<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Skee - Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games . It is played by rolling balls up an inclined lane . The object of the game is to collect as many points as possible by having the ball fall into holes which have different point values assigned to them . </P> <P> Skee - Ball was invented and patented in 1908 by Joseph Fourestier Simpson, a resident of Vineland, New Jersey . On December 8, 1908, Simpson was granted U.S. Patent No. 905,941 for his patent "Game ." Simpson licensed the game to John W. Harper and William Nice Jr. who created the Skee - Ball Alley Company and began marketing the thirty - two foot games in early 1909 . The first advertisement for Skee - Ball appeared on April 17, 1909, in The Billboard . About two months later the first alley was sold . Alleys continued to sell slowly over the next few years . </P>

Where did the name skee ball come from