Hammer Bowling is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of bowling balls and bowling-related accessories.
History
editFaball Enterprises was formed in 1978 by Johnny Wonders and Earl Widman. In 1981, they created the second urethane ball in the market, and Hammer was born. Hammer was the first to put a logo on the side of the ball. After a PBA player was featured in a tournament telecast using the ball with its visible claw hammer logo, sales exploded. The Hammer brand was also the first to produce a urethane two-piece ball. [1] In 1996, Faball Enterprises licensed the Hammer product name to Faball USA. This company maintained the brand name until Hammer products were acquired by Ebonite International on February 8, 2002.
After the sale of its Hammer line to Ebonite, the Faball team went on to create a new line of equipment under the name of Visionary Bowling Products. They currently produce several lines of equipment including the popular Ogre series, the New Breed series and Gladiator series. Visionary Bowling Products are manufactured in St. Louis, MO.
Some of the more famous Faball era Hammer products are the Blue Hammer, Red Hammer, Burgundy Hammer, Black Hammer, The Nail and the Reaper series. Some of the more famous post-Faball era Hammer lines included the Blade series, Vicious series, Diesel series, Hawg series, No Mercy Series, Vibe series, Black Widow Series, Jigsaw series, the Raw Hammer, Hammer Hardcore and Taboo series. In the present, the Black Widow, Vibe and Raw series all still exist. Newer popular models include the Effect, Envy and Hazmat series, as well as the Purple Pearl Urethane and NU Blue models.[2]
Hammer products were manufactured in Ebonite's Hopkinsville, Kentucky plant from 2002 through November, 2019. On November 15, 2019, Ebonite International and all of its brands were subsequently purchased by Brunswick Bowling Products, LLC.[3]
Hammer sponsored players
editHammer sponsors several PBA Tour and PWBA Tour players. Below is a list of selected professionals as of June 1, 2024.[4]
- Deo Benard
- Tom Daugherty
- Tomas Käyhkö
- Marshall Kent
- David Krol
- Shawn Maldonado
- Kevin McCune
- Bill O'Neill
- Shannon Pluhowsky
- Lauren Russo
- Robert Smith
References
edit- ^ "HAMMER-News | EBONITE INTERNATIONAL ACQUIRES ALL RIGHTS TO HAMMER BRAND". Archived from the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Hammer Bowling - Balls". hammerbowling.com. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Bob (November 15, 2019). "Brunswick Acquires Ebonite International". Bowlers Journal. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ "Hammer Bowling - National Staffers". hammerbowling.com. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
External links
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