Museum's history section shows bowling from beginnings into 1900s
November 16, 2009
After seeing the new International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame's Grand Entrance, visitors will enter a section that not only tells the story of bowling's origins, but also its role in American culture.
The history section now under construction at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas, begins with the sport's ancient beginnings and carries through most of the 1900s.
"People just going to the museum will learn something they haven't learned before," said Ross Edwards, design director for Dallas' Museum Arts and the lead designer for the IBM/HF. "They may only think of the ball and pins but after going through this area they will have learned about the rich history of how bowling got to where it is today. We think this rich story will get visitors excited enough to share with their friends and family to say, ‘You have to see this. You have to come here.'"
The Egyptian exhibit that begins the history section tells of games found in archeological digs, placing bowling's beginnings at 5,000 years ago. Across the way will be a section on bowling in Europe that includes Henry XIII of England and lawn bowling. Visitors will be able to bowl on a replica 9-pin lawn bowling replica, knocking down and setting up their own pins.
Across the way will be an exhibit of a variety of different bowling pins and bowling balls used through the years. Next to that will be The Knickerbocker, a replica of a late 1800s Manhattan bowling club that was a hangout for famous high-society families. The exhibit depicts how bowling came from Europe to America and how it grew as a tenpin sport through participation of artisans, brick layers and other trade people plus women.
"An immigration panel will show a family together on a dock and others coming to America and going bowling together," Edwards said. "This will lead people to the Joe Thum exhibit."
Thum was a German immigrant who came to the U.S. and helped introduce bowling to his adoptive home. He built lanes at his restaurant in lower Manhattan and when he did the same at another location, skeptics called it "Joe's White Elephant." He kept the name and visitors can see a replica of the restaurant's facade.
The Thum exhibit also will discuss him and the other founding fathers of the American Bowling Congress. A nearby display will talk about the beginnings of the Women's International Bowling Congress.
As bowling moved into the 20th century, so too do the displays. A diorama from the early 1900s will show pin boys on the lanes. A newsstand will display how people learned about bowling in the printed media.
Moving along, visitors will see an exhibit on the great beer teams from the 1950s and how television played a major role in spreading the word to new people nationwide in the 1950s and '60s. A 1950s-era diner that can be used to host events and a gallery telling the story of the architecture, automation and air conditioning of the time rounds out this major section of the Museum.
The history section now under construction at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas, begins with the sport's ancient beginnings and carries through most of the 1900s.
"People just going to the museum will learn something they haven't learned before," said Ross Edwards, design director for Dallas' Museum Arts and the lead designer for the IBM/HF. "They may only think of the ball and pins but after going through this area they will have learned about the rich history of how bowling got to where it is today. We think this rich story will get visitors excited enough to share with their friends and family to say, ‘You have to see this. You have to come here.'"
The Egyptian exhibit that begins the history section tells of games found in archeological digs, placing bowling's beginnings at 5,000 years ago. Across the way will be a section on bowling in Europe that includes Henry XIII of England and lawn bowling. Visitors will be able to bowl on a replica 9-pin lawn bowling replica, knocking down and setting up their own pins.
Across the way will be an exhibit of a variety of different bowling pins and bowling balls used through the years. Next to that will be The Knickerbocker, a replica of a late 1800s Manhattan bowling club that was a hangout for famous high-society families. The exhibit depicts how bowling came from Europe to America and how it grew as a tenpin sport through participation of artisans, brick layers and other trade people plus women.
"An immigration panel will show a family together on a dock and others coming to America and going bowling together," Edwards said. "This will lead people to the Joe Thum exhibit."
Thum was a German immigrant who came to the U.S. and helped introduce bowling to his adoptive home. He built lanes at his restaurant in lower Manhattan and when he did the same at another location, skeptics called it "Joe's White Elephant." He kept the name and visitors can see a replica of the restaurant's facade.
The Thum exhibit also will discuss him and the other founding fathers of the American Bowling Congress. A nearby display will talk about the beginnings of the Women's International Bowling Congress.
As bowling moved into the 20th century, so too do the displays. A diorama from the early 1900s will show pin boys on the lanes. A newsstand will display how people learned about bowling in the printed media.
Moving along, visitors will see an exhibit on the great beer teams from the 1950s and how television played a major role in spreading the word to new people nationwide in the 1950s and '60s. A 1950s-era diner that can be used to host events and a gallery telling the story of the architecture, automation and air conditioning of the time rounds out this major section of the Museum.