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  • Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling by Chris Nichols book cover
  • Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling by Chris Nichols book cover
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Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling

by Chris Nichols

Bowling’s postwar architectural heyday

$32.15 USD
$53.59 USD $32.15 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Silver Winner — Popular Culture

    Silver Winner for Popular Culture

AlbakiReads Editorial

Bowling’s postwar architectural heyday

Bowlarama looks at bowling as more than a pastime, tracing its place in postwar American leisure and design. Its subject ranges from the architecture of bowling alleys to the lanes, equipment, and refreshments that made them part of a broader lifestyle. Vintage photographs, ephemera, and hand-drawn architectural renderings give the book a visual emphasis, documenting how venues competed to make bowling an elaborate modern experience. The result is a portrait of an era when recreational spaces became showcases for style and ambition.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in mid-century American architecture and design
  • Bowling enthusiasts curious about the sport’s cultural history
  • Collectors and browsers of illustrated books featuring vintage photographs and ephemera

Themes

Postwar American leisureBowling cultureMid-century architecture and designCommercial competition and recreation

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A fun, visual book exploring the art, architecture and style of America's mid-century obsession: Bowling!

Gold Medalist, 2025 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Popular Culture Category

2024 SILVER Winner for Popular Culture, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards

Silver, 2024 PubWest Book Design Awards, Adult Trade Book - Illustrated

Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling takes aim at the obsession that swept the post-war nation: bowling! More than just a sport or a hobby, bowling became the ultimate modern lifestyle for Americans savoring the boom years that followed World War II. Bowling alleys were modern palaces; companies constantly aimed to outdo each other, whether competing for the most spectacular architecture, the most luxurious lanes, the snazziest bowling balls, or the most exciting refreshments they could offer. Bowlarama brings back--in living color--all the excitement in its lavishly illustrated pages, packed with vintage photographs, exciting ephemera, and detailed hand-drawn architectural renderings that capture all the optimism, enthusiasm, and joie de vivre of the era
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