NEWS

The year 26,000 bowlers rolled into Columbus for a giant party: 1950

Linda Deitch

Special to The Dispatch

The ABC tournament in 1950 was billed as the world's largest athletic event in terms of number of participants. Prizes included cash, trophies, diamond-studded medals, watches and clocks. Note the image of Christopher Columbus above the lanes.

The 47th American Bowling Congress tournament opened in April 1950 at the Fairgrounds Coliseum and ran for 60 days. It was a huge economic boon for Columbus, with 5,109 teams and close to 26,000 athletes.

The Dispatch reported that the site had been transformed into a veritable bowling palace with 36 new alleys built for the event. Only three weeks prior, it had been home to the state high school basketball tourney.

“It’s the only building in Columbus big enough to handle the tournament, yes, but it’s actually not,” reported Paul Walker, Dispatch bowling writer. He pointed out that a photo studio, offices and clubhouse were in separate buildings. The “miniature city” had its own telephone exchange, restaurants, airline ticket office, and even a hospital setup manned by the Red Cross.

Columbus once was a bowling mecca, home to the Women’s International Bowling Congress for decades. This was the organization's headquarters, at 1225 Dublin Road, in 1958.

Installation of the alleys, decorations, checkrooms, concession stands and paddock (where bowlers had balls weighed for balance and hung out until time to bowl) was valued at $377,000, which would be about $4.3 million in today’s dollars.

The first-place winner was the Pepsi-Cola team from Detroit.

It was the third time in 17 years Columbus hosted the event, with the first in 1933 and again in 1942. Walker described team uniforms as such: “Men will be roaming the streets of Columbus for the next two months attired in some of the most gaudy shirts you ever laid eyes on.”

There were also four “sideshow” tournaments open to local bowlers as well as visitors. For the lower-average kegler, there was a “185 and under” singles classic at Linden Lanes. A doubles classic was held at Riverview Recreation, a singles classic at Broad-Olympic Recreation, and the National Bowlers’ Journal individual championships at Olentangy Village.

Bowling was a big deal in that era, and The Dispatch regularly devoted many column inches to bowling tips and local results from these lanes: Arena, Athletic Club, Broad-Olympic, College Inn, Gettrost, Hi-Goodale, Hillcrest, Jewish Center, Knights of Columbus, Linden, Masonic Temple, Moose Lodge, Olentangy, Parsons, Riverview, Swan, Sycamore, Vermount, Westerville and YMCA.

Contributor Linda Deitch was a Dispatch librarian for 25 years.