Zamboni Any One?
Posted: Monday, August 09, 2010
by Dr. Carla Goddard
Prior to 1940, indoor ice rinks were fairly not the normal arena where the sport of hockey was played. In 1940 the largest rink in the country opened as an open air facility in, of all places, Southern California. As you can imagine the ice surface was less than adequate with the hot sun and dry desert winds, so a domed roof was added to attempt to improve the indoor ice surface. At the time resurfacing was done by pulling a scraper behind a tractor which would be followed by works that would scoop away the shavings, another group praying water over the surface, followed by yet another group that would squeegee the surface. A process that took over an hour. In the 1920's a 19 year old man moved to Southern California with his brother and opened up an electrical service business catering to the local dairy farmer. They built and installed refrigerator units to keep the milk cold. As the concept grew in popularity, the brothers expanded their business vision. With refrigeration technology surpassing their blocked ice business the brothers looked for other ways to capitalize their experience with ice.
Over the next four years, Frank built 15 different Zamboni's each improved over the previous one. During this time he sold more units including one for the Boston Gardens. As ice skating became more popular, Frank almost completely revamped the Zamboni using a stripped down Jeep Chassis to allow for more water and snow space. In 1960, Frank designed a new unit specifically for the Olympic ice area's. By 1964, the HD Series Zamboni arrived eliminating the Jeep chassis and using a new vertical auger snow conveyor system.
By the 1970's the energy crisis causes a huge disruption in ice rink operations. Frank went work once more and in 1978 the Model 550 Zamboni is introduced as the first production of electric Zamboni's.
In 1965 Frank Zamboni was inducted into the Ice Skating Institute Hall of Fame as a builder. Having never gone to college, in 1988 Clarkson University bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Engineering Degree. Shortly after the ceremony Frank passed away. Throughout the years, Frank worked to build better and better resurfacing units. Other competition came and went but the Zamboni brand has remained for over 50 years. Although Frank did not live to realize it, his work and invention has been recognized by the United States Figure Skating Association Hall of Fame, the ISI Award was created in his honor for outstanding and innovative contributions to the skating industry, the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and last year Frank Zamboni was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. His beliefs and innovation live on today in the company he founded.
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