Comments on: Can I bowl Candlepin outside of New England?

Question: Can I bowl Candlepin outside of New England?

tss — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 21:26:27 -0800

I went to Boston last weekend, and we all played candlepin bowling. I like it better than regular bowling, and I want to play again. Is there any candlepin outside of New England and the Maritimes? (more)

... Specifically, around Pittsburgh, PA? I know it's a long shot and Google confirms it, but here's why i'm Asking Metafilter today:

A few months back I received a local magazine that described how some bowling alleys turn up in strange places, e.g. church basements, VFW halls, etc. I seem to recall the article mentioning candlepin lanes somewhere in Southwestern PA. Does this ring a bell with anyone else?

Barring that, has anyone heard of a candlepin alley outside of New England (or, oddly, Cincinnati)? How about New York City? Philly? D.C.? I'm curious.

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 21:50:45 -0800

Candlepin exists everywhere, but outside of New England it's called duckpin bowling. I can't help you with Pittsburgh, but google should take care of it with the appropriate terminology.

By: tss

tss — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 22:02:52 -0800

Thanks, PV, but it seems there are two important differences between duckpin and candlepin bowling. The pins are stick shaped in candlepin, but more importantly (to me), candlepin allows fallen pins to remain lying on the ground throughout the frame. This means you can get interesting effects from knocking the "dead wood" into other pins.

Checking your search link, I found a nice comparison of various bowling styles.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 06:05:34 -0800

Candlepin bowling is a dying sport. There was candlepin bowling in the middle of the town I grew up in, in eastern Mass. It was next to a postage stamp sized scrap metal business run by two Armenian hunchbacks, brothers. Now, there's a mall.

I'm not crazy about duckpin bowling. I like candlepins - but I've never noticed the sport outside of New England ( I've never candlepin bowled in the Maritimes) and thought that it was somehow of a piece with the classic rock which shows up everywhere on the dial somewhere in Conneticut when driving north.

I remember "Candlepins for Cash" - I thought it was a US national phenomenon!

So - tss - sorry. This is all I have to offer. I bet you could still find some rogue candlepin lanes in PA though. Perhaps in YMCA's. Some of the species might even have migrated to Cincinnati. Why not ?

By: tristeza

tristeza — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 07:38:35 -0800

my mom was ON "candlepins for cash" and i was in the audience (at age 6)...ahh, memories. i miss candlepin so much, grew up in boston and now live in seattle and HATE "regular" bowling! people think i'm insane when i tell them about candlepin - a lot of folks here have never even heard of it! argh.

By: ALongDecember

ALongDecember — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 07:41:50 -0800

I live in Pittsburgh, and have never heard of a candlepin lane anywhere around here. (There is a duckpin lane near my house, Glassport Lanes in Glassport PA)

The only suggestion I have is to try calling or emailing the Greater Pittsburgh Tenpin Association (terrible website, move down the page for contact info) and seeing if any of their bowlers have ever heard of a candlepin lane. It's probably a long shot. Good luck.

By: marcusb

marcusb — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 08:40:36 -0800

If you want duckpin bowling, then Baltimore is the place to be. It was almost easier to find duckpin bowling there than to find regular 10-pin bowling.