Six decades of roller derby in the Bay Area

My family has had 49ers season tickets since before I was born, and we're longtime Giants fans. But of all the great stars I watched on the field in Candlestick Park, I have equally strong memories of meeting Ann Calvello on the way inside the stadium.

Calvello, one of the greatest roller derby stars of all time, took tickets at Candlestick Park up until the early 2000s. (She died in 2006.) As I stated once before, this was kind of like like going to a roller derby match, and getting your ticket taken by Willie Mays. My mother, who went to the same high school as Calvello (Presentation High in San Francisco), was always excited to see the roller derby legend. I'm guessing that's why roller derby stars often settle in the Bay Area. To generations of fans, they aren't a gimmick. These are sportsmen and sportswomen. These are idols.

When I was searching through the archives and discovered the Golden Gate Park roller skating photos that showed up on the blog yesterday, I was thrilled to find a smaller folder marked "ROLLER DERBY." Most of these images are what we call "handout art," which means they weren't taken by Chronicle staff. I found photos that date back to 1939 -- just four years after the first-ever roller derby exhibitions began in 1935.

Below are six decades of local roller derby history, with at least one photo each from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. It's worth noting that the scene is still going strong. (See this column by my SFGate colleague Beth Spotswood.) You can watch the 2011 version of the SF Bay Bombers this weekend on March 19 at Kezar Pavilion. The Bay Area Derby Girls league has a match on the same night at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. More info here.
R.I.P. Bay Area roller derby stars Ann Calvello and Joanie Weston. Your roller derby thoughts in the comments.
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1939: On the far left is roller derby legend Josephine "Ma" Bogash, the first female inductee in the Roller Derby Hall of Fame. I think she looks just like George's mother-in-law on "Seinfeld." She teamed with her son Bill Bogash, who died two years ago at age 92.
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PETER HARTLAUB is the pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and founder of this parenting blog, which admittedly sometimes has nothing to do with parenting. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/peterhartlaub. Your questions answered on VYou at www.vyou.com/peterhartlaub.

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