PINSETTER MEMOIR
WHITING MEMORIAL COMMUNITY HOUSE
A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Al Koch
August 2024

The Whiting Memorial Community House which became the center of the Whiting-Robertsdale Community was a gift from the4 Standard Oil Company of Indiana, through the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.  These corporate and personal gifts would be utilized to build the Whiting Memorial Community House.  $325,000 gifted by the Standard Oil Company and an additional $175,000 gifted by John D. Rockefeller and his son, John, Jr.  The building would be built on Short and Clark Streets.

Architectural rendering of the building was first published July 28, 1922.  The building was completed in the Spring of 1923 and was formally dedicated on November 12, 1923. ` The dedication read in part: “The Memorial Community House, has been erected in memory of those who served our country in the World War and dedicated to the perpetuation of the principles for which they fought.”

The building’s architecture reflected southern Italian design, with a Spanish-style roof, red brick and enhance with cream-colored mortar.  When completed, the entire Community House projected an image of regal commanding dignity!

The building has three main divisions, so arranged as to accommodate the various activities carried on inside the building. The auditorium is located at the southeast end of the building with a seating capacity of 875.  It has a separate entrance as well as an interior connection to the main portion of the building.

The ground floor, (street level), accessed via the entrance on the north side, housed the nursery school, women’s locker room, men’s locker room, swimming pool, maintenance workshop, and the bowling alley.

The main floor reached by doorways on both the north and east sides of the building leads to the main lobby with the curved service desk.  This area featured ping-pong, chess and checker tables, television viewing area, and the office for supervisory personnel.  Adjacent to the lobby one finds the various meeting and banquet rooms, pool and billiards room, full-size kitchen, and hallways leading into the men’s gymnasium, handball court, weight-lifting room, and the women’s and girl’s gymnasium.

The second floor housed the offices for various social clubs. In the 1950s, these included the offices of the American Legion Post 80, the Veterans’ Service Bureau, the Whiting Relief and Aid society, Girls’ Club Room, the large general club room, and Memorial Room. The Memorial Room was a “quiet” room dedicated to the memory of the men and women who gave their lives in defense of our country.  The second floor was also the entrance to the running track and spectator’s area for the men’s gymnasium.

Information concerning all the activities and events hosted by the Whiting Memorial Community House would fill dozens of pages. It is mind-boggling to read how many individuals and patrons visited and used the facilities of the Community Center each year.  Here’s a sample: In 1955, Sixty-five thousand, (65,000, including spectators) utilized the men’s gym.  Ten thousand, (including spectators), utilized the Women’s gym, 45,900 utilized the bowling alleys, over 62,000 visited the lobby, the television area, and pool room, The Community Center was, without question, the center of activities for Whiting-Robertsdale residents and visitors.

COMMUNITY CENTER BOWLING: 10-PIN SHOWPLACE FOR ALLEYS, GUTTERS, PITS, and PIN BOYS

As awesome as this data is, the facility located on the ground level played an even more important role in this writer’s life.  Specifically, the 4324 square foot location of the Community Center’s bowling alley. Annually, it was in operation from September to May.  Originally there were eight (8) bowling lanes.  As the 1930s arrived, five (5) additional bowling lanes were added, replacing an indoor miniature golf venue, and relocating the pool and billiard tables to a first-floor room adjacent to the main desk’s left side. This increased the total number of bowling alleys to 13.   (Note:  Alley thirteen was primarily used for Duck Pin bowling, while alleys one (1) through twelve (12, were used exclusively for 10-pin bowling.

The addition of alleys 9, 10, 11, and 12, was because the ladies took interest in bowling. Initially, bowlers were men. The Center even designated one lane for lady beginners to practice bowling.  When they demonstrated they were proficient in bowling without lofting the ball, and skillful, avoiding gutters, they were free to bowl on any of the available lanes. Twelve-pound women’s bowling balls were then available for distaff use.

In concert with the expansion for women bowlers, rental bowling shoes were now available for both men and women patrons. In the mid-1950s, one game of bowling cost 40 cents; bowling shoe rental was 25 cents.

As a frame of reference for the growth of bowling’s popularity, in December of 1931, 2,265 patrons utilized the eight bowling lanes.  In 1955, the twelve bowling alley facilities were utilized by 49,900 patrons.  Overall, the total visitors, participants, and patrons that attended or used the Community center in 1955 was 367,011 (This total includes Auditorium attendance of 22,011). Verification of this data can be reviewed via the 1955 Annual Report of the Whiting Community Service, pp. 36-37.  

A comprehensive story of the Whiting Memorial Community House is a subject for another time. The brief review presented at the outset of this article serves as preface for this article, the focus of which concerns the facilities, management, operation, and jobs associated with the Community Center’s Bowling Alley.

FACILITIES

The total length of a 10-pin bowling lane, including the approach and pin placement is eighty-six and one-half feet, (86-1/2’)

The bowling lane is forty-two inches wide, (42”), sixty feet (60’) long.

On either side of the lane there is a channel/gutter, nine and one-quarter inches wide, (9-1/4”), and one and seven-eighths inches deep (1-7/8”).

The approach to the foul line equals 15 feet.

Both hard maple and pine wood is used for the bowling lane.  Maple is used from the foul line, 15 feet forward, and from the back of the lane (the pit), 15 feet forward.  The middle portion of the lane is made of pine or a softer wood.  Hard wood maple is used to lessen indents in the wood from dropped or lofted bowling balls, and the collision resulting from bowling balls and pins.   The approach can also be made of hardwood or some type of composite wood-based material.

 Today, several synthetic, laminated materials and resin-coated products are used instead of maple and pine.  Maple and pine are preferred because of their natural grain structure, stability, smoothness, and maintenance characteristics.

 Ten (10) pins are set up in an equilateral triangular pattern.   Pins are placed twelve inches (12”) apart from the center of one pin to the center of the adjacent pins.

7     8     9     10

6     5     4

3     2

1

Pin number 5, in the center of the triangle, is referred to as the “king” pin.

Bowling pins are fifteen inches, (15”), tall, four and three-quarter inches, (4-3/4”), in the middle with a base diameter of 2.03 inches.   Each bowling pin must weigh three and one half (3-1/2), pounds, or 1.5 kilograms.

Bowling pin weight should equal 24% of the weight of the men’s 16-pound bowling ball.  If the bowling pins are too heavy, the bowler would not be able to earn a Strike. (Knocking all ten pins down with one roll.)   If the bowling pins are too light, they would “flutter” and a bowler would earn a strike on every roll. 

Mostly, bowling pins are made of maple hardwood. They can be either wood, plastic coated, or laminated in two or three pieces.   The Community Center’s Bowling Alley featured  “Rock Maple” 10-pins manufactured by the Peerless Products Company, “Pins of Perfection.” Located at 7924 South Chicago Avenue.   I bought two from the Community Center, and made matching lamps, my senior year in the machine shop at Whiting High School.

Bowling ball weight:    Men’s = 16 pounds

                                 Women’s = 12 pounds.

The most efficient speed of a bowling ball is 16 to 22 mph.   

As a pin boy, I wish someone would have mentioned that to high-speed bowlers, the guys who tried to shatter the pins with warp-speed velocity.

WHITING COMMUNITY CENTER

 BOWLING ALLEY STAFF

Note:  These individuals served, with others not listed here, in the 1950s and 1960s.  (See listing of Community Center Staff).

            Manager ………………………….……. Mr. Joseph McDonald
Asst. to Manager…………………………Mr., Andy Yanas
Superintendent of Bowling Alleys……… Mr. E.A. (Hardy) Keilman
Asst. Superintendent of Bowling Alley…. Mr. Albert Koch

Mr. McDonald oversaw the entire Memorial Community House. Mr. Yanas was the person in charge of the day-to-day operations. With the highest respect and affection, Andy Yanas was called: Chief.  Along with his other responsibilities and duties, Andy oversaw the interviewing, hiring, and managing of the bowling alleys’ pin boys. 

Hardy Keilman kept the books. He wrote the pin boy’s work record in the “Fortnightly Time Books.” Mr. Keilman’s handwriting was cursive poetry. At the end of two weeks, Hardy would give Andy Yanas the Time Book. Andy used the ledgers to calculate the pin boy’s paycheck. Andy kept these “Time Books” from year to year. When the bowling alley closed, Andy gave me four ledgers as souvenirs: 54-55, 58-59, 69-70, 71-72.

Hardy Keilman managed the bowling alley Monday through Friday.  On Saturdays, the bowling alley was managed by various individuals. On Sundays, my dad, Albert Koch, managed the bowling alley.

PIN BOY

A boy could become a pinsetter at age 12 up until 1953—no questions asked.  Then the law changed. When this writer entered high school in September 1954, one needed a Work Permit from the school, be 16 years of age, and have signed parental consent to work as a pin boy.

To earn spending money while in high school, many Whiting-Robertsdale teenagers had part-time jobs. In the year BC, (before computers), and automation arrived—and aside from the usual job entry fare of stockboy, window washer, movie theater usher, and gas pump jockey—the most lucrative position available to Whiting High and George Rogers Clark High School teen boys in the 1950s was pin boy. From January of 1957 to May of 1958, this writer racked ‘em on alleys 3 and 4 at the Whiting Community Center bowling alley.

For those too young to remember, boys were employed to set pins at bowling alleys. At the time, there were three local bowling establishment in Whiting-Robertsdale: Gyure’s Bowling and Recreation, 1549 121st, Parkview Lanes, 182 Calumet Avenue, and the Whiting Community Center.

One complete game of bowling is called a line. For every game a pin boy set, he was paid ten cents, hence the phrase, “A dime a line.” On regular league bowling nights, a pinsetter could earn $6.00 by working a double-double: setting two alleys for two matches. Usually, a pin boy would set a double-single: two alleys, one match. A match consisted of two, five-man teams. Each team member bowled three lines—a total of 30 games. An efficient pinsetter could set a match in about two hours. He could also add to his earnings by setting pins on weekends for those patrons who enjoyed the recreation and relaxation of open bowling.

A select few pin setters were known as “War Horses!” Earning this title because they worked a double-double every weeknight, plus weekend open bowling on Saturdays and Sundays. Three of the very best “War Horse” title holders were Joe Portman, Joseph Korbel, and my oldest brother, Norman Koch. These “war horses” earned over $30.00 per week, plus open bowling on Saturdays and Sundays. Several times they earned more than $65.00 for two weeks setting pins. To a teenager in the 1950s, that was real folding money.

Setting pins required agility, good hand-eye coordination, physical stamina, alertness, and sharp concentration. It was also a great way to keep in top physical shape—sort of a workingman’s aerobics! While setting a complete match, a pin boy would bend over about 1200 times! For each frame bowled, the pinsetter would jump into the pit, return the man’s 16-pound bowling ball, (women’s bowling ball weighed 12-pounds), pick up the knocked-down pins and placed them properly in the rack according to the pins left standing.  

Each bowling pin weighs three and one-half pounds. In setting a single game, a pinsetter would lift about 600 pounds of bowling ball and pins. Multiply that amount 30 times, and during one match, a pin boy handled over 18,000 pounds! The loaded rack would then be lowered. Initially the pin boy had to physically push the rack to the bowling lane setting the pins for the next bowler. However, by the mid-fifties, semi-automatic-motor-assisted racks were installed at the Community Center. Once loaded with bowling pins, the pin boy activated the motorized   mechanism, and the rack would cycle down, set the pins in position, and cycle up.

Monday through Friday were league bowling nights. Each evening was different. Each night was an adventure. Once a pin boy became a regular, he was assigned the same pair of alleys.  This writer’s pin setting residence was alleys three and four. Starting at 6:15 pm, the local lane warriors would begin their individual and collective assault to elevate their personal high game high series, and match contests.  In addition, open play and tournaments were held on Saturday and Sunday.

Team names read like a directory of the community’s commerce: banks, dry cleaners, and drugstores. Over time, nearly every merchant in the community sponsored a bowling team at one time or another. On league nights, the names of these businesses were proudly displayed above the alleys where they competed.

Here’s a representative sample of Whiting-Robertsdale businesses that sponsored a bowling team: Glenn Shoes, Winsbergs, Lewin-Wolf, Aronberg and Kissen Jewelers, Orr’s TV, Brown’s Apparel, Rose & Onnies’s Four Deuces, Condes, Amazio, Standard Oil, Lever Brothers, Seifer’s Furniture, Richard’s Pharmacy, Hoosier Flower Shoppe, Neil Price’s Firestone Store, Sherman’s Indiana Supply, Phil Smidt’s & Son, Al Knapp’s, and Vogel’s,

 The popularity of Community Center’s bowling facilities is highlighted by participants in 1955.  There were seven (7) different leagues, comprised of 112 teams—nearly 2,400 bowlers were represented on these teams. Most of the leagues and teams were sponsored by Whiting merchants and industries. These included: Whiting Community “C” League – 12 teams, Whiting Women’s League – 12 teams, Standard Oil Girls’ League – 8 teams, Whiting Community “B” League – 12 teams, Standard Oil Research Department League – 12 teams, Whiting Council Knights of Columbus League – 12 teams, Standard Oil Athletic Assn. League 44 teams.

In addition to the teams listed above, girls and boys of Whiting High School received bowling instruction and conducted team competition via a Thursday-after-school league. And there were the Catholic Young Adults who bowled once monthly on Saturday evenings, and the Knights of Columbus Traveling League.  These leagues offered pinsetters opportunity to increase their work experience and earnings

The atmosphere of the Community Center’s bowling alley was intoxicating! Mixed with cigarette and cigar smoke were the aromas of assorted talcum powders, alley oil, bowling equipment and accessories. Topping off the olfactory smorgasbord was the perfume exuded from the various petroleum products used to lubricate bowling alley machinery. To an impressionable 16-year-old pin boy, the scope and grandeur of this arena was exhilarating.

Wearing their team’s name and logo on colorful monogrammed shirts, adult bowlers of all shapes and sizes showcased their kegler skills. How well they bowled on a particular evening largely determined their selection of vocabulary. Understandably, the “saltier” vocal servings added to the overall flavor of conversation.

The bowling alley was smoky and noisy. It pulsed and throbbed with the sound and vibrations of rolling bowling balls and echoed with the crescendo of crashing pins. Stationed at the end of the nearly 63-foot runway of the lacquered maple and pine lane, directly behind the triangle of waiting 10-pins was the ever-vigilant pin boy, poised to collect rolled ball and fallen pin. From the outset, pin boys learned that wood could hurt you, especially when propelled by the collision of a 16-pound sphere traveling at jet speed.

In addition to nightly aerobics and monetary earnings, setting pins afforded young employees an opportunity to observe and partake in on of America’s finest social classrooms. Amid the clamor and organized chaos, the pinsetter worked, sweated, and learned. He watched intently as white-collar and blue-collar workers competed in friendly rivalries, challenging each other with both bowling ball and braggadocio.

A seasoned pinsetter could identify men bowlers by their unique style and body language. There was the arm swinger, the croucher, the backside-shifter, the foot stomper, the arm-pumper, the hand-clapper, and the genuflector. Each mannerism identified a particular bowler. When coupled with team colors and accompanying vociferations, the combinations of sight and sound presented an unforgettable exhibition of male “gyro-technics.” One team’s members became so well identified with their gyrations and utterances the pinsetters nicknamed them “Four Grunts and a Groan!”

The ladies’ bowling lane behavior was quite different from the guys.  On a less-than-productive roll, they would put both hands to their face, turn around and face away from the pins, and stand by the ball return rack and wait for the ball to return.  A few would go through a phantom correction swing, but for the most part, conducted themselves with demure and class.

 The questions were always asked: What made boys do this?  Why would otherwise normal teenage boys want to set pins? Surely there was less strenuous and less hazardous work for them to pursue within the community. So why did they risk getting bumped and bruised, and possibly being knocked out cold for ten cents a line? After a year or two in the pits, a pinsetter’s fingers were curved, somewhat disfigured, and often pinched, as ball and pins took their toll.

 Surprise! The primary reason was money. In the 1950s, being a pin boy was the highest paying job available to teenage boys. Fringe benefits included the opportunity to develop responsibility and a solid work ethic. It also provided an adolescent male his first tentative steps toward independence. Money earned from their labors paid for high school class rings, senior proms, clothes, and if you were truly fortunate, gasoline for the family limousine, or used to purchase an eye-catching jalopy, motorbike, or motorcycle.

Without question setting pins helped build character. One of the “perks” of the job was for each pin boy to write something profound on the ceiling or wall that surrounded the pits. Each guy autographed, wrote, cartooned, or in some way left his mark. I wrote my name too. It’s been a lifetime since I set pins, but after all these years I can honestly say I loved that job.  Three key employees of the Whiting Memorial Community House’s bowling alley: Andy Yanas, Hardy Keilman, and, my father, Albert Koch, left indelible impressions on my life. Today, I’d pay a king’s ransom to be 16 again and hear the familiar pinsetter’s call to action intoned across the alleys: “RACK ‘EM!”

On Sunday, September 3, 1989, the one only Pin Boy Reunion was held at the Whiting Community Center.  Veteran pinsetters from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s returned to celebrate this unique coming-of-age work experience.  Since 1923 l hundreds of teenagers have worked as pinsetters.  The beginning wage was 7 cents a line.  Youthful, once-upon-a-time memories were shared along with good food and lively conversation. A highlight of the reunion was presenting Pin Boy “Chief,” Andy Yanas, with a plaque commemorating his leadership, guidance, and the collective heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of all the pin boys who worked at the Whiting Community Center’s bowling alley.

PIN BOY ‘STAT’ SHEET

Amount of weight lifted by a pin boy -- One match
One (1) bowling pin =          3.5 pounds
One Men’s bowling ball =     16 pounds
One Women’s bowling ball = 12 pounds

Each team = five (5) members.  Each team bowls three (3) games per match
One match = Two (2), five (5) man teams. = thirty games per match.

An average bowler rolls the ball 16 times per game
1 man @ 16 rolls @ 16 pounds = 256 pounds (bowling ball weight) = 1 game
10 frames (1 line/game) = 385 pounds (avg.) of bowling pins per game.

Totals:
1 bowler generates about 641 pounds of ball and pins for the pinsetter to pick up per game.
3 games = 1,923 pounds of pins and a bowling ball.
10 bowlers Two (2), five (5) man teams).  Three (3) games = One (1) match = 19,230 libs

On average, a pinsetter bends down 5 times a frame per bowler. (save for a strike), then it is 4 bend overs.

Procedure for a Strike:
1.      Return the ball
2.      Pick up four pins (two in each hand) and place them in the rack.
3.      Pick up four pins (two in each hand) and place them in the rack.
4.      Pick up remaining two 2 pins and place them in the rack
5.      Reset the rack.    Four bendovers.

Other than a Strike:
1.      Return the ball
2.      Pick up knocked -down pins and place them in rack.
3.      Return ball (Second roll)
4.      Pick up pins (if any)
5.      Reset rack

Note:  Depending on number of pins knocked down 4 or 5 bend overs.

On average, 4 bend overs per frame, per bowler.

4 x 10 frames = 40 bend overs for one game.  Three games = 120 bend-over for 1 bowler.

Total of 10 men, (2 teams) = 1200 bend-overs for one match

Double-Double 2 alleys, 2 matches. Equals 2400 bend-overs.

Total ball and pin pick up:  38,460 lbs. of ball and pin weight for two matches.

Two matches = 60 games/lines
At ten cents per line the pinsetter earns $6.00 for a double-double: (two alleys, two matches)

One match = 30 games/lines
At ten cents a line the pinsetter earns $3.00 for a double-single: (two alleys, one match.)

LIST OF WHITING COMMUNITY CENTER STAFF – 1955

Joesph McDonald – Manager

Andy Yanas – Assistant to Manager

Fred Radar – Assistant Recreation Director – Men & Boys

Ann Anthony – Assistant Recreation Director – Women’s & Girls

Myrtle Soltwedel- Secretary to Manager and Bookkeeper

E.A. (Hardy) Keilman – Superintendent of Bowling Alleys

Albert Koch – Assistant Superintendent of Bowling Alleys

Kathryn Yakish – Main Desk Attendant - Women’s Locker Room Attendant

Joseph Wilson – Swimming Instructor

Richard Baranowski – Lifeguard

Wallace Byrd – Men’s Locker Room Attendant

Kerney Brown- Building Engineer

Albert Kollar – Building Maintenance

Ed Westerfield – Building Maintenance

Eli Ramsey – Building Maintenance

Denver Brown - Building Maintenance

Julia Veloch - Building Maintenance

Arthur Thompson – Service Stand Ground Floor

Lillian Adams – Handicraft Instructor