Popular in the United States, ten pin bowling first appeared in Canada in the 1880s. In 1905, Tommy Ryan (1872-1961), owner of a billiard academy in downtown Toronto, installed Canada’s first ‘regulation’ ten pin bowling lanes in his elite, private establishment that catered to well-to-do customers.
Tommy Ryan’s Game Changer
When participants complained about the weight (16-pounds) of the balls, and the length of time involved in setting up ten pins for ten frames during lunch break games, Ryan developed ideas that evolved into the popular Canadian game.
To begin, he reduced five large ten pins to about three-quarters of their original size. He then placed them equally spaced on the 36-inch triangle used in ten pin, and rolled a hard rubber, hand-sized ball down his bowling lane. With that action in 1909, Ryan established a game now enjoyed by millions of Canadians every year, and in 1910, the first Five Pin Bowling League formed at the Toronto Bowling Club. With a few variations, including a rubber band Ryan added to fit around the middle of the pins in 1912, the game remains the same.
Marion Dibble and Women Bowlers
From the beginning, bowling was an exclusive male sport, and it was ‘unseemly’ for women to participate in activities in an establishment where there were large numbers of men. Torontonian Marion Dibble changed all that in 1916. She took her husband’s keys to his bowling centre, invited some friends to join her at the establishment, and enjoyed the game during mornings when no male members were present.
The women preferred Ryan’s version of the game, and in 1921, they formed the first Ladies’ Five Pin Bowling League.
Five Pin Scoring
The scoring system developed by Ryan changed occasionally until the 1959 adoption of the National Five Pin Count. With that, the head pin counts for five points, the two pins on either side count for three each, and the outside pins two each. A player has three chances per frame to knock down the five pins, and each game comprises ten frames.
When all pins fall on the first ball, the ‘strike’ counts for 15 points, plus the amount scored on the next two balls in the following frame. When they all fall with two balls, a ‘spare’ worth 15 points plus the value of the next ball in the subsequent frame applies. A bowler gets 15 points when a third shot results in clearing all the pins. A perfect game comprising all strikes, earns 450 points. Unlike the early days when players wrote their scores on large sheets, automatic machines now record the results for each player.
While both ten pin and five pin facilities are available at the majority of Canadian bowling alleys,Tommy Ryan’s game is an excellent activity for entire families, as the smaller balls enable children’s participation.
Thomas F. ‘Tommy’ Ryan was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.
Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers Association
Kathleen Airdrie - Kathleen has thirty years' freelance writing experience covering history, biographical profiles, environmental and social issues
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