It was the summer of 1985, I was 12. I had worked at my dads and godfathers large bakery for almost a year to support my vices, RC 1/10 scale, electronic gaming, karate, and bowling - about $25 to $40 a day every Saturday depending how fast I can work in 3 to 4 hours.

That summer I went to the sporting goods store which was near the hobby store and found a Columbia spare ball that looked copper'ish. I don't remember if it was a white dot, or what color the dot was. Anyway, The clerk asked me how I wanted my fingers drilled. Me, not knowing any better pointed at the base of my  middle finger and ring finger. I said, "I want the hole to go this deep." That would put my whole fingers in the hole lol The look on the guys face was priceless. He said, "What?! you're going to break your fingers kid." lol He then explained to me what he was going to do and also explained that I will be growing up fast and may not fit the ball the following year and to return if it doesn't fit.

After paying for it, I headed down the escalator, it was my first time I sincerely felt excited about bowling. Now I can be a legit bowler kid like the guys and gals with their own bowling equipment. My father who I met down stairs asked what I got and was shocked I got a bowling ball, but proud I earned it on my own. After a short lecture about life, finance, and being a man one day, he brought me back to the third floor to buy me a bowling bag to go with my new ball.

(Before we left the sporting goods, I tried to push it with my dad.... I asked if we could go to the martial arts store so he could buy me another pair of nunchuku's. He laughed at me. Instead he took me to another place and got me a "Rambo knife", a survival knife with that compass on top and a freak'n map. LOL)

Used 14 lb Ebonite Satellite in 1960.  Got 16 lb black beauty a year later.  My mom wouldn't let me go fingertip because someone told her you shouldn't get s fingertip till you averaged 180. 

I'll have to play-- just because my first ball was so cool(though I didn't know it then). I was 6 or 7 -- it was probably 1960. My grandfather bought me a 6 lb. red Jubilere. Ernie Schlegel made that ball (in its 16 lb variey) famous some years later.

wow some of you folks have some old bowling balls. K-mart drilled balls, sporting good drilled balls......

makes me wonder, when and what year was the very first proshop to ever open up inside a

bowling alley.

wow some of you folks have some old bowling balls. K-mart drilled balls, sporting good drilled balls......

makes me wonder, when and what year was the very first proshop to ever open up inside a

bowling alley.

They existed in the mid-80's but not every center had one.  And when you lived more than an hour from a major metropolitan area, you took what you got. 

And...back then, you also had no real way of comparing costs.  But, the other good thing back then was that what you paid for the ball included drilling.  None of this extra charge crap...

When I got my first ball the center's mechanic measured me at the front desk, then disappeared into the back end and returned about 20 minutes later with the drilled ball.  This was a Brunswick center in central North Carolina, 1963.  --  JohnP