Miniature Golf Courses

Chester Leibs

What does the article do?

• Why is the miniature golf course is important to the American landscape. – methods for the manufacture and

construction of the courses– Materials used– miniature golf literature– “Bricoleur’s” work of art.

Leisure activity

The first ever 18-hole putting course was reported to exist in Germany in 1915.

Front-lawn practice links so that guests could sharpen their game skills.

New materials

1922 Thomas Fairbairn, owner of a cotton plantation in Mexico, and two associates, all apparently were avid golfers, found that packed cottonseed hulls made an excellent putting surface.

patent for "a surfacing material for putting greens comprising comminuted flocculent material into a homogenous mass."

Creating a new sportIn 1927, a hotel owner in Chattanooga decided to add an additional attraction to his property. A miniature golf course was erected complete with new hazards.

It was believed to be a place children could go while they were visiting; however, it was soon evident that the adults played more than anyone.The owner, Garnet Carter, soon realized the potential of these links and started the miniature golf-course business.

Making leisure democratic

Liebs connects the rise in popularity of mini-golf with other developments of equality.

– ability to travel by the automobile– movie theater – Radio

During the Depression, miniature golf provided employment.

FranchiseThe hazards and designs on these courses were taken from the fantasy of the midway and commercial roadside architecture

Popular symbols were used to draw in customers, such as lighthouses, windmills, and even characters such as Mickey Mouse.

Los Angeles-based Miniature Golf Management featured everything from, "sources of equipment and new course designs to advice on how to placate municipal officials.“

Popular Mechanics published plans for backyard miniature golf, which people built out of scraps of lumber, old tires, and other found materials.

New locations

New courses, both Tom Thumb and otherwise, were predominantly located in urban areas

– occupying rooftops– Basements– vacant lots along Main Street

Later the taxpayer strip.

TypologyThe putting green, a descendant of the practice links featured miniature topographical undulations, sand traps and other elements commonly found on the regulation golf courses.

The fairyland, featured mechanical hazards placed in fanciful settings, with novelty rather then improving one's game of gold as their chief appeal.

Decline

Fully national by 1929. Declines quickly after 1931.

The reaction to popularity– Idle youth– Noise– Uncontrolled

Post-WWII forms handmade genre. "Constructed of odds and ends

A high degree of native geniusInnovationhandicraft.

Many of the hazards at Putt-A-Round were constructed of "fragments of cultural residue," such as old appliances, boats, and vehicles.

Postwar courses were situated along major tourist highways and commercial strips

Mid-1950s and later

Courses reverted toward the factory-built courses reminiscent of the early Tom Thumb courses.

Since having new surprises is important to the miniature golf businesses, there is a franchiser called Lomma Enterprises that has a "Swap-Shop" arrangement where an operator can exchange obstacles and hazards each year.