Although its origins are in Europe, bowling has long been known as the common man's sport in the United States. Played in bowling alleys, the game consists of throwing a heavy ball (often weighing ten to sixteen pounds) down a wooden lane to knock over a set of ten wooden pins set in the form of a triangle. It became especially popular among the American working class because it was a cheap sport to play, but it has also attracted people at all levels of income.

Bowling arrived in the United States in the early 1800s, and it developed over the decades into a uniform sport with its own rules, dress, atmosphere, and organization: the American Bowling Congress. By the 1920s, bowling was an established presence in American life, but the heyday of bowling did not occur until the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s when bowling became a cultural...