A Lesson from the Past

The history of bowling is a long one. Evidence of a game played by children was unearthed in Egypt and suggests that bowling has been around for close to 5200 years. Since that time the sport of bowling has been associated with a lot of unsavory folk. The 'sport of the people' was played with many variations all over Europe and outlawed in some places because people would rather bowl than work. There is a story that when Capt. John Smith returned to Jamestown in 1611 after a two year recuperative stay at home he found the inhabitants of the fort under siege from the Algonquin, starving and playing nine-pin. It was outlawed shortly after. In fact, Smith never did return to Jamestown but you get the point; bowling is addictive.

Around the same time the Egyptians were bowling the Sumerians were making beer. In the Gilgamesh epic, Enkidu, a barbarian, was preparing to fight the fabled ruler. Gilgamesh, thinking he needed some inside information to learn Enkidu's weaknesses, sent him a prostitute who introduced beer to the savage wildman. After seven cups of beer Enkidu, apparently, became a civilized man and the fight was off. Now, I know about as much about the history of beer as I do about Sumerian history, which is not a lot, but this story sounds a little suspect. I myself have had the opportunity to drink seven cups of beer from time to time and never once did I become a civilized man. It does go nice with bowling, though.

Shortly after beer making technology made it to Egypt, Hammurabi created a law which rationed beer based on social standing. The plain old working stiff got 2 liters a day while the civil servant got 3, and the high priests got 5. To this day government jobs are desirable. There is no mention of what bowlers got but I'm sure it was significant otherwise the game would have died out. It also explains why you still see the clergy lacing up for a frame or two everywhere you go.

What does all of this have to do with anything? I'll tell you. A bowling alley that does not serve beer is like a hen that won't lay, a dog that won't hunt, a plumber with no crack. It just ain't right. Five thousand year old habits are hard to break and who wants to break them anyway. We are a species that consistently makes the same mistakes, so let's get together and learn something from history. Let's go bowling and if they don't serve beer I'll meet you at the truck in between frames.