Not all bowling balls have finger holes. Balls without them were made to be easily held in the bowler’s palm. Players of pétanque, a French version of outdoor target bowling, might have used balls lik ...

Looking at this display of early bowling pins from the Lin Kessler collection, it is tough to imagine how we got to the well-known shape of today’s modern pins. These pins were likely used in many typ ...

Pins for the different forms of early bowling came in a variety of shapes and sizes. The thin pin in the middle bears a striking resemblance to the skittles pins seen in 17th-century Dutch artist Jan ...

For half a century, Lin Kessler traveled across Europe amassing a collection of antique bowling pins and balls. He encountered pieces from a variety of bowling games, the details of which are often my ...

The composition, size and weight of today’s bowling pins are decided and regulated by bowling’s governing bodies. Pins of the past, however, came in variable shapes and sizes and sported detailed craf ...

France suffered no shortage of bowling games. Given the wide variety of antique bowling pins Lin Kessler collected in the country, it seems that bowling was pervasive as a pastime, but highly variable ...

Lin Kessler, a native of Dijon, France, spent more than 50 years collecting early bowling equipment. Some of the earliest, most rudimentary bowling pins are little more than driftwood. Others are more ...

Though one is much smaller than a modern ball, these wooden balls were designed to be gripped with the fingers.

Bowling as we know it has roots that stretch back centuries to mainland Europe.

The giant collection of early bowling items Lin Kessler donated to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame is comprised of over 100 balls and pins of different shapes, sizes, colors and orig ...