As a young girl, I had clamp-on roller skates like these. I wore my skate key on a chain around my neck. The skates were metal and the wheels were metal. The skates pulled out to adjust the length, so one pair of skates could grow with you. The skates were held on with a leather strap at the ankle and by clamps on the toe. The clamps were loosened with a “skate key” and then tightened on the shoe.
Everett Hosmer Barney, of Springfield, MA, received a patent for the clamp-on roller skate on January 16, 1866.
