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August 2020 - Antique Shoppe - 5
                                             Folk Art Croquet Wickets


                                              Collected as Folk Art Pieces of a Bygone Era
        By Larry LeMasters
        LeMasters News Service


           When I was a child, my family     wickets.  The game is played on      famously held lavish                     like a set from 1990.  Croquet
        played nine-wicket croquet,          a grass court.  The term was first   croquet parties at his                     sets take on a worn, tired
        which, in the United States, is      used in print around 1856 when       home in Watford.                            appearance, and if you find
        sometimes called “backyard           Isaac Spratt registered a set of     From England, the                            one in an antique store,
        croquet.”  In this version of        croquet rules with the Stationers’   game of croquet                                 it is often missing
        croquet there are nine wickets,      Company in London.  In 1868 the      spread to former                                   balls, mallets, and
        two stakes, and up to six players    All England Croquet Club was         British colonies,                                    wickets.  Wickets,
        or balls.  We always played          formed at Wimbledon, London,         including the                                         especially, are
        “cutthroat”                                           and there have      United States.                                        easily lost over
        style, which                                           been croquet         In America,                                         time.
        was individual                                         clubs and          the 1950s                                                 Replacement
        play, and we                                           tournaments        are considered                                     wickets were often
        always played                                          ever since.        the heyday of                                       made from coat
        “poison” so                                                 Croquet       croquet playing.                                     hangers or other
        that whoever                                           is considered      Families during                                       heavy gauge
        became the                                             a form of          this time still                                       wire.  All a
        “poison ball”                                          “ground            did everything                                         child had to
        could eliminate                                        billiards” and     together,                                              do was bend
        other balls by                                         originated in      including eat,                                         the wire and
        croqueting or                                          Europe at the      vacation, attend                                      play continued.
        striking, them.                                        beginning          church, and                                           But some
        Of course, the                                         of the             play games.                                             wickets were
        last person                                            Renaissance,       Many 1950s                                              irreplaceable.
        remaining in                                           but the origins    American             Vintage, figural folk art croquet   These “folk
        the game was                                           of the game        families could    wicket, circa 1940, with original paint   art” wickets
        the winner.  My                                        of croquet         be seen on              wicked wicket eyebrows.       are highly
        wife, Sue, and                                         go back to         a Sunday                                              collectible
        I still have a       Vintage, English folk art croquet   antiquity. One   afternoon playing croquet in their   today, not as part of the game
        croquet set in      wicket with image of British sailor   history of the   yard as hamburgers and hotdogs      but merely as folk art pieces of a
        our garage that    that sold at rubylane.com for $250.  game suggests     grilled.  It was in the middle of    bygone era.
        occasionally gets                                     croquet arrived     such a scene that I first learned to        Folk art, in general,
        set up and played with.              in England from France during        play croquet.                        is described as traditionally
           What I was unaware of, until      the reign of Charles II of England,    I’m sure there are collectors      decorative or utilitarian art that
        recently, is how valuable some       1660 – 1685.  In the 17  century,    who collect croquet sets. Some       is often an expression of life.
                                                                   th
        vintage croquet wickets are.         croquet was called paille-maille,    of the sets are quite pretty since   So a folk art croquet wicket is a
        Wickets, a name derived from         which became “pall-mall,” which      croquet balls and mallets are        utilitarian piece since it is used as
        cricket, is the wire hoop a player   derived from the Latin words         always brightly colored.  And        a wicket in a game of croquet, and
        must hit the croquet ball through,   for ball and mallet.  Samuel         some of the croquet stands were      it is decorative in appearance as
        so in the nine-wicket version        Johnson’s 1755 dictionary defines    made of solid wood and are           compared to a plain wire wicket.
        my family played, we had nine        “pall-mall” as a game with           attractive.  But, for the most part,   While wire may be a part of a
        wickets or hoops set up.             similarities to modern croquet.      all croquet sets look the same to    folk art wicket, the decorative part
           Croquet is a French word for        Croquet became “fashionable”       most people.                         of the wicket is usually made of
        the sport of hitting wooden balls    and reached its heyday in England      A set from 1960, while older       wood, metal, or cast iron.
        with a mallet through hoops or       around 1870.  The Earl of Essex      and dirtier, looks almost exactly                      Continued on Page 6




















                                                         Nine cast iron folk art croquet wickets, circa 1900.
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