The pins in ten-pin bowling were
originally tall and slender, almost cylindrical. It
was hard to get high scores with such pins, so bowling
alleys
in New York City about 1850 began to use the familiar
larger, bottle-shaped pins.
After the Civil War, "big pin" bowling became
the dominant version of the sport throughout the country.
But in 1881, Justin P. White, the owner of a billiard
room in Worcester, Massachusetts, and John J. Monsey,
an expert billiards player, revived--or perhaps re-invented--the
older form of bowling.
The original candlepins were 11 inches
high and tapered to a diameter of 1 inch at each end.
Bowlers used a wooden ball, 3 inches in diameter and
weighing about 3 pounds, on a regulation-sized tenpin
alley.
Because of the size of the ball and
spacing of the pins, it was very difficult to get a
good score, so White and Monsey hit on the idea of leaving
fallen pins, or "deadwood," on the lane to
increase scoring. Using deadwood to help knock down
the remaining pins is an important tactical feature
of candlepin bowling.
The pins are now somewhat bigger
than in 1881: 15 3/4 inches high and 2 15/16 inches
at the middle, tapering to 1 3/4 inch at the ends. The
ball is 4 1/2 inches in diameter and weighs from 2 pounds,
5 ounces, to 2 pounds, 7 ounces.
Scoring is the same as in regulation
tenpin bowling, except that a bowler is allowed three
balls per frame. If all ten pins are knocked down with
three balls, the score for the frame is simply a 10.
The perfect score in candlepins is
300, but no one has ever accomplished that, or even
come close. The highest sanctioned score is 240, by
Gerry Montminy.
The "new old" version of
bowling spread quickly through New England and Eastern
Canada, often existing side by side with big pin bowling
as an attractive alternative for youngsters, seniors,
and some women, as well as an interesting challenge
for other bowlers.
After World War II, big pin bowling
gradually began to replace candlepin in many locations,
in large part because Brunswick, the major manufacturer
of bowling equipment, opened alleys devoted exclusively
to that form of the sport. National television of the
Professional Bowlers Association tour also contributed
to the popularity of big pin bowling.
Nevertheless, many adherents remained,
and remain, devoted to candlepin bowling, although their
numbers have been declining.
A candlepin bowling show was telecast
every Saturday by a Boston channel for more than 40
years, and it was one of the highest-rated shows on
local television in that city. It was dropped in 1995,
however--not because of poor ratings, but because the
station felt the audience was not "demographically
attractive to advertisers."
The sport certainly hasn't died,
but it lives on in only a few alleys, primarily in western
New England and Canada's Maritime Provinces. |