Outdoor Sports & Leisure Evolving in The Americas

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Indoor & Outdoor Game - Hide n Seek

When they began sailing across the Atlantic to the New World in the 1600s, British American colonials brought with them memories of games played for centuries in England & on the European continent, Many of these indoor & outdoor games morphed & changed a bit in the colonies. Some disappeared, but many others remain today in one form or another.

Hide & Seek can be traced back as far as 2nd Century (BCE) Greece. Julius Pollux apparently described a game called Apodidraskinda, which involved choosing one player who would keep their eyes shut for a set time, and then try to find the other players. But this was a variant of the game where everyone else tried to make their way back to the starting point (with the first person there becoming the new "seeker"). The game was well-established in Elizabethan England, again with slight variations. The game "King By Your Leave," seems to be the same as Apodidraskinda. In 1572, Richard Huloet described it as: "A playe that children have, where one sytting blyndefolde in the midle, bydeth so tyll the rest have hydden themselves, and then he going to seeke them, if any get his place in the meane space, that same is kynge in his roome." There are also seem to be 2 references to hide-and-seek-like games in Shakespeare: one in Love's Labors Lost, when Biron says "All hid, all hid; an old infant play," and one in Hamlet, when Hamlet makes a reference to a hide-and-seek-like game called Hide and Fox, when he says "Hide Fox, and All After" (in reference to Polonius' body).

Hide and Seek was played the same as today. Using whatever hiding places are available and the restrictions or limits agreed on by the players, play this ancient child's game. Someone is designated at “it.” Everyone hides. “It” looks for them. Usually, the first one found is “it” the next round although there are many variations.

Different versions of the game are played around the world, under a variety of names. One derivative in game is called "Sardines", in which only one person hides & the others must find them, hiding with them when they do so. The hiding places become progressively more cramped, like sardines in a tin. The last person to find the hiding group is the loser & subsequently the hider for the next round. This game is best played at night in a big area like a park, or in a dark room or just regular lighting inside as traditional hide & seek is played.

In some versions of the game, after the first player is caught or if not any other players can be found over a period of time, "it" calls out a pre-agreed phrase (such as "Olly olly oxen free", or "All in, All in, Everybody out there all in free") to signal the other hiders to return to base for the next round. In another version, when players are caught they help the "it" seek out others. The original term is "All ye all ye, come for free". Over the years this term has taken on various phrases, the most popular is "Olly olly oxen free."

In one variant, once all hiders have been located, the game then becomes a game of tag where the "it" chases after all the other players & the first person tagged becomes the "it." In another, the hiders who are found help the "it" track down the remaining hiders, but the first person to be found becomes the next "it."

In some parts of Australia, the game is called "44 Homes". The hiders hide until they are spotted by the seeker, who chants, "Forty, Forty, I see you" (sometimes shortened to "Forty, forty, see you"). Once spotted, the hider must run to "home base" (where the "it" was counting while the other players hid) & touch it before she or he is "tipped" (tagged, or touched) by the seeker. If tagged, that hider becomes the new "it."

In Brazil & Russia, hide-and-seek has an extra step. The "it" starts counting with eyes closed & facing the wall while everyone hides. Once the "it" finds someone, they must race to the spot where the "it" was originally counting & facing the wall & whoever touches that spot first, wins the game. Hide & Go Seek in the dark is another variant that is very self explanatory. Participants play hide & go seek at night in a park or field or in a house at night with the lights off.

Outdoor Games - Tag

Outdoor Games - Ring Around the Rosie

When British American colonials began sailing across the 17C Atlantic to the New World, they brought with them memories of games played for centuries in England & on the European continent. Games brought people together. Many of these indoor & outdoor games morphed & changed a bit in the colonies. Some disappeared, but many others remain today in one form or another.

It is unknown what the earliest version of the rhyme was or when it began. Many incarnations of the game have a group of children form a ring, dance in a circle around a person, and stoop or curtsy with the final line. The slowest child to do so is faced with a penalty or becomes the "rosie" (literally: rose tree, from the French rosier) and takes their place in the center of the ring.

Variations, corruptions, and vulgarized versions were noted to be in use long before the earliest printed publications. One such variation was dated to be in use in Connecticut in the 1840s. (see: Newell, William Wells (1883-4). Games and Songs of American Children. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 127–8.)

Common British versions include:
Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.

Cows in the meadows
Eating buttercups
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all jump up.

Common American versions include:
Ring-a-round the rosies,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.

In the 19C, some speculated that the words to the “Ring Around the Rosy” have their origin in English history. The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs (or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "ashes, ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the Great Fire of London only halted the plague in 1666, which killed the rats, which carried the disease, which was transmitting, via water sources. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease. Players hold hands in the shape of a circle. While they walk in a circle, they sing or chant…. Ring around the rosy A pocketful of posies "Ashes, Ashes" We all fall down!

Thread the Needle

British publisher John Newbery (1713-1767) was the 1st to create books specifically for children. His work reflected the changes in attitudes about children during the 18C. Newbery published at "the sign of the Bible & Sun’ in St Paul’s Church-Yard, London. This image is from "A Little Pretty POCKET-BOOK, Intended for the Instruction & Amusement of Little Master Tommy, & Pretty Miss Polly," 1st published in 1744 & generally considered to be the 1st book specifically directed at children.

Tip Cat

Train Banding

Trap Ball

Games for Tables - Squares

Outdoor Game - Chuck Farthing

Games for Tables - The Earliest Board Game - Royal Game of Ur or Game of 20 Squares

Game of Ur. (British Museum)

The Royal Game of Ur is a Sumerian version of the ancient Middle Eastern game generically called The Game of Twenty Squares. Gaming boards for the Game of Ur that were found in the royal tombs in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia, (Iraq) are probably the oldest board games found to this day. They date roughly to 2500 BCE. Ur, the Biblical birthplace of Abraham, was a thriving city in the 3rd millennium BC. Excavations were conducted there from 1922-34, by an archaeological team from the British Museum & the University of Pennsylvania.

Five game boards were found. The simplest was a wooden board with discs of shell with red or blue centers. The most elaborate board was encrusted with shell plaques inlaid with lapis lazuli & red limestone. Most boards had squares & some had pieces engraved with drawings of animals. The boards were hollow & inside each were 7 black & 7 white playing pieces & 6 dice some dotted with an inlay. Three of the found dice were made of white ivory, 3 were made of lapis lazuli.

Archaeologists found no rules for the game. The original rules of The Royal Game of Ur remain unknown, but a few historians have tried to guess at the rules based on a cuneiform tablet found in 1880 in Iraq, (in the British Museum). The tablet was prepared about 177-176 BCE by a Babylonian Scribe.

Wooden Aseb Game of 18th Dynasty – Brooklyn Museum

Aseb is the Egyptian version of the ancient Middle Eastern game called The Game of 20 Squares. Aseb is related to the Royal Game of Ur & probably arrived in Egypt from ancient Sumer, during the 17th Dynasty. Versions of Aseb have been found in Egypt, Sudan, Crete, and India.

Outdoor Games - Lewis & Clark Play Prisoner’s Base

Prisoner’s Base

This English game of chase and tag that was banned in the 1300s by King Edward III. Object of the Game: The team with the most prisoners at the end of the time limit wins. • You will need: A minimum of ten players A stick or chalk Large playing area • How to play: The group needs divided in half and a line of chalk was placed down the middle between the two teams. About 20-30 feet behind each team a large square (prison) was drawn on the ground using chalk. Each team picked one person to be the prisoner of the other team (usually someone who could run fast). Then each team would try to free their prisoner by sending a team member to the prison through the opposing team to bring him/her back without being captured by a member of the opposing team. If the person attempting to rescue their own prisoner made in to the prison through the opposing team without being caught, he/she was safe while in the prison and could pick their own time to run with the prisoner back to their own side of the line. If the team member was caught by the opposing team, they also became a prisoner needing rescue. So each team was busy both trying to rescue their own prisoners and protect the prisoner(s) from the opposite side from being rescued. At the end of time, the team with the most prisoners won.

Frances Hunter tells us that "Like most young men, the members of Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery were a sporting & competitive lot. This band of tough frontiersmen, almost all under the age of 35, liked to test their mettle against the people they met along the way. This included shooting, hunting, horsemanship, & footraces. It also includes games that have been all but forgotten.

"In June 1806, the Corps was camped near the Chopunnish or Nez Perce Indians, waiting for the snows to melt enough to recross the Rocky Mountain, when a lively round of games took place. On June 8, 1806, Lewis wrote in his journal:several foot rarces were run this evening between the indians & our men. the indians are very active; one of them proved as fleet as 〈our best runner〉 Drewer & R. Fields, our swiftest runners. when the racing was over the men divided themselves into two parties & played prison base, by way of exercise which we wish the men to take previously to entering the mountain; in short those who are not hunters have had so little to do that they are geting reather lazy & slouthfull.— after dark we had the violin played & danced for the amusement of ourselves & the indians.—

"Prison base (or prisoner’s base, as it is more commonly called) is an old game in which two teams are divided by a line drawn in the dirt between the two teams. About 20 or 30 feet in back of each team a large square (prison) is drawn on the ground. Each team picks one person to be the prisoner of the other team (usually the fastest runner). Then each team tries to free their prisoner by sending a team member to the prison through the opposing team to bring the prisoner back without getting captured by a member of the opposing team. If the person attempting to rescue their own prisoner makes it to the prison through the opposing team without being caught, he is safe while in the prison & can pick his own time to run with the prisoner back to their own side of the line. If the team member is caught by the opposing team, they also became a prisoner needing rescue. So each team is busy both trying to rescue their own prisoners & prevent the prisoners from the opposite side from getting rescued. At the end of the game, the team with the most prisoners wins. Unfortunately, Lewis & Clark did not record whether the Corps of Discovery or the Nez Perce won the day.

"The next day, June 9, Clark reported, “more our party exolted with the idea of once more proceeding on towards their friends & Country are elert in all their movements & amuse themselves by pitching quates, Prisoners bast running races &c—.”

See: Frances Hunter's American Heroes Blog. The Forgotten Games of the Corps of Discovery. February 16, 2012

New York's Saratoga Springs Spa & Ballston Spa

Congress Spring, Saratoga, 1849

The mineral springs in upstate New York were valued by Native Americans for their medicinal properties. In 1767, the Mohawks revealed the location of High Rock Spring, which they regarded as sacred, stirred by the god Manitou,

Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies suffered from pain resulting from a bullet wound at the Battle of Lake George in 1755, drank some of the water, felt his health notably improved, and afterwards wrote to a friend: “I have just returned from a visit to a most amazing Spring, which almost effected my cure; and I have sent for Dr. Stringer, of New York, to come up and analyze it.” William Leete Stone, Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston (New York, 1875)

As settlers drank the water, accounts of its healthful benefits spread. The 1st permanent dwelling was built around 1776. An inn was constructed above High Rock Spring, and, in 1802, a 3-story tavern was built across from Congress Spring.

Some 16 miles to the west, the mineral springs at Ballston Spa were noted by surveyors in 1771. The 1st tavern was built there in 1787, & a hotel was added in 1792. In 1803, the impressive Sans Souci hotel was built at Ballston Spa. Guests included Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, James Fenimore Cooper, Franklin Pierce, & Andrew Jackson.

Elkanah Watson visited the mineral springs at Saratoga and Ballston in September of 1790. I spent a day, bathing in a trough, and drinking the exhilarating water, which gushes from the centre of a rock. I met with about a dozen respectable people, sojourning at a wretched tavern. The wildness of the region, and the excessively bad accommodation, made me recur to the condition of Bath, in the barbarous ages, when, several centuries before Christ, as the legend says, the springs were discovered by their salutary effect upon a herd of distempered swine wallowing in the mud.

The Saratoga waters were discovered, about twenty years ago, as I was informed by Mr. Ball of Ballston, in following a deer track; but, it is supposed, their existence was known to the Indians. The remarkable medicinal qualities of these springs, and their accessible position, must render this spot, at some future period, the Bath of America. At present, it is enveloped in rudeness and seclusion, with no accommodations appropriate to civilized man. The rock through which the water issues by a narrow passage, has been probably formed by petrifaction. Vessels are let down, through this fissure or natural well, to procure the water for drinking.

There is no convenience for bathing, except an open log hut with a large trough, similar to those in use for feeding swine, which receives water from a spring. Into this you roll from a bench. This water appears to be strongly impregnated with saline ingredients, highly charged with fixed air, and is almost as animated as champagne wine. Its taste is grateful, but it leaves an unpleasant impression upon the palate. Those accustomed to it, however, regard it as a great luxury. It is in high estimation, as a specific in all scorbutic affections, gout, rheumatism, etc. These springs are situated in a marsh, partially encompassed by slight and pretty eminences, along the margin of which the road winds. A little off from the highway, I visited a new spring, which is much more highly charged with mineral elements. This is called the Congress Spring.

From Saratoga I proceeded to Tryon’s, a low one-story tavern on a hill in Ballston. At the foot of this hill, I found an old barrel with the staves open, stuck into the mud in the midst of a quagmire, surrounded with trees, stumps, and logs. This was the Ballston Spring. I observed two or three ladies, walking along a fallen tree, so as to reach the fountain; and I was disgusted at seeing as many men washing their loathsome sores near the barrel. There was also a shower bath, with no protection except a bower of bushes. Tryon’s was the only public house, no buildings having been erected below the hill. The greatest number of visitors at one period, the past summer, was ten or twelve, and these were as many as could be accommodated. Winslow C. Watson, Men and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson (New York, 1856)

Elkanah Watson stayed at the more impressive Sans Souci in 1805. We seated ourselves at a sumptuous table, with about a hundred guests of all classes, but generally, from their appearance and deportment, of first respectability, assembled here from every part of the Union and from Europe…. This is the most splendid watering place in America and is scarcely surpassed in Europe in its dimensions, and the taste and elegance of its arrangement. The building contains about one hundred apartments, all respectably furnished. The plan upon which it is constructed, the architecture, the style of the outbuildings and the gravel walks girted with shrubbery,—are all on a magnificent scale...

In the evening, we attended a ball in the spacious hall, brilliantly illuminated with chandeliers, and adorned with various other appliances of elegance and luxury. Here was congregated a fine exhibition of refinement of the ‘beau monde.’ A large proportion of the assembly was from the Southern States, and was distinguished by elegant and polished manners. Instead of the old-fashioned country dances and four-hand reels of revolutionary days, I was pleased to notice the advance of refined customs, and the introduction of the graces of Paris, in the elegant cotillion and quadrille. At table, I was delighted in observing the style and appearance of the company, males and females, intermixed in the true French usage of ‘sans souci.’ The board was supplied in profusion, not only with a rich variety, but with the luxuries of more sunny climes. There was a great display of servants, handsomely dressed, while the music of a choice band enlivened the festivities. Winslow C. Watson, Men and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson (New York, 1856)

James Stuart visited Saratoga Springs in 1828. The taste [of the water from the Congress Spring] is very agreeable; and the briskness of the water at the fountain delightful. Three or four pint tumblers are generally taken in the morning before breakfast. We also, as most people do, use it at meals from choice, although it is never so good as at the fountain, before there is any escape of gas. The people resident in the village and its neighbourhood, within six or eight miles of the place, have it carried to their houses, preferring it very much to ordinary spring water. The quantity of gas is such, that a very nice sort of breakfast bread is baked with Congress water, instead of yeast. So large a quantity of it is bottled, and sent all over the states, that the proprietors, Messrs Lynch and Clarke, are said to be making a fortune of it. Even the American packet ships are supplied with it in abundance; but there is a very considerable loss of the gas in bottling, which renders the taste insipid, and the least loss of gas occasions a precipitation of iron, which gives the water a muddy appearance. Seltzer water in the bottled state is as pleasant as Congress water, except at the fountain.

The use of the water is chiefly recommended in bilious, dyspeptic, and calculous complaints, for diseases of the skin, and for chronic rheumatism ; but the great bulk of the people who resort to these celebrated springs, many of them regularly once a year, come for amusement, and for the preservation, rather than the recovery, of health, at a period of the year, when the violence of the heat renders a visit to a high and comparatively a cold country very desirable. I have found the use of the water and the baths so beneficial for a trifling complaint, for which I had last year tried the water at Harrowgate, that we resolved to remain here and at Ballston springs for a couple of months.

The gay people had almost disappeared before we arrived. The invalids seem to live very sparingly, — hardly tasting any liquid but the water, and tea, which here, and at other places where we have been, we sometimes observe ladies take at dinner. Many of those invalids are quite able to take exercise in the open air, and would, if I am not much, mistaken, derive as much benefit from it, if taken in moderation, as from the use of the water ; but they seem to confine themselves to a five or ten minutes walk in the morning, when they go to the fountain, and to a drive in an open carriage for an hour, or an hour and a-half. When they meet us walking several miles for exercise, and the pleasure of being in the open air, they, whether acquainted with us or not, frequently stop their vehicles, and very civilly offer us a ride with them, and can hardly believe us serious, when we, in declining to avail ourselves of their kindly meant offer, tell them that we prefer to walk.

There are few more striking points of difference between this country and Britain, than in the numbers of the people who ride and walk on the public roads. It absolutely seems disgraceful to be seen walking; and, though there are no fine equipages here, every one rides in his gig, dearborn, or open carriage of some description or other. This circumstance no doubt proves the easy circumstances of the mass of the people, as well as the value of time to a mechanic, or labourer, whose wages may be from one to two dollars a-day, and can better afford to pay for a conveyance, and spend less time, than to walk, and spend more. Still I am persuaded that our habits in this respect are far more favourable for health; and that dyspepsia, a very general complaint in New York State, and in this country, is in no inconsiderable degree owing to the people supposing, that enough of exercise can be had in carriages and waggons, especially by persons almost always partaking of animal food largely three times a-day, who hardly ever walk a mile, or mount on horseback.”

Stuart also checked into the Ballston Spa, On the 31st of October, we changed our quarters from Saratoga springs to Ballston Spa, in a pleasant situation, in a hollow surrounded on all sides by high grounds. The Kayaderoseras, a small river, runs through the village, containing 800 or 1000 people.

There are only two great hotels here, the Sans Souci, which is on the largest scale, and Mr. Aldridge’s. There are several small hotels and boarding-houses. The baths are equally good here as at Saratoga springs; but the water is obviously not so pleasant to the taste, nor are its effects so powerful. The quantity of carbonic acid gas in a gallon of the water is only 210 cubic inches, while in the Congress water it is 343 cubic inches. The substances common to both are here in smaller quantity.

We are in the boarding-house of Mrs. Macmaster, one of the most comfortable we have seen in this country. The house is managed by herself, two daughters, and a little girl. Every thing good of its kind ; poultry the best that we have met with; dinners well-cooked; and coffee as well prepared as in the best restaurateurs in the Palais Royal. The charge four dollars per week. But this is not the gay season, when the rate is of course greater. James Stuart, Three Years in North America, Vol. I (Edinburgh, 1833).

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Croquet in the Garden & the Fashions that Followed

Johann Mongles Culverhouse (Dutch-born American painter, 1825-1895) Croquet

Croquet is, like pall mall, trucco, jeu de mail & kolven, clearly a derivative of ground billiards, which was popular in Western Europe back to at least the 14th century, with roots in classical antiquity. Researchers claim that both golf & croquet evolved from these ancient sports, and that billiards was a modified inside game of croquet.

1650 'Le Centre de l'Amour, Decouvert Soubs Divers Emblesmes Galans et Facetieux' was first published (by Chez Cupidon) c 1650.

Some researchers believe the game was introduced to Britain from France during the reign of Charles II of England, & was played under the name of paille-maille or pall mall, derived ultimately from Latin words for "ball and mallet."

1626 Adrian van de Veen Frederick V, Elector Palatine on the Maliebaen in Den Haag

Played during the 17th century by Charles II & his courtiers at St. James's Park in London, the name of the game was anglicized to Pall Mall, which also became the name of a nearby street. "Mall" then evolved into a generic word for any street used for public gathering & strollings.

The Pall Mall at St James, London, from a 17th century map by Faithhorne

In his 1810 book entitled The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, Joseph Strutt describes the way pall mall was played in England in the early 17th century: "Pale-maille is a game wherein a round box ball is struck with a mallet through a high arch of iron, which he that can do at the fewest blows, or at the number agreed upon, wins. It is to be observed, that there are two of these arches, that is one at either end of the alley."

David Johnson (American artist, 1827-1908) Croquet on the Lawn

In Samuel Johnson's 1828 dictionary, he defines the game, "A play in which the ball is struck with a mallet through an iron ring."

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910) Croquet

A similar game was played on the beaches of Brittany. Some researches believe that the rules of the modern game of croquet arrived from Ireland during the 1850s, perhaps after being brought there from Brittany. Records show the similar game of "crookey" being played at Castlebellingham in 1834, which was introduced to Galway in 1835 & played on the bishop's palace garden, and in the same year to the genteel Dublin suburb of Kingstown (today Dún Laoghaire) where it was first spelled "croquet."

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910) Croquet Players

The oldest document to bear the word "croquet" with a description of the modern game is the set of rules registered by Isaac Spratt in November 1856 with the Stationers' Company in London.

1866 The Game of Croquet Published by Harper's Weekly. 1866 detail

The tale is that the game traveled from Ireland to England around 1851. An unidentified Miss MacNaghten observed peasants in France playing a game with hoops made of willow rods & mallets of broomsticks inserted into pieces of wood & introduced it in Ireland. Sometime around 1850, she passed the idea to a Mr. Spratt and the result was Spratt's rules for croquet published in 1851. Spratt then passed the game on to John Jacques; who claimed that he made equipment from patterns he bought in Ireland & had published rules, before Spratt introduced the subject to him. Whatever the case, Jacques was the first to make equipment as a regular business; and in 1864, published his first comprehensive code of laws.

1870 Croquet Published in Every Saturday An Illustrated Journal of choice Reading, Boston

At first, croquet was most popular among women, It was a new experience for them to be able to play a game outdoors in the company of men. Early games of croquet were carefully chaperoned. The game's popularity grew in the 1860's, where garden parties began to be called croquet parties.

1870 Croqueting the Rover. Published in Every Saturday An Illustrated Journal of Choice Reading. Boston

1868 saw the formation of the All England Croquet Club with the purpose of creating an official body to control the game and unify the laws. They needed to find a ground, and in 1869 leased four acres in Wimbledon.

1871 Preparing for Croquet published in Harper's Weekly, New York, July 22, 1871.

In 1875, one lawn at the club was set aside for exciting new game of lawn tennis, which was gaining popularity much more quickly than croquet. In April, 1877 the club name was changed to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club; and in July, 1877 the first lawn tennis championship was held at Wimbledon.

1872 The Last Croquet Game of the Summer published in Harper's Bazar, New York, Nov. 2, 1872.

Croquet began to decline as tennis grew & proved to be more of a money maker. In 1882, croquet was deleted from the club title. However, croquet continued & went through a regrowth. In 1899, the name was restyled again to to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club which it remains today.

Croquet

While croquet was on the decline in England, it was beginning to be the latest rage in America. Croquet equipment was advertised in the New York Clipper in 1862. In a story of an elopment in the November, 1864 issue of Godey's Ladies Book, they described the intended bride, "her petite figure and dove-like eyes caused her at once to become "the rage of the park, the ball-room, the opera, and the croquet lawn." In 1865, the Newport Croquet Club was formed in Rhode Island. The April 1865, Godey's Ladies Book published a few rules for the game declaring, "As this game is now becoming very fashionable, we give some of the rules that govern it."

1862 John Leech (English artist, 1817-1864) Croquet

When Vassar College opened , an announcement Godey's Lady's Book. August, 1865, stated, "The play-grounds are ample and secluded; and the apparatus required for...such simple feminine sports as archery, croquet (or ladies' cricket), graces, shuttlecocks, etc. will be supplied by the college." In the same issue, the magazine explained, "A NEW and fashionable amusement for the ladies may be found in the game of croquet , which is fast winning its way into the favor and esteem of all who make its acquaintance. It is a delightful game; it gives grace to the movements of the players; it can be played on any little grass-plot, and the implements of the game are becoming so cheap as to place them within the reach of all. Boys and girls, young men and maidens, and (as we do know), a good many older ones, find in it a most healthful and fascinating out-door recreation." Two months later, the magazine noted, "Among the late novelties we notice pocket-handkerchiefs having a lady in croquet dress with mallet in hand, embroidered in gay colors in the corner."

1865 John Leech (English artist, 1817-1864)A Nice Game For Two Or More

By April of the next year, Godey's was featuring a croquet dress in one of its fashion plates, "Croquet dress of black alpaca, trimmed round the edge of the skirt, up the front, and up each breadth, with bands of green silk cut out in points. The basque is made quite long, slit up to the waist at the back, and turned over with green silk both back and front. The sleeves are trimmed with points of green silk to match the skirt, and the corsage is turned back, in revers, showing a fine worked chemisette. Hat of black straw, trimmed with a puffing of green silk, and a long white plume."

1867 Philip Hermogenes Calderon (French-born English painter,1833-1898) Resting in the Shade after a game of Croquet

Milton Bradley & Co in 1866, published "Croquet - It's Principles and Rules." In February of 1867, Godey's explaned that croquet, "requires for its full development a level ground of well-mown and well-rolled grass (unless all are equally acquainted with the inequalities, when slight undulations may add to the interest of the game); but it can be played on the sand of the sea-shore where it is hard and level, or upon well-rolled grave, or asphalte covered with a thin layer of fine broken shells."

John Sartain (1808-1897) Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) with his family

Later in 1867, a New York newspaper editorialized, "never in the history of outdoor sports in this country had any game achieved so sudden a popularity with both sexes, but especially with the ladies, as Croquet has."

1870 The All-England Croquet Club at Wimbledon Ladies Sport Croquet Illustrated London News

The Delaware County Republican newspaper of July 10, 1868. carried an announcement of a variety of wooden croquet sets for sale, "BOX WOOD, Rose Wood, Lignum Vitae, Rock Maple, and less expensive sets of Croquet Games." By 1869, churches were offering croquet to their guests. The Delaware County American announced on June 2, 1869, next to the Maple Church, "a strawberry and ice cream FESTIVAL, provided and served by ladies...a Concert, Vocal and Instrumental ...also, a croquet lawn, with the requisite conveniences." When the strawberries ripened the following June, the church ladies once again offered their festival including croquet. The popularity of croquet was growing by leaps and bounds in post Civil War America.

1871 Edouard Manet (French painter, 1832-1883) Partie de Croquet à Boulogne–sur–Mer

In 1882, a convention in New York of 25 clubs formed the National American Croquet Association. Croquet was introduced as an Olympic sport in the 1900 Paris games. Early 1900 American croquet leaders disagreed with many of the new English rules which outlawed mallets with heads made of rubber & had introduced the 6-wicket court layout. They kept the 9-wicket version & short handled mallets with heads of metal face on one end and rubber on the other. The Americans introduced their version of 9-wicket croquet at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis which was won by an American but never played in the Olympics again.

1871 The Illustrated London News Croquet Under Difficulties.

1872 Louise Abbéma (1853-1927), A Game of Croquet at Trouville

1875 Oneida Community, New York

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910) Croquet Scene

1872 Une Partie De Croquet, engraving by Paul Girardet

1873 Edouard Manet (French painter, 1832-1883) The Croquet Game

1876 James H Holly Residence, Warwick, NY

1873 John George Brown (American genre artist, 1831-1913) Have a Game

John E Williams Residence, Irvington, NY

1873 Never Too Old To Play Croquet Nor Yet Too Young August Published for Harper's Weekly, New York

1876 A game of croquet on the front lawn of Perry Guile's house in Milo, New York

1878 James Tissot (French artist, 1836-1902) Croquet

Prince and Princess of Wales playing croquet The Illustrated London News

1880 Valentine showing a woman playing croquet

1885 A game of croquet without rules. Harper's young people.

1889 Léon Benett, Fortuné-Louis Méaulle Croquet

1892 Pierre Bonnard (French painter, 1867-1947) Crespuscule ou La Partie de Croquet

1901 Seaside Games

1904 Anna Whelan Betts (American illustrator, 1875–1952) Croquet

1915 Chatterbox Magazine

Percy W. Gibbs (English Painter, active c 1895-1925) Ladies playing croquet

Victorian Trading Card Girl Playing Croquet Walkers Wax Soap in Sleeve

William Crawford Arsa (Scottish paintre, 1825-69). Eliza Anne Lochart (Nana), William Frederick (Bill) and John Henry Middleton playing croquet in a garden before a cornfield

William McGregor Paxton (American painter, 1869-1941) The Croquet Players

Croquet Fashions for Players & Observers

Croquet grew in popularity with women during the 1860s; however, the sport was hampered by their heavy, full skirts & the crinolines worn underneath. Many women took to looping up their skirts to prevent soiling them or brushing against the croquet balls. Designers began to have the exposed petticoats develop tabs to button up the skirts, & the hems on croquet dresses became increasingly bold & decorative. In 1864, one croquet player advised, “the dress should be looped up, or not only will it spoil many a good stroke, but with its sweeping train will probably disturb the position of some of the balls.”

1860s Walking and croquet dress, Le Diable Rose

1865 September fashions, 1865 France, Cendrillon

1866 Godey's fashions for [April 1866] Kimmel & Forster N.Y.

1870 Les modes parisiennes Peterson's magazine, July, 1870.

1881 American Fashion Croquet Dresses

1883 Childrens Country Costumes from The Queen.

Le Monde Elegant

Photo of Croquet Players 1860s