Bowling

BOWLING

King and Queen

Marion Ladewig and Don Carter were queen and king of the country's most popular participation sport. With the advent of automatic pinsetters and more-predictable wood oils, bowling became a game that was fun, accessible to all, and fairly easy to master. It was not surprising then that champions came from common origins. A truly middle-class sport for middle-class people, bowling was, in its own way, the greatest success story of the decade.

The Handicap

Bowling tournaments were televised locally all across the country. Handicap tournaments which allowed lesser bowlers an advantage calculated on the basis of previous performances, were popular in bowling alleys all over the country. Ordinary Joes could battle professionals such as the great Don Carter, with a reasonable expectation to make the pros at least sweat. By the end of the decade, the ABC television network was preparing to begin its long and profitable relationship with bowling.

Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) Championship (Men's Division)

1950—Junie McMahon

1951—Dick Hoover

1952—Junie McMahon

1953—Don Carter

1954—Don Carter

1955—Steve Nagy

1956—Bill Lillard

1957—Don Carter

1958—Don Carter

1959—Billy Welu

Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA) Bowler of the Year (Men's Division)

1950—Junie McMahon

1951—Lee Jouglard

1952—Steve Nagy

1953—Don Carter

1954—Don Carter

1955—Steve Nagy

1956—Bill Lillard

1957—Don Carter

1958—Don Carter

1959—Ed Lubanski

BOWLING: BLACK AMERICA'S MOST
POPULAR SPORT

According to Ebony magazine, the most popular participatory sport for black urban Americans was bowling. Yet, like most institutions, bowling was segregated. The American Bowling Congress (ABC), governing body for most bowling leagues, did not allow black membership. Blacks founded the National Negro Bowling Association (NNBA) in 1939, and in 1944 its name was changed to the National Bowling Association (NBA).

in 1948 the National Committee for Fair Play in Bowling, chaired by Minneapolis mayor Hubert Humphrey, began to pressure the ABC and the Womens' International Bowling Congress (WIBC) to change their "whites only1' policy. In 1951 the ABC and the WIBC changed their rules to allow any qualified bowler into their tournaments; but the rule change did not result immediately in integration.

In the 1950s four NBA bowlers won both national singles and all-around titles. Ben Harding (1950) and William Rhodman (1953) won men's titles, while Ruth Coburn (1952) and Beverly Adams (1956) won women's crowns.

Source:

Arthur Ashe, A Hard Road to (Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete Since 1946 (New York: Amistad. 1988).

Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) Championship (Women's Division)

1950—Marion Ladewig

1951—Marion Ladewig

1952—Marion Ladewig

1953—(Not Held)

1954—Marion Ladewig

1955—Sylvia Wene

1956—Anita Cantaline

1957—(Not Held)

1958—Merle Matthews

1959—Marion Ladewig

Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA) Bowler of the Year (Women's Division)

1950 —Marion Ladewig

1951 —Marion Ladewig

1952 —Marion Ladewig

1953 —Marion Ladewig

1954 —Marion Ladewig

1955 —Marion Ladewig

1956 —Sylvia Wene

1957 —Anita Cantaline

1958 —Marion Ladewig

1959 —Marion Ladewig

Source:

Herm Weiskopf, The Perfect Game (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978).