The Only Kansas Game

[W. Gray]

What is this Kansas game?

Kansas is credited with this sport as being the only one "invented" in the state of Kansas.

The first game was played in Wichita in the early twentieth century with 5,000 people watching. Later, American and British teams met in Topeka for a world championship.

The sport was popular in arenas and fairs across the US.

Matches were held in Madison Square Garden.

Multiple leagues across the US were formed to play the game.

The game was played in two halves.

The sport waned in popularity during the 1920s but received a short revival after WWII before waning again.

The sport picked up again in Africa in the early 2000s.

[David Evans]

Horseshoes??   You gave me a headache the other day with your kindergarten question.  I found the first public school in the US was St Louis in the 1880's.  Struck out on the 1st in KS though.

[W. Gray]

Horseshoes??   You gave me a headache the other day with your kindergarten question.  I found the first public school in the US was St Louis in the 1880's.  Struck out on the 1st in KS though.

Well, that is a good guess but it is not the answer I am looking for.

A horseshoe club was founded in Pennsylvania in 1899 or so.

It looks like the game of horseshoes got a good lift in Kansas especially in Bronson, Bourbon County, Kansas, where the world's first horseshoe tournament was held in 1910.

Horseshoes was apparently played on the Union side during the Civil War and was played in England around 1869, or so.

[W. Gray]

What is this Kansas game?

Kansas is credited with this sport as being the only one "invented" in the state of Kansas.

The first game was played in Wichita in the early twentieth century with 5,000 people watching. Later, American and British teams met in Topeka for a world championship.

The sport was popular in arenas and fairs across the US.

Matches were held in Madison Square Garden.

Multiple leagues across the US were formed to play the game.

The game was played in two halves.

The sport waned in popularity during the 1920s but received a short revival after WWII before waning again.

The sport picked up again in Africa in the early 2000s.

Ralph Hankinson, a Ford dealer from Topeka is credited with making Auto Polo a sport invented in Kansas. He organized the Wichita event and thought he could increases sales at his dealership with the promotion of auto polo.

Some information has two cars on each side while other information has four cars on each side. Cars were stripped down and could attain forty miles per hour speed.

Each car had a driver and a mallet man who needed to maneuver from side to side and front to back in the car. Both men had to hold on best they could.

The ball used was a regulation basketball. The mallets weighed three pounds.

The sport waned because of the expense of repairing or replacing the cars and the health hazard to the players.

[Diane Amberg]

Good one.Thanks.

[Wilma]

Could that have been the beginning of Demolition Derby?

[W. Gray]

Could that have been the beginning of Demolition Derby?

One source says Demolition Derby started in 1947, another says 1958, and another says 1930s.