late 1949, and on that day I became a Roller Derby skater. A skater called "CRAZY LEGS WALKER" picked me out from all the rest.
Bear in mind, this was about 52 years ago. I came from a small town and had Catholic schooling. I wasn't at all worldly wise. Well, that didn't last for long, the skaters made sure of that. It was my first time away from home and I was living with complete strangers. At the beginning it was a little scary. In no time at all I was made to feel at home and a part of my Roller Derby family. I felt like I had lots of brothers and sisters who were always ready to play pranks on one another.
I joined the Chicago Westerners in November 1949. I skated a short time for the New York Chiefs and then for the New Jersey Jolters. After some time I went to the Philadelphia Panthers. By this time I had a passion for adventure and a devil may care attitude. Roller Derby was where I wanted to be and by this time, I belonged.
Buddy Atkinson was my trainer. Ann Pendergrast and I teamed up together in training. We rooted each other on and helped each other through the grueling torture of training. Training was four to six hours a day and only if you made it through training in the day could you skate in the game at night. Training started with a two hour warm-up pace. All the skaters formed a straight line, one skater behind the other. We began a fast pace going around the track, taking turns being the leader of the pack. The feeling of that swift breeze brushing my face was sensational. Next, folding chairs would be laid on their side on the track at about every 15 feet apart. We would skate as fast as possible around the track and jump each folding chair. If your timing was off, you would go head over heels. After the chairs came the forces of Val Panzitta and Lenny Murro. They would skate at my side and block the heck out of me. Every chance they had they would knock me down. Of course I didn't have enough sense to stay down where it was safe. I would get right back up and they would knock me right back down. It helped me to become rough, tough and strong.
Oh Those Wonderful Times
I will always remember Val and Lenny in their winter camel hair coats, hands in pockets, with the wide collars they wore up over their ears. They always reminded me of two guys in a mobster movie I once saw. Maybe it was a Humphrey Bogart movie. Following this, it was time to get on our backs on the 45 degree banked track. Under Buddy's direction we were told to put our skates together and lift them six inches above the track, and hold them there until Buddy gave the order to put our skates down. Lowering the skates had to be done soundlessly. This made all the muscles in my stomach feel like a wash board. I would feel a deep burning sensation in my stomach for hours. Finally, we would fall back into our line again into a pace. We paced ourselves, always trying to outdo one another, seeing who could pace the longest. At last, we would hit the showers. The pounding of the hot water on my muscles felt wonderful. This training helped me to be the strong person I have become, and I still draw on that strength.
Some of the great skaters, such as Paul Milane (Paul skated in the movie Fireball), Silver Rich and Tommy Atkinson (who was a wonderful friend to me, and was Buddy Atkinson's brother) taught me how to work the pack by skating zigzag up and down the track, and at the same time giving hard blocks to other skaters.
We traveled with a cook, and she had a fully equipped kitchen. Unfortunately, our dear cook, who was called Ma, received an emergency call that her family needed her. While she was gone, I was appointed skater/cook. I'm happy to say we all survived.
Shower Time With The Boys
Here's a story that I won't forget. You had to pass the boy's shower to get to the girl's shower. I was in my shorts and T-shirt on my way to the showers. To my surprise I felt a pair of arms wrapped around my upper body like a vise, lifting me off the ground. He put me down in the boy's shower. As soon as I realized what was happening, I shut my eyes very tightly. I felt the water beating down and heard voices hooting and shouting. A wet soapy washcloth was put in my hand. I was told I wouldn't be leaving the shower until I washed every man's back and then I had to open my eyes. There I stood in the center of all the guys, dripping wet, thinking to myself I better get this thing over with. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I was surrounded by these dripping wet guys in their uniform shorts. I knew that my sportsmanship was being tested and I passed with flying colors.
We were traveling on the train and in the adjacent car were "The Green Bay Packers" football team. We enjoyed each other's company and chatted about our individual sports until we reached our destination.
We met the "Harlem Globetrotters" basketball team when we skated in Florida. They played basketball at the same place we skated, but on alternate nights. I got to shoot baskets with the stars. Wow! They were tall.
In 1951, I spent 24 days in Cuba with my team. The language of Cuba is Spanish, which none of us understood. The Cuban people didn't understand English. We lived in a large apartment building and had maid service. The girls shared a very large all white tile bathroom. The bathroom was whiter than white, and with the sun rays bouncing around, you needed sunglasses. On one side was a regular toilet. Then further along that wall was what looked like another toilet bowl without a toilet seat. In the center of this bowl was a silver waterjet. On the outside of the bowl was a silver handle to turn the water jet on and off. I had never seen anything like it before. Neither had many of the other girls. When the handle was turned on, a strong fountain of water leaped into the air. I called Ann Calvello aside to ask her what she thought it was. She laughed and said she had seen this before in Europe. It was a douche bowl. I thought to myself, "I could have fun with this." I asked one of the girls to come over and look close to the bowl. I explained to her that this was a midget shower. I motioned to her to get up close to the bowl, lean over and turn it on and, turn it on she did. With great force like a water fountain, the water leaped into the air and onto her face. She was totally surprised at what she had done to herself.
We repeatedly asked the Seņora to please change all the bed linens. Her answer was always "manana,manana", but manana never came. It was siesta time for the Seņoras, so Ann Calvello and I took the matter into our own hands. We gathered all the linens from all the beds, with the help of all the other girls. With our arms filled, we marched to the center of the building where there was an alcove which had a large window that went all the way down to the ground. We threw the linens out the window, along with all the trash that had never been picked up. Our house cleaning was done.
A bus would pick us up at the apartment building and drive us to the outdoor field where we skated. The streets were very narrow and everyone drove much too fast. I was sitting two or three seats behind a male skater who was sitting in a window seat. He had his arm perched on the opened window sill. We were in the right lane going faster than necessary, when a bus came speeding towards us from the opposite direction. As the buses passed each other, there wasn't enough space between the two busses for his elbow. His arm was struck by the passing bus. I can still hear the crack of his arm. He was in shock and was taken to a hospital for surgery on his arm. Recovery took some time, but he did resume skating once more.
>I went home on a layover and my father taught me to drive a car. I returned to Hollywood, California with a driver's license in my wallet. I met up with Ann Calvello and we bought our dream car. What a beauty! It was a 1937 Oldsmobile with the shift on the floor and the front end falling out, unbeknownst to us. We drove straight to the Pan Pacific Auditorium parking lot where we arranged the wooden horses to resemble streets and corners. This is where I gave Ann her first driving lesson.
We drove to San Francisco. The steep hills seemed never-ending, one right after the other. New Jersey, is a rather flat state, so I never learned how to stop in the middle of a steep hill, while driving a stick shift car. If I had to stop half way up the hill, I would roll backwards, into the car behind me. Soon I got the hang of it.
One day we were driving through town with our new car. We noticed we had the attention of many guys. They were honking their horns and waving their hands up and down and sideways. We said to each other, "We must really look good today." The guys were so persistent. We finally pulled over to the curb, only to find out that the last ten miles we were driving on the flattest flat tire I ever saw.
I was happy to be skating in New Jersey. I was really excited about it, as all my neighborhood friends were coming to see me skate. I wanted to show off for them, but I couldn't. I had a bad injury and couldn't stand up, let alone skate. I was as disappointed as they were. But, they did see me in uniform, sitting on the bench and cheering for my team.
In New York we used to stay at the Washington Hotel, which is no longer there. The girls stayed on one floor, while the boy's rooms were on the floor above. We were only allowed to get off the elevator on the floor where we were staying. This made it difficult to have parties or play cards. We were forced to use the fire escape to have access to each other's floor. We would spend hours playing our favorite card game, which was Hearts. We would short sheets, loosen bolts on the legs of the beds and put mattresses in the showers and anything else we could think of to pass the time when we were not skating. We would hold a guy down, and a bunch of us would give him a necklace of hickeys around his neck. Our days off in Milwaukee were spent at the roller rink. Elmer Anderson (no relation to me) would take us "new kids" to a grand nightclub to see a show which amazed me. One nightclub had women impersonators, which was another lesson in life. Elmer never watched the show, he just watched the look on my face.
My team spent quite a bit of time in Hollywood. We skated in the Pan Pacific Auditorium. We drew large crowds, which included many movie stars. They loved the sport and came by regularly. They stopped by our dressing rooms to visit with us. We were welcomed at the movie studios. We met Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell on the set of "The Lemon Drop Kid". Bob road a bicycle around the set with a sign that hung across handlebars that read, "Caters to parties, picnics and weddings." He rode his bike up to us and shouted,"I knew you were skaters by the way you walked." We also spent time with Susan Hayward and David Wayne.
We watched Robert Wagner making his first movie, " With A Song In My Heart". We met The Three Stooges, Penny Singleton from "Blondie and Dagwood", (the news paper comic strip which was made into a movie), Alan Ladd and a host of other stars. I once had a date with George Reeves, the first "Superman".
Gloria Brent, with the neatest hairdo, was rated one of the best dressed girls in the Roller Derby. Gloria was known as "Miss Vogue". Before Roller Derby, Carmen Zani was a Conover model. Dolores Doss celebrated her Derby debut by receiving a black eye on her first night of competition. Gloria Clairbeau and I started Roller Derby on the same day. Our first game was in Florida. Gloria was crowned a Roller Derby Queen in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in August 1951. Loretta Behrens was known as "Little Iodine" and today is the "Hedda Hopper" of the Roller Derby. Silver Rich made it in the Derby, and in 1940 he enlisted in the Paratroopers. In 1946, he returned to Roller Derby.
Roller Derby was a mighty rough sport. There were three of the Panthers who wore glasses, while they wheeled around the banked track. The three were Bobby Johnstone, "Spec" Saunders and Ann Pendergrast. Although the three had broken bones galore, their glasses have never been broken on the masonite track.
The Roller Derby, as a team sport, began in late 1937 and early 1938. By 1941, after the game had survived the disastrous bus wreck that took the lives of 22 skaters, there were eight teams in action. Plans were made for National League Roller Derby, which would operate on the same principle as baseball, but the war interrupted. More than 60 percent of the male skaters went into the service within a year. The progress of Roller Derby, as a national institution in sports, was at a halt. The game was kept alive by one unit traveling from place to place, playing Army camps and arenas where they were available.
In Chicago, the winter engagements of the National League attracted 101,642 fans. It was a new attendance record for the Coliseum, where the game had been played for 15 years. Skating for the Chicago Westerners, I had the opportunity to skate there many times. Ann Calvello and I had a super time in Chicago, the windy city.
The first National Playoff in the history of the Roller Derby took place in New York City at Madison Square Garden in 1949. The series drew more than 40,000 fans over four nights, and established the game as a definite big time attraction in the Garden.
National Roller Derby began operating on October 1, 1949. The first year of the 6 team league was a very successful one. Attendance records were set in this series. In 1950, the "World Series" in Madison Square Garden astounded the entire sports public. Close to 80,000 fans witnessed the five nights of Roller Derby. They saw the New Jersey Jolters, who were considered the longshots, take the Brooklyn Red Devils in a sensational first game. The Co-favorites, New York and Philadelphia were both eliminated in a round robin play off. At that time, I was a Panther, Teri Anderson No. 32. Although we didn't win anything, it was still surreal for me to be on the "Philadelphia Panthers" and have the good luck to skate in "Madison Square Garden". What a thrill it was. The 1950-51 season was also a good one. Thousands of new fans were made. Much steady progress was made establishing the "Roller Derby" as a bona fide sport. The Roller Derby artists were among the most durable athletes in the world, skating 250 nights a year.
I could go on and on with my Roller Derby adventures, but at this point, I'll call it quits. Every skater has dozens of wonderful experiences to bring back to life. These are some of my memories that I experienced.
I can't even guess who will be reading this, but if you are the person who is still trying to find your way and have a dream, no matter how big or outrageous it seems to anyone else, pursue your dream, hold onto it, do not let it go. In my opinion, without a dream you have nothing. I leave you now with the thought, "it's better to be a has been then a never was."
Thank You!! for reading me,
Teri Anderson
