Candlepin bowling


Candlepin bowling is a variation of bowling that is played primarily in the Canadian Maritime provinces and the New England states of the United States. It is played with a handheld-sized ball and tall, narrow pins that resemble candles, hence the name.

Comparison to ten-pin bowling

As in other forms of bowling, the players roll balls down a wooden lane to knock down as many pins as possible. The main differences between candlepin bowling and the predominant ten-pin bowling style are that 1) in candlepin bowling, each player uses three balls per frame, rather than two the balls in candlepin are much smaller the pins are thinner the fallen pins are not cleared away between balls during a frame. Because of these differences, scoring points is considerably more difficult than in ten-pin bowling.
Unlike in ten-pin bowling, the pinsetter is triggered manually with a reset button after each frame.

History

The International Candlepin Bowling Association website states that candlepin bowling was first played in 1880 in Worcester, Massachusetts, thought to have been developed by Justin White, owner of a billiards and bowling hall. A 1987 Sports Illustrated article stated the game was invented in 1881 in that town by one John J. Monsey, a billiards player, who is recognized for standardizing the game. In particular, in 1906 Monsey created the National Duckpin and Candlepin Congress, which regulated ball size, pin shape and size, and lane surface characteristics, facilitating formation of leagues and other competitions.
Originally, pins were inch-thick dowels, resembling candles, thought to give rise to the name, candlepins. An 1888 newspaper article referred to 2-inch thick pins. Both were thinner than modern candlepins which are specified to be inches thick. In the late 1960s plastic candlepins began to replace wood candlepins, a change that some thought required a change in game strategy.
In 1947, lawyers Howard Dowd and Lionel Barrow overcame the need for human pinsetters by inventing the first automatic candlepin pinsetter, called the "Bowl-Mor", the two inventors receiving a patent that issued in 1956.
Station WCVB aired candlepin bowling's first televised show from 1958 through 1996, and in 1964 The Boston Globe launched its own annual candlepin tournament. In 1965 the World Candlepin Bowling Council began its Hall of Fame, inducting WCVB commentator Don Gillis in 1987. In 1973 station WHDH began airing Candlepins for Cash, allowing contestants to earn a jackpot by rolling a strike.
In 1986 the International Candlepin Bowling Association was formed.
The highest sanctioned candlepin score is 245, achieved in 1984 and again on May 13, 2011.

Game play

A candlepin bowling lane, almost identical to a tenpin bowling lane, has an approach area of for the player to bowl from, and then the lane proper, a maple surface approximately wide, bounded on either side by a gutter The lane is separated from the approach by a "foul line" common to almost all bowling sports, which must not be crossed by players. At the far end of the lane are the pins, from the foul line to the center of the headpin, placed by a normally "manually"-triggered machine called a pinsetter which occupies space both above and behind the pins. Unlike a tenpin lane, which has a level surface all the way from the foul line end of the lane's approach to the back end of the lanebed's "pin deck", a candlepin lane has a hard-surfaced "pin plate" where the pins are set up, with the pin plate depressed below the lanebed forward of it. The pin plate can be made from hard-surfaced metal, "phenolic", "high density plastic", or a "synthetic" material. Behind the pin plate area of a candlepin lane is a well-depressed "pit" area for the felled pins and balls to fall into. A heavy rubber backstop, faced with a black curtain, catches the flying pins and balls so they may drop into the pit. Generally there is seating behind the approach area for teammates, spectators, and score keeping.
The candlepins themselves are tall, have a cylindrical shape which tapers equally towards each end, giving them an overall appearance somewhat like that of a candle, and have a maximum weight of apiece. Candlepin bowling uses the same numbering system and shape for the formation within the ten candlepins are set, as the tenpin sport does. Also, as in tenpin bowling, due to the spacing of the pins, it is impossible for the ball to strike every one. However, while in tenpin a well-placed ball may knock down all ten pins from the chain reaction of pin hitting pin, in candlepins the smaller thickness of the pins makes throwing a strike extremely difficult. In order to count, the pin must be knocked over entirely; in unlucky circumstances, a pin may wobble furiously, or, even more frustratingly, be "kicked" to the side by several inches, yet come to rest upright, thus not being scored. It is even possible for a toppled pin to bounce off a side "kickback", and return to a standing position on the lane's pin deck in the candlepin sport. However, in the event that a fallen pin returns to a standing position, the pin is still counted as fallen and is played as live wood.
In addition to the foul line for the bowler themselves, there is a line down the lane from the foul line; this is the lob line, and the ball must first contact the lane at any point on the bowler's side of it, be it on the approach or the first ten feet of the lanebed. Any "airborne" ball delivery not making contact with the approach or lanebed short of the "lob line" constitutes a violation of this rule, and is termed a lob with any pins knocked down by such a ball not counting — and such pins are not reset if the lobbed ball was not the third and last shot for that player in that box.
Also, a third line, centered forward of the head pin spot is the dead wood line, which defines the maximum forward limit that any toppled pins can occupy and still be legally playable. This lane specification essentially results in the presence of three foul lines, more than in any other bowling sport.
The ball used in candlepins has a maximum weight of, and has a diameter of, making it the smallest bowling ball of any North American bowling sport. The nearly identical weight of the ball, when compared to that of just one candlepin, causes balls to deflect when impacting either standing or downed pins.
A game of candlepin bowling, often called a string in New England, is divided into ten rounds, each of these rounds being most commonly referred to as a box, rather than a "frame" as in tenpin bowling. In each normal box, a player is given up to three opportunities to knock down as many pins as possible. In the final box, three balls are rolled regardless of the pincount, meaning three strikes can be scored in the 10th box.
One unique feature of the candlepin sport is that fallen pins, called wood, are not removed from the pin deck area between balls, unlike either the tenpin or duckpin bowling sports. The bowler, according to the rules of the sport—before delivering the second or third ball of a box—must also wait until all of the wood on the deck comes to a rest. Depending on where the fallen pins are located on the pindeck and their angle after all movement of them ceases, the wood can be a major help, or obstacle—partly due to the ball having nearly the same weight as one candlepin—in trying to knock down every single standing pin for either a spare or "ten-box" score in completing a round.
In each of the first nine boxes, play proceeds as follows: The first player bowls his first ball at the pins. The pins he knocks down are counted and scored. Then the player rolls a second and a third ball at any remaining targets. If all ten pins are knocked down with the first ball, the player receives ten points plus the count on the next two rolls, the pins are cleared, a new set placed. If all ten pins are knocked down with two balls, the player receives 10 points plus the count of the next ball, pins are cleared and reset. If all three balls are needed to knock all the pins down, the score for that frame is simply ten, and known in New England as a ten-box. If more than one player is playing on the same lane at the same time, bowlers will typically roll two complete boxes before yielding the lane to the next bowler.
In the tenth box, play is similar, except that a player scoring a strike is granted two additional balls, scoring a spare earns one additional ball. Three balls are rolled in the tenth box regardless.
In league play, a bowler may roll two or five boxes at a time, depending on the rules of the league. The five box format is sometimes called a "speed league," and this format is also typical for tournament play. When a bowler is rolling blocks of five boxes, each period is typically called a "half."

Fouls

A foul refers to a ball that first rolls into the gutter and then strikes deadwood or hops out of the gutter and strikes a standing pin, a "lob"-bed ball that touches neither the approach, nor lane in the three meters' distance of lanebed before the lob line, or as in tenpins and duckpins, a roll made by a bowler's foot crossing over the foot foul line shared by nearly all bowling sports. Special scoring comes into play.
A foul always scores zero pinfall for that ball's delivery. A player may reset the pins after a foul on the first or second ball provided no pins have legally been felled in that box. Therefore, if on the first ball there is a foul or zero, and on the second ball the bowler fouls and knocks down pins, the pins may be reset, allowing the bowler an opportunity to score a ten box on their third ball. Knocking down all ten pins after resetting immediately following a foul in the first ball results in a spare. Fouling on all three attempts scores a zero box.
If the first ball knocked down at least one pin, the rack can not be reset because of a subsequent foul. Those pins felled by a foul ball —whether standing, playable wood, or pins in the gutter—remain down and reduce the maximum number of pins to be counted for the box. Therefore, if there are six pins standing after the first ball, a foul on the next ball that manages to knock down the remaining six pins means that the frame is finished, with a score of 4. However, if the foul ball knocked down only some of the six standing pins, a third ball may still be rolled to attempt to knock down the remaining upright pins. In this example, the raw score might appear to be "4 4 2 = X", but after adjusting for the foul second ball, the true score is "4 F 2 = 6". Similar logic holds when rolling two good balls and fouling in the third attempt: the frame is over and only the pins felled in the first two attempts are recorded for the score for that box.
While some candlepin alleys have automated scoring systems, and thus know when to trigger a candlepin pinsetter to clear and reset pins; other alleys, especially older ones that require a manual method to initiate the pinsetter will have a button, or floor-mounted foot pedal switch, to start the pinsetter's electrically-powered clearing and resetting of pins. Before the era of the Bowl-Mor powered pinsetter units' debut in 1949, as with ten-pin, candlepins were set by workers called "pinboys".

Scoring

One point is scored for each pin that is knocked over. So, in a hypothetical game, if player A felled 3 pins with their first ball, then 5 with their second, and 1 with the third, they would receive a total of 9 points for that box. If player B knocks down 9 pins with their first shot, but misses with their second and third, they would also score 9.
In the event that all ten pins are felled by any one player in a single box, by no more than two throws bonuses are awarded for a strike or spare. A strike is achieved with just the first delivery downing all ten pins, with a spare needing two throws, again just as in the tenpin sport. If all ten pins are felled by rolling all three balls in a box, the result is a derby, marked by an X but no additional points are awarded..
The maximum score in a game is 300. This is scored by bowling 12 strikes: one in each box, and a strike with both bonus balls in the 10th box. In this way, each box will score 30 points.
This scoring system, except for the scoring sheet's appearance and the graphic symbols used to record strikes, spares and 10-boxes, is identical to that of duckpins, as it is the other major form of bowling that uses three balls per frame.

Scoring sheet

The candlepin scoring sheet is different from either tenpins or duckpins, in that it is usually oriented vertically, with two columns of squares in a two-square-wide, ten-square-tall arrangement to score one string for one player. The left-hand column is used to detail the "per-box" score, with the cumulative total being recorded down the sheet as each box is rolled in the right-hand column of squares, in a top-down order from the first box to the tenth.
Spares and strikes are also marked uniquely in candlepins. Spares are recorded in a box by coloring in the left upper corner of the appropriate left-hand square. If a strike is recorded, opposing corners of the left-hand square are similarly colored in, while leaving sufficient space between the "filled-in" opposing corners, to record the score from the two succeeding balls' "fill" total for the strike. A common practice is to mark a strike on a strike's bonus ball by shading in the remaining two corners of the first strike.

Calculating scores

Correct calculation of bonus points can be a bit tricky, especially when combinations of strikes and spares come in successive boxes. In modern times, however, this has been overcome with automated scoring systems. When a scoring system is "automated", the bowler only has to bowl. It keeps score and will reset the pinsetter after three balls are thrown or all 10 pins have been knocked down. If a scoring system is "semiautomated", the bowler has to enter the score but the computer will keep track of it. The bowler needs to press a button at the end of the ball return to receive a new "rack" of pins.

Jargon

Candlepin bowling uses its own colorful jargon to refer to the many scenarios that can arise in a game, with most of the terms denoting different combinations of pins left standing after the first ball has been rolled. Examples of these terms include:
From 1958 until 1996, a weekly professional bowling match was produced by Boston television station WHDH-TV/WCVB-TV, airing every Saturday morning, called Candlepin Bowling. The winner of this match would return the following Saturday to face a new opponent determined by the outcome of qualifying matches, or "roll-offs", held during the week. The program was hosted by sports announcers Jim Britt and Don Gillis. Cash prizes were awarded to both the winner and loser of the televised match, with bonuses for rolling three consecutive marks, and for rolling a cumulative score of 400 or higher in the three games, or "strings", of which each match consisted. The highest series achieved in the history of the show was a 500-triple by Paul Berger, in 1992. The bowler was given an additional cash prize for reaching 500. For most of the year, this competition was restricted to men only, with a few weeks devoted to matches for women only; other televised matches were also held, involving mixed doubles teams of one male and one female bowler.
There is also a show that originates from the 1–7–10 Sportscenter in Augusta, Maine. It is on Spectrum channel 9 and is shown every Sunday night at 7 p.m. This show has been on air since 1997.
The ATV network in Atlantic Canada also aired a weekly, Saturday afternoon candlepin bowling show from September 12, 1986 to September 4, 1993, matching bowlers from New Brunswick against those from Nova Scotia. Its sponsors were the Number 7, Mark 10, and Belvedere cigarette companies.

Notable candlepin bowling broadcasts

Each show is listed with its station of origin
Candlepin Bowling was the first candlepin bowling show to be broadcast on television. When WHDH lost its broadcast license, the show simply moved to the new channel 5, WCVB. Originally taped at the former Boylston Bowladrome, then at Sammy White's Brighton Bowl, the show moved to the Fairway Lanes in Natick when Sammy White's closed down in 1986. From 1976 to 1995, there were a total of 20 candlepin championship shows that were broadcast live at the end of every season with the top bowlers with the top scores posted during the regular season of Candlepin Bowling. The first seven pitted the top two bowlers in a three string championship final, and then starting in 1983, the top five bowlers competed to take home $10,000 for first place. The first ten were at Sammy White's from 1976 to 1985, then at Fairway Lanes from 1986 to 1987, and from 1988 to 1995 at Pilgrim Lanes in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Candlepin Bowling was canceled in 1996 due to WCVB's lessened interest in the broadcasting of local shows. WCVB was also more interested in the broadcasting of Boston College football games. During the 1980s and 1990s, this program was also locally syndicated to WGGB-TV Channel 40 in Springfield, Massachusetts and WPRI-TV Channel 12 in Providence, Rhode Island. In the late 1970s through 1985, the show used Van McCoy's disco dance hit The Hustle as its theme song.
A children's version of Candlepin Bowling, showcasing the best bowlers under 16 years of age. Taped at Sammy White's Brighton Bowl.
A youth bowling show taped on two candlepin lanes in the Channel 7 parking garage in Boston. Each program consisted of two 2-string matches, one boys' and one girls' match, in one of two age groups.
WSMW-TV in Worcester first aired in 1970. This was one of WSMW's inaugural shows when the station first went on the air. The format was similar to Channel 5's Candlepin Bowling. This show was notable for its use of the 1972 pop hit Roundabout by the British band Yes, as well as the 1975–1981 animated opening theme to the tune of The Spinners' Rubberband Man. This show, and all of WSMW's other programming, got cancelled in late 1982 when the station's pay-TV movie block expanded to a 24/7 schedule. Taped at State Mutual Life Assurance Co., Worcester, MA, until 1979, then at Thunderbird Bowl in Auburn.
Candlepin was a mixed doubles show. Premiering soon after WCVB took over the Channel 5 band, the ' pitted two teams made up of one male and one female bowler each. Taped at Sammy White's Brighton Bowl.
Candlepins for Cash, being Boston's regional version of Claster Television's Bowling for Dollars franchise, devolved from a competitive nature to more of a game show format. Bowlers were introduced one by one to win money and prizes by how well they did on the lanes. Also featured a special "red pin" which was worth extra cash if felled on a strike. WNAC taped the show in studio on lanes built specially for the show. When WNAC chose not to renew the show in April 1980, production moved that fall to WXNE, Channel 25, which taped the show at an actual bowling alley, the Wal-Lex Lanes in Waltham, Massachusetts. Host Bob Gamere stayed on for a while after the station switch, but after he left, WXNE hired former Boston Red Sox star Rico Petrocelli as the new host.
Candlepin Doubles was a revamped version of Candlepin Superbowl, focusing primarily on all-male and all-female matches, as compared to Super Bowl's mixed doubles format. Taped at Fairway Lanes in Natick.
NESN's entry into the televised bowling market was similar in format to Channel 5's Candlepin Bowling, however qualifying requirements were more strict than Channel 5, with intentions to attract the best bowlers in the New England area. Taped at the Londonderry Bowling Center in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
Similar in format to the Channel 5 show, except in a stepladder format. Starting during the 1988–89 season, each ladder winner qualified for the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season, which was in the same format as the regular season stepladders. Taped at Park Place Lanes in Windham, New Hampshire from 1984 to 1997, and then at Leda Lanes in Nashua, New Hampshire from 1997 to 2005.
Originated in Lewiston, Maine, and aired in the Portland, Maine, television market on Sunday mornings in the 1980s and 1990s. Sponsored by La-Z-Boy furniture, the show was famous for its two hosts being seated in recliner-rockers for the event, including cutaway shots of the hosts.
Similar to the singles show, each team pitted two candlepin bowlers with winners qualifying for the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season. Taped at Park Place Lanes during the 1991–92 season, and then at the Londonderry Bowling Center the next two seasons.
This format features four bowlers, two champions and two challengers, competing for "skins" prize money. The four bowlers bowled two strings, and the bowler with the high score each frame won the amount the box was worth. If two, three, or four bowlers tied each frame, the money got carried over to the next frame. The two bowlers with the highest total pinfall moved on to the next show the next week to challenge two other bowlers. During the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons, the show was taped at the Londonderry Bowling Center and there was a total of $400 in prize money up for grabs. The first three boxes each game were worth $10, the next three $15, the next three $25, and the 10th box was worth $50. During the 1996–97 season, the show was at Pilgrim Lanes in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The prize money increased to $600 per show. The first three boxes were worth $20, the next three $25, the next three $30, and the 10th box every game worth $75. Shows were at 12 noon Saturdays on WNDS, followed by 12 noon Sundays with Candlepin Stars and Strikes.
Similar in format to the original Channel 5 show. Taped at the 1–7–10 Sportscenter in Augusta, Maine. Adelphia was sold to Time Warner Cable in 2005, and the program no longer appears on the local TWC-TV channel. It is not currently known when either Adelphia or Time Warner cancelled the show.
Candlepin Challenge has three bowlers compete against each other, rather than two. Two bowlers compete for one string in the qualifying round, then the winner of that round plays two strings against a third bowler. The overall winner of the second round is declared that week's champion. At the end of each season, the top three bowlers of the season compete in a similar format but with a higher prize than the regular shows. Taped at the Woburn Bowladrome. For its first five seasons on AT&T Cable, the show was called The $30,000 Candlepin Challenge''; it was renamed prior to its sixth season after Comcast bought AT&T Cable, though until 2008, the now-former station ID of CN8 was part of the name. Due to the closing of CN8 by Comcast, this show moved to Comcast SportsNet New England in January 2009. At the end of that season, production ceased due to lack of money and sponsors.

In literature

In The New York Times, reviewer Cathleen Schine called Elizabeth McCracken's 2019 novel Bowlaway "a history of New England’s candlepin bowling", the sport serving as "the novel’s unlikely, crashing, arrhythmic ".