Washington Irving’s 1819 short story “Rip Van Winkle,” the tale of a Dutch-American bewitched into slumber for 20 years during a ghostly game of ninepin bowling, was one of the first mentions of the g ...

Duckpin bowling developed in the United States in the late 1800s. In 1905, a Pennsylvania man added thick rubber bands to the base of the squat pins, officially starting rubber band duckpin bowling. T ...

Given bowling’s growing popularity in the early twentieth century, it is no surprise that political satirists would choose it as settings for their cartoons. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt was ...

This ball weighed in at 18 pounds, large by any standards. Upon a closer look you’ll notice the ball lacks finger holes, meaning the owner held it in his palm. Those massive hands must have had quite ...

Cincinnati hosted the 8th annual American Bowling Congress tournament in the “fireproof” armory on Freeman Avenue in 1908. In preparation for the event, the armory constructed 18 bowling alleys, set u ...

The 1909 American Bowling Congress tournament in Pittsburgh saw more than 2,000 people on opening night at Duquesne Garden, but unfortunately the crowds tapered off during the multi-week tournament an ...

J.W. Remy manufactured stoneware for over a century beginning in the 1860s, and the company began exporting their steins to the United States by 1900. This full-color folksy stein could have been on M ...