History Of Bowling Balls, Alleys, Pins And Shoes

Bowling balls, bowling pins, bowling shoes, and bowling ball styles all evolved from the creation and eventual development of the sport.  Thus, the use of bowling equipment is intricately woven into the history of the bowling game itself.

History Of Bowling: The Bowling Ball And Pins

Today more than 65 million people play bowling games on an annual basis.  Presently, bowling games are played with different bowling balls made of a variety of materials and consisting of varying weights.  Modern bowling balls are made to perform well with surface variations and can be chosen to further enhance a bowlers playing style.  The bowling balls in use today are nothing like the first bowling balls used in games like lawn bowling.

Bowling balls during the Medieval era were asymmetrical and they were not exactly round in shape; their unique shaped allowed for the balls to have a natural curve when they were tossed.  The first bowling balls had a an asymmetrical shape because it affected the balance of the ball as well as its spin.  The earliest bowling bowls were absent of the finger holes one would find on modern bowling balls today too. 

Bowling balls were originally created out of a wood material identified as lignum vitae.  By 1905, the first bowling balls made of rubber materials were offered.  Later, in the early 1920s, a newer kind of bowling ball made of rubber was offered by Brunswick Corporation: the ball was identified as the Minerality.  This ball proved popular until the 1970s.  Even later, bowling balls were created out of polyester materials and by the mid 1980s; the most popular bowling balls were manufactured with materials consisting of urethane.  Today, bowling balls are made with one of three distinct exterior coatings including polyester, urethane, and reactive urethane. For more information visit http://strikekingbowling.com/?p=27.

History Of Bowling Pins

Just like bowling balls, bowling pins have changed over time in terms of their overall design.  The first bowling pins, just like bowling balls, were made of wood materials like Maple.  Sometimes the pins were made of stone.   Pins were shaped through the use of a lathe tool. Wooden pins were coated with a plastic exterior coating and the pins are given a high gloss finish with a polyurethane coating.

Today, the size and weight of bowling pins is strictly regulated by the American Bowling Congress.  All pins have to be no greater than 4 3/4 inches in width and they can must be exactly 15 inches in height: this allows for a uniformity in terms of pins design.  Every pin is designed so that it weighs exactly four pounds too.  Pins are offered in standard varieties, they come in duckpin, and candlepin forms as well.

In the 1930s, archaeologists found bowling pins in Egyptian tombs; these pins, along with bowling balls were dated to circa 320 BCE.  This finding is the earliest known reference to the game.  Some historians argue that bowling and bowling equipment came from Germany sometime around 300 CE.  This German link is associated with the game of Kegelspiel or Kegal: a game using nine skittles or pins and rolling balls.  The first written documentation of the game is traced to England during the reign of King Edward III when he banned the military from participating in the game because it caused them to neglect their training in archery.  Some historians believe that King Henry VIII used a cannon ball to bowl; interestingly, this same king banned the game for the elite members of society because the game was causing so many to neglect the duties of their trade.  For more information visit http://www.kingpinbowlingballs.com/history-bowling-balls.

History Of Bowling Alleys And Shoes

As mentioned earlier, the very first bowling games were played on outdoor lawns.  Bowling alleys as they are now appreciated were not really developed until the late 1950s and the 1960s.  The first alleys were erected in the western region of the United States and a lot of money to build. A bowling alley was erected in Santa Monica in 1959 that cost nearly 2000000.00 to complete. Another bowling alley was created in California in Indio in the 1960s at the cost of $750000.00.  By the year 1962, a total of nine alleys had been created in the western United States; the largest being situated in El Cajon: the Parkway Lanes sported sixty alleys for bowling and cost one million dollars to develop.  This bowling alley also maintained five acres of space for parking.

Many of the early bowling alleys had an array of entertaining features.  Developers added snack bars, billiard rooms, cocktail bars, and areas where children could play as well.  This is what helped to make bowling appealing to every member of the family, no matter what the age and also helped in driving customers to spend more family time at local bowling alleys.  In the early 1960s, bowling alleys were also built in places like New Zealand and Australia too. 

The exact date when bowling shoes were first used and manufactured is unclear.  In certain cultures it may have been that footwear while bowling was optional, however, since the game of lawn bowling occurred outdoors, it is relatively safe to assume that shoes were worn by participants in the game.  Of what little traceable history there is related to bowling shoes, historical records indicate that a Dermative shoe was introduced in America in the year 1888.  The shoe was crafted out of leather and had water resistant properties.  These early shoes were so versatile that they proved beneficial for those who enjoyed boating, cricket, tennis, or bowling.  Over time, bowling shoes were crafted with stronger stitching: since lanes were oiled down so that the ball could move done the lane with greater ease, bowling shoes had to offer superior grip.