I’m throwing a curveball at you this week.

I was actually going to save this until later (trying to stretch my findings) but I felt it was time to let it loose.

I was digging through an antique store, as always, and came across this awesome piece of history.

Back in the day, the Niagara Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau sent out the events schedule for the next several years. Somehow I found the director of Urban Renewal’s copy for 1979-1984.

Now, this thing is totally awesome. It gives you the location and estimated attendance for every event in the Falls.

I’ve heard stories that the Kayser Beauty Show was massive, and the 9,000 attendance estimate shows it.

But what really takes the cake is the National Bowling Association’s convention in May 1982. Check it out below if you don’t believe me, but it’s estimated attendance was 18,000 PEOPLE!

EIGHTEEN! THOUSAND! PEOPLE!

That is insane. There were 18,000 people, in Niagara Falls, at the convention center, FOR BOWLING!

There is a lot of good stuff in this book, so I’m just going to let you take a trip down memory lane, and find all of the conventions from back in the day.

I’d like to thank Angelo Massaro for not throwing this out. This thing totally made my day, and I hope it gave you something to talk about.