Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Fun Sport But Dangerous Job...!

I'm sure that most of us have been bowling at some point in our lives, but the dangerous job of resetting the pins used to be done by real people and not machines!

Believe me, this was not the sort of job most folks would want. Still, in a time when any kind of work was needed to put food on the table it probably seemed as a last resort!

Pinsetters



In the days before the automated pinsetter became a mainstay in bowling alleys, the job of putting the pins back in place was done by teenage boys. On paper, being a pinsetter looked boring and safe enough. However, it was a whole different story out on the lanes. For one, pinsetters had to be on constant alert for pins flying their way. They also faced the very real danger of a bowling ball being hurled right in their faces by inattentive bowlers.

What the pinsetters really had to watch out for, however, were the drunken bowlers—some would deliberately target a pinsetter just for kicks. To avoid injury, a pinsetter had to be quick and light-footed. The unfortunate few who weren’t fast enough ended up with bruised legs or busted heads—some were so seriously injured that they had to be picked up by ambulances. As if that wasn’t enough, pinsetters also had to endure covering several lanes if a co-worker was absent—a task that usually ended up with the pinsetter totally exhausted from the vigilance needed to avoid being hit with pins and bowling balls from all angles.

Makes me feel very fortunate that I never had to take this job. I did work at a bowling alley when I was in school, but I worked in the shoe rental room!

Coffee in the kitchen again today. However, I do have some cherry cheese danish I'll share!

11 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Have you ever noticed how many drunks are MEAN? I've always heard that alcohol merely unleashes the underlying personality.

Chickenmom said...

Used to be on a bowling team many, many years ago. We were called the "Gutter Dusters". Boy, did we ever live up to our name! Storm warnings out for tonight with another 8-10 inches of the white stuff due. Coffee and a danish sounds wonderful!

Linda said...

When I was 23, a lean woman with two children, I was a pinsetter and was paid nothing. I lived on Buffalo Mountain in Johnson City, TN. At East TN University, I had to take a PE course, so I decided to take bowling. Everyone had to serve their turn as a pinsetter. It was unnerving.

There was a ledge to jump onto. It was about waist high. We backed to it, put both hands behind us and quickly hoisted ourselves up as the ball almost hit our feet sometimes. It slammed into the wall under us. Those guys don't even have a ledge to jump onto.

Mamahen said...

I was never any good at bowlining...My first husband worked as a pinsetter as a teen. Breakfast sounds good.We had a big snow Sunday and talk of more tonight...44 days till spring!!!

linda m said...

My dad worked as a pin setter in the late 1930's. That is one dangerous job. Bowling was never my "thing" as I s**k at it; but I do appreciate those who are good at bowling and enjoy it. Coffee and danish sounds good right about now.

JO said...

I can only remember seeing legs when I was a very young kid by then I guess a little more safety was being used as there was a sort of guard in place. Things advanced quickly and soon machines were being used.

The Danish sounds very good this morning and please pass the pot.

BBC said...

I was a pin setter in a YMCA when I was a kid, we worked for tips.

Dizzy-Dick said...

I was only in one bowling ally that had pin setters. My Dad came to my house and picked me up and took me to a Duck Pin ally. He got a real laugh at me trying to bowl with those little balls without holes. BTW, my dad beat me bad, and I bowled in a ten pin league. Those little duck pins were hard to put down (grin).

HermitJim said...

Hey Gorges...
Meanness does seem to go along with the booze sometimes!

Thanks for coming over today!



Hey Phyllis...
I've been there many times myself! Rain and chilly here!

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Linda...
Not a job I would want to do, especially for free!

Not real big on safety back then!

Thanks for the visit today!



Hey Mamahen...
Takes a lot of practice to be really good.

Counting the days already? I don't blame ya!

Thanks for dropping by today!



Hey Linda M...
I'm sure that many of the folks that did work doing this were glad to find another job!

Thanks for the visit this morning!



Hey Jo...
Always sounded loud in a bowling alley to me. Glad that safety is more important now days!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by today!



Hey BBC...
Many folks I knew used to work for tips alone. Rocky way to make a living!

Thanks for coming by today!



HermitJim said...

Hey Dizzy...
Funny how some games have changed over the years!

Thanks for coming by today!

Leona~Author said...

Thank you! I finally found an answer to my question.