A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook, about her child’s birthday
party; and bowling was one of the activities for the afternoon. It made me smile because I remember doing the
same, once or twice, during my childhood birthdays. Lots of giggling and gutter balls, if I
recall.
These days, on the rare occasion that I bowl, it’s in a trendy, cocktail
bar/restaurant/karaoke bowling alley, such as Bloomsbury Lanes, in Central
London. Still a lot of giggling and
gutter balls; but the cocktails and karaoke add a whole new level of fun!
In
1895, the American Bowling Congress (ABC) was
established in New York City, by restaurateur, Joe Thum, becoming the first
bowling organization in the United States. This was soon joined by similar
organizations geared toward female bowlers, the Women International Bowling
Congress (WIBC). These groups began creating the standard rules for bowling
that have survived to the modern day. At the same time, the sport's image among
the upper classes was enhanced by the opening of more luxurious and elegant
alleys like The White Elephant in New York City, opened by Joe Thum,
whom many consider to be the father of bowling, along with Dick Weber.
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| Joe Thum |
Membership
in the ABC also peaked at just under 4.6 million male bowlers by the 1960s.
The popularity of the sport in America was perhaps no more evident than when
Don Carter became the first athlete of any kind to sign a $1 million
endorsement contract, cementing a multi-year deal with Ebonite International,
the leading bowling equipment company, in 1964. By comparison, pro-golfer,
Arnold Palmer, earned just $5,000,
in 1961, endorsing Wilson golf equipment; and NFL quarterback, Joe Namath, made
just $10,000 in 1968 to famously shave off his moustache with a Schick razor. Bowling was kingpin!
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| Don Carter |
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| American Bowling Congress Tournament, 1905 |
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| Jeannette Knepprath |
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| 1907 female bowler |
The ABC and WIBC cooperated to share headquarters in Greendale, Wisconsin, and then merged to form the USBC, which includes the former governing body of junior bowling, as well. The USBC is now headquartered in Arlington, Texas.
Meanwhile, in 1930, British anthropologist, Sir Flinders
Petrie, along with a team of archaeologists, discovered various primitive
bowling balls, bowling pins and other materials, in the grave of an Egyptian boy, dating to 3200 BC. Their discovery represents the earliest known
historical trace of bowling.
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| Sir Flinders Petrie |
Ironically, although Egyptians are considered to be people of
color, and seemed to have founded the sport of bowling, the ABC, WIBC and
eventually, USBC, did not accept people of color into their clubs.
So, the only solution was to form a bowling
club that African-Americans could join. The National Negro Bowling Association
(NNBA) formed on August 20, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan, for the sole purpose
of encouraging Black people to develop their skills in the game of Ten Pin
Bowling.
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| 1939 National Negro Bowling Association members |
The NNBA held its first
tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1939. The organization included teams from
Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo, Ohio;
Indianapolis, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; and Racine, Wisconsin. Teams from
other parts of the United States joined the association; but bowlers from
Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit dominated the league until the 1950s.
The Association welcomed
people of all races, but African-Americans continued to dominate the group's
membership. One of the organization's presidents, during the 1950s, was William
DeHart Hubbard, an African-American sports legend, from Cincinnati.
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| William DeHart Hubbard |
When
not bowling, the members actively participated in the fight for "Equality
in Bowling"; and in 1950, both ABC and WIBC removed the Non-Caucasian
clauses from their constitutions – thus allowing for Whites and Blacks to
compete in the same leagues and tournaments.
A primary reason for this change was
legal pressure from the NAACP, in partnership with The National Bowling
Association (TNBA).
The TNBA continues to
exist today. In 2007, the organization had a membership of thirty thousand
adult members. The association also oversaw approximately five hundred separate
leagues within the United States.
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| TNBA Tournament |
Some
significant, TNBA milestones include:
·
1978: J. Elmer Reed, from
Cleveland, Ohio, became the first Black person to be inducted into the American
Bowling Congress Hall of Fame
·
1980: Mr. Aubrey Harrison
bowled the first 300 game in TNBA in Los Angeles.
 |
| J. Elmer Reed |
When bowling if one wants to really look the part, they wear a bowling
shirt (in fact, bowling shirts can also be considered to be quite fashionable.
Earlene Fuller was an African-American seamstress and bowler, who designed and
made bowling outfits for numerous, Black and White teams, in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and elsewhere, from 1970 through the mid-1990s. An excellent bowler, herself, Earleane won
several regional tournaments, was TNMA’s Women’s Single Champion in 1979, and
bowled a perfect 300-game in 1983. She was elected to the Milwaukee Women’s
Bowling Association Hall of Fame, in 1992.
Louise Fulton was the first African-American to win a professional
bowling championship. Eric DeFreitas was the first Black bowler to become a member
of the AMF Staff of Champions, and one of the first Black members of the
Professional Bowlers Association.
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| Earlene Fuller, with teammates |
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| Louise Fulton |
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| Eric DeFreitas |
Until
the mid-1980s there was little, if any, new investment in the sport, with the
decline in interest being partially attributed to the complicated scoring
system, especially as it was a manual process then. However, this all changed
with the introduction of automated electronic scoring systems.
However,
eventually, re-investment occurred, in the 1980s, which led to the construction
of many bright, modern and attractive sites and began the second golden age of
bowling. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the number of ten-pin bowling
alleys across the UK, for instance, rose to over two hundred. This was higher
than it had ever been in the sixties, then the peak of the sport's popularity.
Today,
over 100 million bowlers play in over 90 different countries. More men and
women worldwide bowl than play any other sport, with the possible exception of football (soccer). Bowling has far
more registered dues-paying participants than any other sport. Even President
Obama bowls! The USBC, for example,
reported over 2.6 million members in 2008. The bowling industry spends
significantly more money, each year, than any other sport, on airlines,
restaurants, hotels and rental cars. There
is also an active movement to make bowling an Olympic sport.
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| President Obama Bowling |
Bowling may not be the most glamorous of sports; but it does have an
appeal that has endured for centuries.
How can you not like a sport where a ‘strike’ means you’re probably
winning? TNBA, in its 74th year of
existence, has over 23,000 members contained in over 100 local chapters
throughout the country, plus Bermuda.
If you are looking for me, this weekend, I will probably be at Bloomsbury
Lanes, with my friends, who are from every race. Now, if we could only do
something about the shoes…
Sources: The National Bowling Association, Ohio
History Central, Wisconsin Historical Society, Google Images
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