From the U.S. Olympic team, to Bowling with the Champs, to countless corner bars with a couple of lanes in the basement, Milwaukee has lived and breathed this sport. In the late 1800s, German brewers like Capt. Frederick Pabst and the Uihleins offered bowling in their Milwaukee beer gardens. When Abe Langtry brought the American Bowling Congress here in 1905, Brew City became bowling central. Today owning a bowling alley is a labor of love, with good reason. Its the place where you rolled that 700 series, met your wife, and taught your son how to bowl in the junior league. Even in this high-tech, immediate-gratification society, bowling still thrives in Milwaukee. Several old-school lanes still have steady business, and this book is a tribute to the people, the places, and the sport that made Milwaukee Americas Bowling Capital.

From the U.S. Olympic team, to "Bowling With the Champs," to countless corner bars with a couple of lanes in the basement, Milwaukee has lived and breathed this sport. In the late 1800s, German brewers like Capt. Frederick Pabst and the Uihleins offered bowling in their Milwaukee beer gardens. When Abe Langtry brought the American Bowling Congress here in 1905, "Brew City" became bowling central. Today owning a bowling alley is a labor of love, with good reason. It's the place where you rolled that 700 series, met your wife, and taught your son how to bowl in the junior league. Even in this high-tech, immediate-gratification society, bowling still thrives in Milwaukee. Several old-school lanes still have steady business, and this book is a tribute to the people, the places, and the sport that made Milwaukee "America's Bowling Capital."

Loggats, kayles, quilles, skittles, half-bowl and ninepins were all early forms of games in which the goal was to knock down small standing objects from a distance by rolling or throwing another object at them. Archaeologists have found items from Egypt around 5200 B.C. that included small stone balls and narrow pins that were possibly used for a game. Additional research has disclosed that Polynesians played a similar game, using small elliptical balls and round flat stone disks, and, like modern-day bowling, a sixty-foot throwing distance. The Historical Dictionary of Bowling contains a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on both male and female bowlers, amateur and professional, bowling coaches, writers and other contributors to the sport of bowling; descriptions and results of major tournaments and terminology of the sport. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the sport of Bowling.

In this authoritative and lively book, Doug Schmidt traces bowling's roots from a German religious rite centuries ago to the sport that made Milwaukee famous. From the taverns and saloons that housed recreational games to the sell-out crowds and million-dollar beer sponsorships of televised tournaments, this well-illustrated book covers both sport and city, charting the changing face of bowling over the century. Packed with memorable showdowns and improbable heroes, They Came to Bowl will take you back to the changing lanes of bowling in Milwaukee -- and the sport as a whole.

Remains of earliest German settlements in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German place names in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German commerce in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German institutions in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German ways of life in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German footprints on the physical terrain in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Efforts to remove German footprints in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Restoring Milwaukee's German essence.