As kids my brother and I had metal roller skates too, with leather straps and a wing nut on the bottom that was used to either shorten or lengthen the size of the skate (one size fits all!).
They were hellaciously noisy, uncomfortable and damned dangerous. It wasn't until we figured out that since they were made of steel, and in a powerslide at the bottom of a city hill would produce a good amount of sparks, and that if someone broke out some gasoline at the bottom of the same hill, well, does the name Evel Knievel ring any bells?
