Joe Skinger *Silver by Skinger *Slalom Ring

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In the 1960's thousands of visitors to Stowe, Vermont visited Silver by Skinger, Joe Skinger's jewelry business on the Mountain Road, a mile down from the Toll House. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Skinger
He died in January 1967, making this January 2007 the 40th anniversary since he passed away.
Does anyone have memories of visiting the shop, buying jewelry and having conversations with Joe? The Slalom Ring was the most popular item- and most skiers in the day had to have one.
Joe was the originator of the slalom ring though there were many imitators.
The walls of the shop were lined with his sculpture and there were many conversations about the possible meanings of the sculpture. This flickr site shows some of his jewelry.
[flickr.com]
The black and white portrait of Joe in the slide show is copyright Peter Miller 1964 www.silverprintpress.com
Link to Stowe Reporter Article http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=999&show=archivedetails&Arc hiveID=1240839&om=1

[conruth]

Carol Skinger, Joe's youngest daughter was a friend of mine in the mid sixties when I attended Stowe Junior High. I remember spending time at the Skingers. Joe was not unfriendly but I can't say I really got to know him in spite of spending considerable time at their house. I was very much in awe around Joe because I thought it was so neat that he had designed the slalom ring. I recall Joe leaning over his work in the studio part of the shop making jewelry as Carol and I passed through. And I remember that he almost always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

- Connie Hewitt Ruth

The thing about "the old days" of skiing, specifically the 50s and 60s when I was racing, is that there were some real characters alive and well and because they did extraoridinary things either on skiis or ski-related, they were accepted into the elite group of skiers who went to the mountains weekly if not daily.

Joe and his family were a part of that strange cadre of individuals who didn't follow the path of others. I skiied for MMSC when Ricky and Carol were there too. My father and Joe were friends and he (as were we all) was quite saddened by his untimely death. I saw him occasionally in the bar at Spruce, and several times in his shop at this house on the mountain road. He was a wonderful story teller. He was an artist and a breed apart. He most often, though, worked in his shop creating jewelry and little skiing statues that have become icons of design since. He didn't patent them.

Joe was a part of skiing history that gave it depth and richness.

Old Vermont racer

My grandparents were Ki and Stan Wright, who ran the art school on Route 100 at the corner of Moss Glen Falls Road. I remember my grandmother telling us about the slalom rings, and we all "had to have one." When we would inevitably lose one, another took its place.

I took art lessons from Ki Wright in Moss Glen Falls when I was very young..that's how I found this thread...looking for any reference to them!

I was just wondering if anyone new where i could find a slalom ring or something similar. A friend of mine who was a ski racer had an accident and her mom bought her a slalom ring while she was recovering. During a recent trip to ecuador she was robbed and her ring was stolen and i was looking to find her a new one. Any help would be great

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You can purchase a reproduction of the slalom ring at the Vermont Ski Museum in Stowe, Vermont. Joe Skinger's original jewelry often comes up for sale online at various vintage modernist sites, but I have never seen one of his hand wrought slalom rings appear online, though that could happen.

Vermont Ski Museum
PO Box 1511
One South Main Street
The Perkins Building
Stowe, VT 05672

By Phone: 802-253-9911
By Fax: 802-253-2616

By Email: info@vermontskimuseum.org

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To avoid confusion the Vermont Ski Museum in Stowe, VT does not carry reproductions of Skinger's design the "slalom ring" any longer.

However, the Bennington Museum and the Vermont Crafts Council are looking for an original Skinger Slalom ring, Slalom bracelet and Snowflake pin hopefully with his mark "Skinger" stamped inside. From May 22, 2010 through October the Bennington Museum, in Bennington, Vermont will host a show titled State of Craft about the history of contemporary craft in Vermont. Along with many other artists and crafts men and women, the career of Joe Skinger and three representive pieces of his jewelry will be included in the exhibit and research project.

State of Craft is:
A research, exhibit, and publication project organized by the Vermont Crafts Council in partnership with the Vermont Folklife Center and the Bennington Museum in celebration of the 20th year of the Vermont Crafts Council.

Vermont Crafts Council
PO Box 938
Montpelier VT 05601
vt1crafts@aol.com
802-223-3380