installed at museum - low-res

Fiberglass Bowling Pin

Three-dimensional fiberglass bowling pin is painted and has steel plate at bottom for mounting. Often referred to as Pinhead.  The bowling pin originally identified Greenbook Lanes in Greenbrook, NJ in the late 1950’s.  The owner sold that lanes and opened another bowling alley in Manville, NJ.

Object Number : 2011.0013.0001
Type : signs/displays
Decade : 1950 - 1959
Object Height : 16 ft. (est.)
Object Width : 5 ft. (max diameter - est.)
Object Weight : 800 lbs. (est.)
Object History :

Bowling pin originally identified Greenbrook Bowling Lanes in Greenbrook, NJ.  Ace Sign was asked to move the bowling pin to another bowling alley in Manville, NJ when the Greenbrook owner sold the bowling lane.  Ace suggested that they actually install the bowling pin, but in order to save money, the owner had Ace simply place the pin on the roof.  A couple days later, Ace got a call from the owner, telling them the pin had rolled off the roof and into the street and could they remove it and temporarily keep it at their shop.  Ace did retrieve the bowling pin but despite repeated phone calls about what to do with the bowling pin, the owner never responded.  The pin sat in Ace’s yard for 15 years until they donated it to the museum in 2011.  The bowling pin originally had a top hat on top of its “head,” but it had deteriorated considerably and could not be saved.

 

State of Origin : New Jersey
Status : Exhibit
Location : Exterior of Building
Status Location : Museum parking lot by restoration door
Donor Name : Phil Smith, Sr.
Company : Ace Sign Company, Inc.
Condition :

Very Good: Structurally, the bowling pin is very sound, but the more than several layers of paint are peeling.

 

First Contact Date : 12/3/2010
First Contact Description : Met father and son at USSC show in Atlantic City, NJ
Follow Up Date : 5/29/2011
Follow Up Description : Phone call to make arrangements to pick-up
Deed of Gift Form Received : 6/20/2011
Object Received Date : 5/25/2011
Object Cataloged Date : 2/16/2016
  • installed at museum - low-res
  • IMG_0175
  • IMG_0149