W.C. Packard originally entered the tenpin business in Ohio and later moved to Evanston, IL. About 1940, he moved to Bloomington-Normal. By 1941, his company was making duckpin bowling alleys in Normal for distribution to several US states and employing 80 to 90 union mechanics.
According to a September 1947 newspaper article, he also owned twenty-six duck pin alleys in the U.S.
The collection includes a bound book containing legally required records of Packard Duck Pin Bowling Alley, Inc. which was created primarily to operate “games, duckpins, tenpins, and kindred business for profit”.