Patrick Chaplin: Darts in England 1900 - 1939
Patrick Chaplin: Darts in England 1900 - 1939
A social history.
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009.
ISBN 978-0-7190-7803-3
Patrick Chaplin - the only existing Dr. Darts - wrote this book on the basis of his PhD thesis. Meticulously and carefully he
sought out sources and analysed them to be able to show the interconnections between the social development in England and the rising
sport of darts.
The result is a really interesting and good to read book, might be not a book for everyone something the high price will hinder anyway.
Chaplin first corrects the idea darts has it origin in Great Britain - originally it was a French game called "Flechette"
which was developed in Great Britain into darts.
Then he sets right the relationship between the sport and the pub - it was not that darts was played from the beginning and
everywhere in the pub. It were the big breweries which supported and established darts and dart leagues in the pubs. One of the
reasons was to hinder people from massive drinking and from all kind of gambling - darts was a proven game of skill. Another reason
was that it got necessary to change the pubs from low pubs into real public houses to get more people into the pubs offering pub
games to pass there the leisure time (and more leisure time people had) instead visiting the new attractions like the cinema
and the music halls were you could even take your wife of girl friend or the whole family as well. So the pubs had to get more
respectable and family friendly and darts helped to this.
When the National Darts Association was founded in 1925 the sport got generally valid rules. The mass media
supported the growing sport as well -especially the Sunday papers (News of the World) gave the sport a lot
of coverage and helped to sponsor tournaments.
A highly recommended book for people interested in social history, leisure time culture, sociology or in the sport of darts.
You can buy the book from Manchester University Press, the price is 55
pound.