Page 3 - More Than Just a Game (Partial)

MORE THAN ‘JUST A GAME’

Upon analysis of this ingenious apparatus, one of the first areas
of notice is the pins, themselves. As candidates for being the "six-inch
pin" from the Pennsylvania newspaper of a year earlier, they present
themselves as being short, barrel-shaped skittles, with an external piece
added to them to function as a pin head. The extra "head" looks to be a
'peg' of sorts that was either fastened or hammered into a hole that was
likely bored into the top of the skittle.
Since we've learned that many geographic regions of America
had their own variations of Ten Pin bowling, and presumably distinct
types of skittles accompanying these versions, it's noteworthy that this
invention was located in the state of Pennsylvania -- the same location in
which the ad for the 300 sets of balls and accompanying sets of six-inch
pins was placed. This lends credence to the possibility that the six-inch
pin was in reality, a short, barrel skittle without a head.
The use of the short skittles displayed in the invention instead of
large pins could have been to render less weight on the cords and the
pulleys. But since we know that different geographic locations had their
own variations of Ten Pin bowling, using the small pins could also have
simply meant that the small pin game was the preferred version in the
state of Pennsylvania at the time. The addition of the appendage into the
top of the skittle as shown in the illustration might have also even been
an attempt to simulate a 9-inch poney pin.
This invention didn't have the sophistication of removing dead
wood, but rather was just a device to set up full racks of pins. But keep
in mind that dead wood was typically left on the lane, back in the 1840s
th
and throughout the middle years of the 19 century, -- and it is still a
characteristic of the modern candlepin game.
The apparatus caught the eye and the interest of a lot of people.
Over the next few years, newspapers from Pennsylvania, Louisiana,
Illinois, Tennessee, and Connecticut published the promotion of this
invention, and prototype units like the one in the illustration above were
set up as exhibitions in several locations across the country.

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