While the Summer Olympics date back to ancient Greece, the Winter Olympics are a more recent phenomenon. The first two Winter Olympic Games were held in Europe. Then, in 1932, Lake Placid, New York hosted the worldwide competition.
The Lake Placid Games included four major winter sports: skiing, skating, hockey and bobsled racing. For fans of ski jumping, the specially designed ski hill promised to propel skiers some 200 feet into the air. The bobsled run offered hairpin turns and zigzag curves.
Dog sled racing and curling were the Game’s demonstration sports. Preparations for the Games involved the whole Lake Placid community. A new Olympic stadium was built. People opened their homes to accommodate the thousands of guests expected to attend.
Visitors were assured that despite its remote location, the village of Lake Placid offered “smart Fifth Avenue shops of New York City” and Wall Street brokerage houses.
Learn more in the papers of Charles H. Brown at UW’s American Heritage Center.