Bowling was a hot sport in the first few suburban decades in Schaumburg Township. The first bowling alley to appear was Hoffman Lanes on Higgins Road in 1961.
Not only was it well used by local residents but, a year later, in August 1962, it was announced that “Top Star Bowling” would be televised from both Hoffman Lanes in Hoffman Estates and Marlborough Lanes in Marlborough, MO, beginning August 28.
Originally known as “Championship Bowling” the reinvisioned show, according to an article in the August 16, 1962 issue of The Herald, was scheduled to feature many of the top bowlers in the field: Don Carter “Mr. Bowling”, Tom Hennessy, Buddy Bomar, Marion Ladewig, Steve Nagy, Harry Smith, Al Savas, Joy Abel, Don Ellis, Dick Hoover, Bill Lillard and others.
The most interesting portion of the show was that Jack Buck, the famous St. Louis Cardinals announcer, was going to call the tournaments. And, if you watch, you can definitely tell that he knew bowling.
Additionally, analysis was provided by Jerome “Whitey” Harris who was the winner of ten national bowling championships.
Take a look at this competition between Bob Chase and Don Ellis. Or this competition between Marion Ladewig and Joy Abel.
The interesting thing is you get the opportunity to see the interior of Hoffman Lanes in its beginning days. The cameras show us the lanes as well as the crowd and, even the booth where Mr. Buck called the tournament.
And take a look at how they track the scoring–all by hand on a big chart. The writing is meticulous.
The crowd appears to be on some type of bleacher or riser set up to accommodate more people. There also was a standing room only area off to the side. Many of the people in the crowd were obviously wearing their good clothes. It was, largely, not a place to wear your jeans and tennis shoes. Because, after all, the chances were good you were going to be on TV!
Around 250 free tickets were distributed to anyone who wanted one. Thus, if you look close, your parents or your neighbors might be in attendance.
As another article from February 28, 1963’s Herald said, “”Saturday fun for many local residents was seeing themselves on the Top Star Bowling TV show taped several months ago in Hoffman Lanes. Some of the smiling faces were those of Rose Kraft, Ann and John Lynch, Lu Kitler, Lee Dornin, Florence Meier, Jim Gannon and Mark Orlick.”
If you remember watching this show or even remember that your family attended a taping, please leave a comment!
Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org
My thanks to Tom, one of the commenters on a blog post, who pointed out this bit of Schaumburg Township history. What an interesting story!
History of Schaumburg Township 