| By J. Lloyd | | | | can now be found in almost every country in the |
| The history of bowling dates back thousands of years. | | | | world, with an estimated 95 million fans across the |
| It is believed by many that a passion for hitting a | | | | globe. The standard bowling pin of today has come a |
| bowling pin with an object actually struck humanity | | | | long way, as well. Rather than stone or crude wood, a |
| sometime in the Stone Age. This passion has never | | | | typical American bowling pin is made out of fine maple |
| gone away, as evidenced by the worldwide popularity | | | | wood. This type of pin is created using a lathe to form |
| of the sport. As man evolved, so too did the game | | | | the shape. Once this is done, the wood is coated with |
| and its trademark bowling pin design. Whereas the first | | | | plastic and then covered with gloss. The idea is to |
| pins likely were made of stone or another crude | | | | create a uniform set up that is fairly standard from |
| material, the pins of today have come a long way. | | | | alley to alley. The American bowling pin is a pretty |
| Modern pins are precise creations typically made of | | | | strict creation. The standards set by the American |
| wood. Each one is uniform in design specification down | | | | Bowling Congress call for very stringent specifications. |
| to the thickness of the necks and the height they | | | | A standard bowling pin stands precisely 15 inches in |
| stand. The history of bowling marched forward from | | | | height and is not more than 4.75 inches wide at its |
| the Stone Age into actual royal courts. The first | | | | fattest point. They weigh in at less than four pounds a |
| mention of the game in written history involves English | | | | piece. Although the standard American bowling pin is |
| King Edward III who, in 1366, actually banned the game | | | | what is found in most alleys, there are other options |
| to force his soldiers to focus more on their archery | | | | out there in pins. The games played with them are a |
| practice. From Edward's court, the game moved on to | | | | bit different, but they still revolve around the same |
| the time of King Henry VIII. It was in Henry's time the | | | | concept of bowling to knock them down. Other types |
| game became one enjoyed greatly by nobility. In | | | | of pins used in bowling games include the candlepin, |
| Colonial America, the game made an appearance and | | | | the duckpin and the set up for five-pins. Bowling is a |
| was often associated with gambling. The bowling pin | | | | sport that has been enjoyed by people through the |
| count in this earlier form of the game involved nine pins, | | | | ages. From the days before recorded history to the |
| rather than the 10 of today. The game enjoyed | | | | modern, computerized alleys of today, the heart of the |
| widespread popularity that stuck following the invention | | | | game has always involved a bowling pin in one form |
| of the automatic bowling pin spotter in the 1940s. This | | | | or fashion. |
| little creation revolutionized the game and made it | | | | Get all the latest in bowling know how from the one |
| much easier for frames to be reset. The game has | | | | and only true source at Be sure to check our our |
| become so popular, in fact, that bowling pin set ups | | | | bowling pin page. |