Bowling and Leagues

[scotrace]

Bowling seems to have been popular back in the day.

USA Today, 2015:

From 1940 to 1958, the American Bowling Congress went from 700,000 to 2.3 million members; the Women's International Bowling Congress, grew from 82,000 to 866,000, and the American Junior Bowling Congress expanded from 8,000 to 175,000.

They have declined by 25-30% in the last two decades, with many of the old lanes closing. However, that may be changing.

Same article:

But some industry watchers say the $6 billion-a-year business is in transition and ready for a turnaround with a younger, white-collar crowd adopting a type of happy hour, after-work bowling habit.

Full piece here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/05/10/bowling-final-frames-roll/27070351/

 

[tonyb]

I've yet to research it, but I would be willing to wager there are more bowling lanes per capita here in greater Denver than there are back in greater Seattle, where I resided for 46 years.

There has been a modest resurgence in the activity in recent years. But rather than the mega "bowling centers" we saw spring up back when we were kids, these new bowling alleys have far fewer lanes and are just a piece of what is offered on the premises, which seem to be primarily bars and/or restaurants with a few bowling lanes as an added attraction.

As a teenager I worked as what was called a "porter" at Strato Lanes in Renton, Washington, which is immediately south of Seattle and is home to a large Boeing airplane plant. I swept the approaches and emptied ashtrays and sprayed disinfectant in rental shoes and cleaned the yellow pencil marks off the transparent score sheets that fit in the overhead projectors. Et cetera.

The bowling alley structure still exists, kinda. It has been a Chrysler dealership for decades now, and has been expanded and remodeled repeatedly.

Strato Lanes was old-fashioned even by the standards of 1971 or so, when I worked there. It was more Ralph Kramden than George Jetson. That world is gone.

I am glad I took time to visit Fenway Bowl during a visit to Boston something like a dozen years ago, before the space it occupied in the ballpark by the same name was given over to other uses in that cramped facility. I saw duck pin bowling there, and candle pins. You just don't see that in the West.

 

[Zombie_61]

After 60 years of business, the last bowling alley in my hometown of Whittier, California, closed in June of 2015 due to lack of business/interest.

The building was gutted and turned into a combination BevMo/Aldi store. Except for the signage, the exterior of the building was largely preserved because of it's Googie architecture, and they used wood from the lanes as trim/accents for the interior.

The 100-foot-tall sign in the parking lot was also preserved and restored...

...but it now says "SHOP".

 

[LizzieMaine]

We have a thriving bowling alley the next town over, that's pretty much unchanged since the 1960s, when it was built -- same gamy decor, same fixtures, same shoes. The pizza is excellent, though, and it's still a popular place for company parties and such, and they seem to still have an active schedule of league bowling.

As a kid I used to go to a place called "U-Ota-Bowl," which was, to use Tony's phrase, very "Ralph Kramden." It was built into an old warehouse, and looked absolutely decrepit from the outside, with the only thing identifying it as a bowling alley being a rusty Coca-Cola sign with "U OTA BOWL" in big green letters. There were no windows in the building at all, and you'd go thru this dark, heavy door and up a long, narrow, dark flight of stairs -- the effect was like climbing up a giraffe's throat -- and at the top, you'd bang a right and open a door and you were in the bowling alley. Everything was yellow inside from accumulated tobacco smoke, and the shoes were terrifying. You got a paper scoresheet with ads printed around the margin for businesses that had been defunct for years, and the balls were all chipped. But it was what we had, and for what it was, it was simple, honest fun.

I always wondered what was on the bottom floor of that building, but there didn't seem to be any way to get inside.

We only have candlepin bowling in Maine -- it's a Maine/Massachusetts variant using a ball a little bigger than a softball, and skinny cylindrical pins, with three balls to a frame. It's much more difficult than regular big-ball bowling, and you have to be extremely good at it to roll over 100 in a ten-frame string. I am not extremely good at it.

 

[Fading Fast]

After 60 years of business, the last bowling alley in my hometown of Whittier, California, closed in June of 2015 due to lack of business/interest.

The building was gutted and turned into a combination BevMo/Aldi store. Except for the signage, the exterior of the building was largely preserved because of it's Googie architecture, and they used wood from the lanes as trim/accents for the interior.

The 100-foot-tall sign in the parking lot was also preserved and restored...

...but it now says "SHOP".

⇧ that is one fanfreakin'tastic sign.

 

[Zombie_61]

⇧ that is one fanfreakin'tastic sign.

It does catch the eye as you're driving past it, which probably reinforced the idea of keeping it. They removed it for the restoration, so between that and the amount of interior demolition more than a few local residents were concerned about what form of monstrosity we might have to endure in our fair city after the developers were finished. Fortunately they stayed on the "conservative" side, and made efforts to preserve the building's history while making it look "new" and "fresh".

 

[tonyb]

I've been muttering a bit of late about taking up bowling again. But if I do I'll have a ball fitted for me alone.

 

[tonyb]

It does catch the eye as you're driving past it, which probably reinforced the idea of keeping it. They removed it for the restoration, so between that and the amount of interior demolition more than a few local residents were concerned about what form of monstrosity we might have to endure in our fair city after the developers were finished. Fortunately they stayed on the "conservative" side, and made efforts to preserve the building's history while making it look "new" and "fresh".

As I've noted before, I'm big on historic preservation, and my fondness for interesting architecture spans all eras, including more recent ones.

But I'm aware that property must be paid for, and maintained, and taxes and insurance must be paid. And ...

I bought a small picture frame this morning in a thrift store occupying a structure that started life as one those "wave" roofed 1960s vintage Safeway supermarkets. Such structures no longer pencil out as supermarkets. If they are to continue as something other than vacant graffiti targets, as drags on entire commercial districts, concessions to market realities are in order.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I bought a small picture frame this morning in a thrift store occupying a structure that started life as one those "wave" roofed 1960s vintage Safeway supermarkets. Such structures no longer pencil out as supermarkets. If they are to continue as something other than vacant graffiti targets, as drags on entire commercial districts, concessions to market realities are in order.

I agree. I'd much rather the vacated building be re-purposed and utilized than become an unused local eyesore. But I think the way they converted it while preserving some of the building's history shows a measure of respect for the community and it's history; I think that's good business. Whether it will be successful or not in the long run remains to be seen; they've only been open for three or four months, but so far the response seems to be positive.

 

[tonyb]

I agree. I'd much rather the vacated building be re-purposed and utilized than become an unused local eyesore. But I think the way they converted it while preserving some of the building's history shows a measure of respect for the community and it's history; I think that's good business. Whether it will be successful or not in the long run remains to be seen; they've only been open for three or four months, but so far the response seems to be positive.

Let's hope that gesture to the community pays off for them. It could be a model.

There's a couple of googie restaurant structures on East Colfax here in Denver. At some point in its history one of them underwent a remodel overseen by Frank Lloyd Wrong, while the other remains mostly faithful to its original style. The latter is much more appealing.

As a teenager the drum and bugle corps I belonged to acquired what had been a bowling alley -- one of those barrel-roofed places. We used it as a rehearsal space and bingo hall. It later became a Christian house of worship. It was demolished just a year or three ago.

 

[scotrace]

Sleek and modern.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^^
Nice. Who deserves credit?

I'm guessing late-'40s/mid-'50s. No?

 

[vitanola]

Our local alley has a bit of a Tiki vibe, I think:

A derilict commercial building downtown has the remnant of the old (1912 vintage) four lane alley on its second floor. The old place remained in operation until the late 1970's. We have some of the youngest "ex-pin monkeys" in the country in our town.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
Love the screen block face on that building.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I bowl in a weekly league. It's sad how the number of our bowlers have dwindle over the years.

 

[basbol13]

Love the shirts, if I'm not wearing Hawaiian, I'm wearing a bowling shirt both have the room for a "Big Guy"

 

[Talbot]

^^^^Great idea. Not to hijack the thread, but anyone have a good source for bowling shirts?

 

[Bugguy]

I wish I caught this thread earlier. We're new to Nashville and my wife - bowling is in her DNA - looked for a league. How about 52 lanes and no strobes or super loud music??? Its normal entertainment.

We bowl together once a week - $1/person/game. Unlimited coffee - $1. Its nice to see night-shift workers bowling together after work. No smoking, but lots of beer at 8 AM.