The history of darts could conceivably be thought to go back as far as man has been throwing weapons at targets as practice for there hunting skills maybe , It all involves the same principle which is throwing something sharp at a target aiming for a specific point .
We are told that in the very early days of darts the target was often a section of tree trunk as this gave natural divided areas because of the growth rings and any cracks in the timber . The darts are said to have been much larger than there counterparts today almost a foot long !
The game was popular with sailors who apparently used sections cut from old masts ,It is thought that the game was taken to America by the first settlers on the Mayflower .
As the game began to develop rules were being laid down and the game became an indoor sport ,The darts also became much smaller with feather flights.
In 1898 a very helpful American chap patented the first paper folding flight and in 1906 an equally helpful English chap patented the first metal barrel , The game as we know it had really started to develop now !
So how did they know where to throw from ? Well its believed that the throwing distance was 3 beer crates , Not just any beer crates , ones from hockey and son a big brewer in the southwest , 3 crates gave a throwing distance of 9 feet , It is believed by some that over time the crates used were reduced in size to 2 feet so 4 were put together and the throwing distance was reduced , However im personally not convinced by this . It is also believed that the word oche derived from Hockey the brewery who owned the crates used for the first measurement. Ladies began to play the game so another throwing mark was added at some point.
In the early 1900s gambling or games of chance were illegal in public houses and it was believed that darts was a game of chance therefore illegal , It was down to a pub landlord to take it upon himself to challenge the ruling in court where he is said to have thrown 3 darts into 1 segment of the board and then proceeded to challenge others to mach his efforts but ass you can imagine they couldnt so darts was no longer considered a game of chance but a game of skill leading to the game being played widely in pubs.By the end of world war 2 darts had taken hold in most pubs , Teams formed and organised matches played .
So thats it as far as i know , There have indeed been may advances in darts , More rules , Regulations and Governing bodies etc . I hope this has been of some interest , Its not gospel but i think its credible and pretty accurate but i dont know everything (thats the wifes department) and i do make mistakes.
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