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History of Shuffleboard 2
05/20/12
All sports have unique histories, but few, if any, have been as affected by
political and international events as shuffleboard.
Now, to research shuffleboard you don't exactly go to your 'Funk & Wagnalls'
and find everything neatly compiled. So, in lieu of that, you do the next best
thing -- you call Sol Lipkin. Sol's name may not come up when people are talking
about the great players of the game, but if he isn't "the father of modern
shuffleboard" in this country, then no one is! No one has -- or ever will
-- love the game more than Sol. He's played, promoted and been involved in the
manufacturing of shuffleboard for over 60 years. Even today (at age 83) he is
still actively involved with the American Shuffleboard Co., in Union City, N.J.
True shuffleboard -- first called shoveboard and then, inexplicably, shovelboard
-- seems to have orginated in England, where there is a record of its being
played in 1532, and in its earliest form consisted of shoving coins across a
polished tabletop as a pasttime for royalty. But the game became so popular
with the masses that people stopped going to work, causing it to be banned.
Shuffleboard first came to the United States around the time of the Civil War
and enjoyed tremendous growth during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In fact,
the great hotels in Atlantic City and all the first-class hotels in the East
had five or six tables right through the Roaring '20s.
Then came Prohibition. Speakeasys didn't need or want games of skill. They
had been assured of all they needed to be successful in their businesses by
the U.S. Congress. It was during this eight- to 10-year period that shuffleboard
began to decline. Following the repeal of Prohibition, pockets of shuffleboard
players began to reappear, largely on the East Coast. And the tavern industry
began to change. All the bars before Prohibition had backrooms with small restaurants.
But on the heels of the Great Depression, people didn't have the money to go
out to eat. Gradually, some backrooms were converted to shuffleboard areas.
"It brought the people out. We were selling boards at that time for $149,"
said Sol, who also became a promoter. "We would set up a match (sometimes
played to 75 points) and pack the place. "People would stay all day long."
Leagues began to form and shuffleboard was on the move again.
With World War II, men from all across the country were routed through New
York and the Northeast on their way to Europe. As a result, shuffleboard went
national after the war, with soldiers bringing a love of the game back home
with them. Over the next few years more than 100 companies started manufacturing
boards because of the demand. The original boards were 32 feet long, but were
shortened to 28 and then to 22 feet because how they were packed and shipped
nationally. The weights went from heavy brass to the streamlined stainless steel
of today. Sand, used to speed the boards, evolved into fine corn and silicone
waxes. Regional tournaments began to take place everywhere and the first national
event was held at the Armory in Springfield, Ill., in 1948, with 574 taverns
represented by l0-man teams. By the mid-1950s, shuffleboard had jumped into
the foreground. They were on military bases, in fraternal clubs, rehabilitation
hospitals, youth clubs, town centers, seniors centers and taverns everywhere.
But despite all this popularity, the shufffleboard movement lacked a couple
of key ingredients. Not having consistent rules or amateur events created a
lot of in-fighting among the leaders and manufacturers. And problems couldn't
have come at a more inopportune time. It was the dawn of the electronic game
age. However, a very strong grassroots group of players kept the sport alive.
As Sol Lipkin says: "It's the game that makes shuffleboard great."
That has remained constant.
Shuffleboard has made a strong, steady climb back through this decade. This
time it appears things will be different. Now, there are national rules and
sanctioning; media exposure; and a policy board of professional players. Interested
sponsors.
Shuffleboard finally has come full circle. A 100-percent increase in participation.
New manufacturers. More than one million shuffleboards are in use. New leagues
are springing up everywhere. Despite a long and sometimes bumpy history, the
game has endured. Fifty or 100 years from now the "new history" will
show that in the late 1980s and '90s the sport used lessons of the past and
wisdom of people like Sol Lipkin to keep it growing for many, many years to
come."
(Reprint, Tavern Sports, June/July 1989)
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