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There is confusion about how and when bowling at pins came to the United States, arising from the interuse of the word bowl even though tenpins and lawn bowling have no physical resemblances. And why and when the 10th pin was added to the American game still is a mystery. It is believed tenpins was played in New York City in the 1820s. The earliest known reference to bowling at pins was made by Washington Irving in "Rip Van Winkle" (about 1818).

Regardless of how the game came into being, it became so popular by mid-19th century that indoor lanes were being built throughout Manhattan and the Bronx and on westward, in Syracuse, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, and other cities with large German populations. Many were part of turnvereinsfraternal gymnastic societies-but they quickly spread to wide public usage. While gambling on the game became a problem in some areas, the lack of uniform playing rules and equipment specifications stifled the development as a whole. In 1875, delegates from nine bowling clubs in New York and Brooklyn met in Germania Hall in the Bowery and organized the National Bowling Association. This was the first attempt to bring order out of chaos and some of the legislation agreed on then still is in effect in modified form.

Still, disagreement raged between East and West, principally the alignment of New York state bowlers against everyone else to the West. On Sept. 9, 1895, the American Bowling Congress was organized in Beethoven Hall in New York City. The breach was healed, rules and equipment standards were developed-and adhered to-and the game as it finally was organized more than three-quarters of a century ago has remained basically unchanged. There have been numerous rules modifications, but no really significant alterations in equipment specifications other than those adopted to meet changes brought on by such technological advancements as automation and the invention of plastic, nylon, and other synthetics.

Once ABC came into the picture, bowling began its growth. Manufacturers discovered the field was lucrative enough to warrant their attention. Pins had been set mostly by hand, on pegs that popped out of the lane when the pinboy stepped on a treadle. Machines were designed to do this job. Only the best of top-grade maple was used in the pins. Balls had been made of lignum vitae, a tropical wood that was almost indestructible, except that it chipped and lost its shape. Suddenly all sorts of balls made of hard rubber, still the basic ingredient, appeared. As many as 16 to 24 lanes were built into one building-pin palaces they were called-and nationally known players began to emerge. The game became a sport, even a livelihood, to many.

In 1901, ABC started its national tournament, attracting 41 five-man teams to a four-day gathering in Chicago. Other regional and national competition prospered as ABC involvement broadened. Promotion and publicity developed to the extent that in 1953, at its Golden Jubilee tournament (three years were lost because of World War II), the ABC tournament drew an entry of 8,180 teams or upwards of 41,000 individuals. Prize funds in the big event, which moves from city to city annually and for which lanes are specially installed for spans of nearly three months, have topped $700,000.

The ABC Masters tournament, held annually for the professionals and leading nonpros since 1951, is an added highlight of the three-month extravaganza. After a qualifying round, 64 players are pitted in head-to-head competition in a double elimination format. In 1971 at Detroit, professional Jim Godman rolled the first 300 game in final round action, which helped him move from the losers' bracket and deal Don Johnson two four-game losses.

The lifeblood of bowling is its league play. The highly organized, competitive league structure has made the trek to the lanes a way of life for millions, particularly during the fall and winter months. The trend toward higher handicaps, which in turn produce equalization to a greater extent between all teams in all leagues, and the popularity of the individual match-point system, which provides an extra dose of competition in addition to team play. has helped boost ABC membership over the 4.5 million mark. And WIBC, organized in 1916, is nearing the fourmillion-member level. Together, the two organizations sponsor the American Junior Bowling Congress with its more than 800,000 boys and girls of college age and under.

League play in the three major membership organizations is sanctioned, meaning competition is conducted under rules laid down by the parent bodies, including the handling of prize funds by the adult leagues. About $150 million in league prize money, disbursed at season's end, is protected under ABC's automatic bonding program. WIBC has a similar program that protects upwards of $50 million in women's league funds. This carries over into tournament play, too, where the two groups sanction more than 15,000 tournaments annually. Prize funds, and their distribution, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, are protected against wrongful use and mishandling.

In October 1972, the organizations moved into a new combined national headquarters complex in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, suburb of Greendale. They maintain separate identity and operation but share expenses and work application wherever practical. Milwaukee has been ABC's home since 1907. WIBC had been headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, since 1927.

ABC's Hall of Fame, established in 1941, is the third oldest, preceded only by those of baseball (1936) and golf (1940). A vote is conducted each year and nearly 100 men have been enshrined, including several for meritorious service. The honorees are inducted in ceremonies on ABC tournament lanes. Bronze tablets are hung in the new National Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum in the headquarters complex in Milwaukee. The WIBC Hall of Fame, established in 1953 as "The Star of Yesteryear," also honors its women in the Milwaukee building.