Lights Out, Pins Down

Founded by Abram M. Landis in 1958 Earl bowl was created at its original location in Earlington PA. Most shockingly is a family business that has been passed down three generations already, and still strikes out with the number of people it receives each day! The amazing building you see today added additional lanes on August 1, 1984. Earl bowl also has a secondary location in Quakertown Pennsylvania bought by the second generation of the Landis brothers.

Bowling first began in 3200 BC. Bowling having quite the history has been mentioned in vogue in England 1366 when King Edward III allegedly outlawed it to keep his troops focused on archery practice. Despite that there were many variations of the sport and wasn’t always the traditional ball and pins, they were also being thrown at other objects. The first permanent bowling location was located in New York’s Battery area. Eventually by 1841 Connecticut law made it illegal to maintain “any ninepin lanes” Historians say that bowling was the object of much gambling. Also, it did matter where you were because pins and balls weights and dimensions varied by region. Over time this exciting activity was constantly evolving from rubber balls in 1905 to the automatic pinspotter in 1951. Even with the great adjustments, bowling was considered a masculine sport only, even though women have been knocking pins since the 1850s! With that said nowadays, bowling is most popular with children, with the estimate of 80 percent more involved than any other age group. Although known as a great hobby, bowling is considered a professional sport and can be different types depending on certain factors provided, such as neon lights, flickering lights, regular lights, black lights, and many more amenities.

Nonetheless, Earl Bowl is known for its midnight bowling “Glow Bowl”. When arriving you are greeted with a dark room lit up with ultraviolet light, lit up lanes, music, and snacks with times 11 to one every Friday and Saturday night; Introduced in 1997. So when arriving remember to accommodate your outfit with bright colors and funky accessories. In addition, it might be a fun activity to just do with your friends over the weekend, this form of bowling is called nocturnal bowling. It has been around for a very long time and is a phenomenon of one of the most extreme ways of bowling and has recently caught more popularity. Earl Bowl is also extremely affordable, as well when it comes to supplying you with shoes, a ball, and three games totaling to $15.00 and an amazing way to get the family and friends out on the town. When it comes to the lovely people who run this place, manager Jeff Graham and a player on our very own Pennridge bowling team Lizzie, include that he is happy with his job, and with 23 years of experience he says “I didn’t expect to be here, but this is what I do every day”. Including the environment is very enjoyable as well. “It’s different every day”. Lizzie had this to say when referring to midnight bowling in that “bowling at night puts a whole different perspective on it and makes it a lot more fun instead of constant seriousness during matches”. So if you’re willing to ‘spare’ the night head on over to Earl Bowl!