Editing Duckpin bowling (section)

== History ==
{{multiple image | align=right  | direction=vertical
| image1    = 18930102 Duck pins - Oxford Club of Lynn - The Boston Daily Globe.png
| width1    =
| caption1  = A January 2, 1893 article describes "bowling fever" and closes with a mention of playing "duck pins".<ref name=BostonDailyGlobe_18930102>{{cite news |title=Oxford Club of Lynn / Bowling Fever Has Struck the City and Some Good Talent Being Developed |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-02-1893-p-5/ |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=January 2, 1893 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510165938/https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-02-1893-p-5/ |archive-date=May 10, 2019 |url-status=live }}Vol. XLIII, No. 2.</ref>

| image2    = 18940519 Duckpin tournament - The Lowell Daily Sun.png
| width2    =
| caption2  = Early documentation of a "duck pin" bowling tournament in Lowell, Massachusetts, published on May 19, 1894. Quoted game averages range from about 73 to about 94.<ref name=LowellDailySun_18940519>{{cite news |title=Bowling News |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun-may-19-1894-p-35/ |work=The Lowell Daily Sun |location=Lowell, Massachusetts |date=May 19, 1894 |page=35 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509034810/https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun-may-19-1894-p-35/ |archive-date=May 9, 2019 |url-status=live }} Vol. XXII, No. 69.</ref>
}}

The origin of duckpin bowling has been disputed. A commonly recited assertion is that the sport began in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] around 1900, at a bowling, billiards and pool hall owned by future baseball Hall of Famers [[John McGraw]] and [[Wilbert Robinson]],<ref name=NYTimes20160526/> both of the old (1882&ndash;1899) [[Baltimore Orioles (19th century)|Baltimore Orioles]].<ref name=PittsburghPress_19290303/> One such claim is reported in the ''Pittsburgh Press'' of March 3, 1929.<ref name=PittsburghPress_19290303>{{cite news |last1=Turbyville |first1=Fred |title=Wilbert Robinson Claims He Invented Duckpins / 'Uncle Robby' Gave Shaved Down Tenpins Their Present Name / Looked Like Duck / Game Has Big Hold in East, Now As Well In Pittsburgh |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19290303&id=UMoaAAAAIBAJ&pg=4009,6784267 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=March 3, 1929 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509145613/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19290303&id=UMoaAAAAIBAJ&pg=4009,6784267 |archive-date=May 9, 2019 |page=43 |url-status=live }} Accessed through Google News website.</ref> However, research has since found references to duckpin dating to the early 1890s in New Haven, Boston and Lowell, Mass.<ref name=NYTimes20160526/> Author Howard W. Rosenberg wrote in 2005 that his research showed the sport was around "at least as of 1894, and probably well before that",<ref name=BaltimoreSmartCEO_August2005>{{cite magazine |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Howard W. |title=Letter to the editor (of source magazine) |url=https://www.venable.com/files/Publication/2142ec0d-3b53-4c64-bac8-8fe65324297e/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/c1b8ab82-6989-4846-834f-e26eaad7f982/1345.pdf |magazine=Baltimore SmartCEO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509170916/https://www.venable.com/files/Publication/2142ec0d-3b53-4c64-bac8-8fe65324297e/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/c1b8ab82-6989-4846-834f-e26eaad7f982/1345.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2019 |date=August 2005 |url-status=live }} Magazine PDF published on Venable.com.</ref> with former ''Duckpin News'' editor Stacy Karten stating in a 2016 publication that Rosenberg found an 1892 reference to duckpin in ''The Boston Globe.''<ref name=BaltimoreSports_2016/>

Duckpins was not an organized sport until the National Duckpin Bowling Congress (NDBC) was founded in 1927.<ref name=SportsIllustrated_19550228>{{cite magazine |last1=Kalman |first1=Victor |title=Small Pins / Duck Pins Are Little, But They're a Challenge Even to Big Pin Fans |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1955/02/28/601392/small-pins |magazine=Sports Illustrated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509175252/https://www.si.com/vault/1955/02/28/601392/small-pins |archive-date=May 9, 2019 |date=February 28, 1955 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:19360224 Duckpin bowlers by pins - LoC - Harris & Ewing, photographer.jpg|thumb|Duckpin bowlers, 1936.]]
In 1953, [[submarine]] designer Ken Sherman developed the first automatic [[Pinsetter#Duckpin pinsetters|duckpin pinsetter]], its design having over 1,000 moving parts.<ref name=NYTimes20160526>{{cite news |last1=Barry |first1=Dan |title=The Lost Art of Duckpin Bowling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/sports/duckpin-bowling.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826062417/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/sports/duckpin-bowling.html |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sherman's refusal to sell his patent to ten-pin competitor [[Brunswick Corporation|Brunswick]] caused him to lack corporate investment needed to manufacture large numbers of duckpin pinsetters.<ref name=USAtoday_20171122/> Further, no parts for the Sherman pinsetter have been manufactured since 1973,<ref name=USAtoday_20171122>{{cite news |last1=Lennon |first1=Beth |title=Vintage bowling: Duckpins, candlepins roll on |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2017/11/22/duckpin-candlepin-bowling/886068001/ |work=USA Today |date=November 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204083207/https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2017/11/22/duckpin-candlepin-bowling/886068001/ |archive-date=December 4, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> so that anyone wanting to open a new bowling center must cannibalize parts.<ref name=BaltimoreSun_20170302/> The absence of new pinsetter machines is thought to curtail growth of the sport, and spare parts must be scavenged or obtained from alleys that have closed.<ref name=NYTimes20160526/> Only one company makes duckpins, and it only leases them.<ref name=BaltimoreSun_20170302/>

The executive director of the National Duckpin Bowling Congress said in 2016 that there were 41 congress-certified duckpin bowling alleys, down from nearly 450 in 1963.<ref name=NYTimes20160526/> In comparison, there were about 4,000 ten-pin centers in 2018.<ref name=USBCdata1997->Data: [[Wayback Machine]] archives of USBC's bowl.com website. Links provided on [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1997-_USBC_membership_and_certified_lanes.png Wikimedia's image page] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20190403153229/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1997-_USBC_membership_and_certified_lanes.png 2019-04-03 archive thereof])</ref> ''The Baltimore Sun'' reported in 2017 that the number of professional duckpin bowlers is down by more than 90 percent.<ref name=BaltimoreSun_20170302>{{cite news |last1=Kaltenbach |first1=Chris |title=Small pins, big hopes: With duckpin bowling, longstanding Baltimore tradition hopes for a resurgence |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bs-ae-duckpins-20170302-story.html |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=March 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726115728/http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/retro-baltimore/bs-ae-duckpins-20170302-story.html |archive-date=July 26, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1982, the Women's National Duckpin Association (WNDA) was formed, conducting tournaments for women to compete professionally,<ref name=API_History>{{cite web |title=History of Duckpins |url=http://www.apibowling.com/history-of-duckpins/ |website=APIbowling.com |publisher=American Products, Inc. (pin manufacturer) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219013333/http://www.apibowling.com/history-of-duckpins/ |archive-date=February 19, 2019 |date=2015 |url-status=live }} Publication date is estimated based on earliest Wayback Machine archive.</ref> with Ladies Professional Duckpin Tournament (LPDT) events extending back at least as early as 1974.<ref name=WNDA_PastTours>{{cite web |title=Past Tours |url=http://www.wndatour.com/PastTours/ |website=WNDAtour.com |publisher=Womens National Duckpin Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422011641/http://www.wndatour.com/PastTours/ |archive-date=April 22, 2019 |url-status=live }} Accessed in 2019; presumably page is updated annually.</ref>