Croquet
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Croquet. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
kro-ka, a lawn game played with mallets, balls, stakes, and wickets. A stake is driven at each end of the ground. Nine wickets are driven, five in a central row leading from post to post, and two others on each side. The game may be played by two persons. Each player is allowed to strike his ball once with the mallet, driving it along a line which makes the round of the wickets. If it pass through a wicket, he is entitled to play again, or if his ball strike that of an opponent, he is entitled to place his ball by the side of it and strike his own ball. This he aims to do in such a manner that his opponent's ball is rolled out of position, while his own comes in front of a wicket. He is then entitled to another play for his wicket, which won, he may again, if not in place, play his opponent's ball and thus continue. It is not at all impossible for a skillful player, with the aid of his opponent's ball, to make the entire round and strike his home post without giving his opponent an opportunity to stop his progress. Four can play to a still better advantage by pairing off. Those who play together assist each other. When a player cannot make a wicket he aims to leave his ball where it may be played upon by his partner; and likewise, when one player gets possession of his partner's ball, he aims by a split shot to throw it into position for a wicket and yet leave his own in an advantageous position. The game is in some respects like that of billiards. It calls for a firm wrist and a true eye. See Pall Mall
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
to the most scientific form of which the name ROQUE is given, is an open-air game played with balls, mallets, and arches, either upon a closely mowed lawn or a specially prepared court. The game is substantially a revival of the old game of Pall Mall, which gave its name to the well known London street. France introduced this game into Ireland and then into England early in the 17th century, and during ng the 18th century it was largely neglected, but came again into favor about 1850 and was later superseded in popularity by tennis.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account describes the nine-wicket, two-stake layout that survives today mainly as the American backyard game; serious play worldwide now uses a six-hoop court with a single centre peg, and the association rules are administered by the World Croquet Federation, founded in 1986, with a world championship since 1989. Collier's in 1921 gave pride of place to roque, the hard-court American version played with short mallets, calling it "the most scientific form" — roque has since dwindled almost to extinction, though it did appear at the 1904 St Louis Olympics (croquet itself was played at Paris in 1900). In the United States the game had fallen so far by the 1970s that the United States Croquet Association had to be founded in 1977 to rebuild it. The fastest-growing form now is golf croquet, a simpler race for each hoop in turn that neither account mentions.
Written for this edition, 2026.