The Fun Facts

Croquet, originally a sheepherder's game, has been honored by kings, absolutely adored by 1920s literary sets, and scorned by Dennis the Menace. Here's a quick take on croquet through the ages.

Croquet pros wear white to play.

• Historians debate the origins of croquet. Some believe the forefather was a game played by peasants in 14th-century France with bent willow branches and hooked mallets that looked like shepherd's crooks. Others say croquet was originally a form of French outdoor billiards.
• The sport was popularized by King James I in the 17th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that a French doctor named the game croquet, French for "crooked stick."
• A little English village called Wimbledon was home to croquet championships as early as 1870. Seven years later, the game was ousted for the tournament of another increasingly popular game -- lawn tennis.
• People originally condemned croquet because it was one of the first sports to allow men and women to compete together on an equal playing field. The sport was banned in Boston in 1890 for fear that young couples might disappear into the bushes to look for a missing croquet ball.
• A band of lighthearted players invented the nine-wicket version in 1899 in hopes of revitalizing the game in the United States. When it was played in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, the Americans whacked their way to the gold medal because no one else knew how to play the game.