Duckpin Bowling Ball used by Elizabeth "Toots" Barger
date: label: date made
content: ca 1950
name: label: user
content: Barger, M. Elizabeth
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Orange bowling ball with "Toots" in black print. This 1953 rubber bowling ball belonged to Mary Elizabeth "Toots" Barger, considered one of America's greatest duckpin bowlers. Toots was the top-ranked woman in her sport 13 times between 1947 and 1958. Named for the small, light pins that scatter like ducks in flight when hit, duckpin bowling originated in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1900s. Although duckpin leagues formed all along the East Coast, the Baltimore-Washington area is still the center of the sport. This five-inch diameter ball weighs less than four pounds; the more common tenpin ball can measure up to 27 inches and weigh as much 16 pounds. Because duckpins are harder to split than tenpins, bowlers get three deliveries per frame.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
topic: label: name of sport
content: Bowling
label: level of sport
content: Professional
label: web subject
content: Sports
label: web subject
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: M. Elizabeth Barger
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.0200.02
label: accession number
content: 1984.0200
label: catalog number
content: 1984.0200.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ball, bowling
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 in; x 12.7 cm