There are few sports that display so commanding a dominance by a nation as Canada in curling. A demonstration sport in the first winter Olympics in 1924, its world organization now boasting 34 member nations, Curling became a medal sport in the 1998 Games. This essay explores reasons for the popularity of curling in Canada (estimates are of 1.3 million curlers in the country), how it became an Olympic sport, and within driving themes of this volume provides a conclusion about the tension that persists between assuring the purity of the sport's history and making it an internationally marketable sport.