The History of Bowling Shirts

While bowling shirts rose to peak popularity in the middle of the 20th century, they’ve been around since at least the 1930s, when manufacturers like the Triangle Bowling Shirt Company began running ads for their products. At the time, men’s sports shirts were becoming popular and bowling shirts were essentially just customized versions of these garments, or sometimes just customized versions of regular button-down shirts. In fact, many photos show men bowling in button-down shirts (sometimes even with ties on, too) in the earlier parts of the 20th century. Bowling became increasingly popular in the United States during World War II. At the time, the U.S. government was running a “Bowling for Health” campaign and companies would often sponsor teams to help boost homefront morale. In the postwar years, bowling evolved into a true American pastime and teams began springing up in communities all over the country. Unsurprisingly, the demand for bowling shirts skyrocketed in the 1950s and 1960s. The shirts became more formalized and typically featured bold color-blocking. They were also often embroidered with player names on the front and team names or logos on the back. Most midcentury bowling shirts were based on 1930s sports shirts, which were loose-fitting, cooling, and comfortable to move around in. Rayon, silk, and gabardine were the most common materials used to make them and almost all of the garments featured a button-down design, a square hem, and an open collar. Popular bowling shirt brands included Swingster, Nat Nast, Hilton, and King Louie. In the 1970s, synthetic fabrics became popular and many manufacturers started making bowling shirts out of polyester. Screen-printing also became a common alternative to embroidered customizations. As bowling fell out of favor in the United States toward the end of the 20th century, bowling shirts became less popular. However, they have since been picked up by several subcultures including the rockabilly, ska, and jump blues music scenes as well as the vintage fashion community. The silhouettes and design elements were also adapted for wear during other communal sports like billiards, darts, and pool. Today, bowling leagues still exist and many teams wear customized shirts, but these tend to be made of more technical fabrics and customizations are typically screen-printed, not embroidered. Despite these modernizations, the essential spirit of the original bowling shirt can still be seen at many bowling alleys throughout the country.