16/09/2026
π THE CASE OF THE FOUR COLOURS β PART TWO
The clues begin to appearβ¦
When Croquet Talk opened this little investigation, the question sounded wonderfully simple:
Why these four?
Blue. Red. Black. Yellow.
Surely somewhere in croquet history there would be a tidy answer β a rule, a committee decision, perhaps even an important gentleman with an impressive moustache declaring that these would henceforth be the colours of croquet.
Apparently not.
The further we looked, the more interesting it became.
And then we found Exhibit A.
In 1857, the year before Jaques began making and selling croquet sets, the company started marketing a popular parlour game called Squails.
And the pieces were distinguished by four colours:
π΅ Blue
π΄ Red
β« Black
π‘ Yellow
Those four.
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
A smoking gun?
Not quite.
There is no evidence proving that Squails gave croquet its eventual colours β but it is a wonderfully intriguing clue.
By 1900, Colonel Needham, Honorary Secretary of the Croquet Association, was describing croquet balls quite plainly as blue, red, black and yellow.
Somewhere between the colourful confusion of early croquet and the beginning of the twentieth century, our familiar four had won the day.
But the document that tells us who finally chose them β and why these particular four?
We still havenβt found it.
So the file remains open. π΅οΈββοΈ
And perhaps that is what makes this little piece of croquet history so much fun.
What do you think?
I would really love to know your thoughts.
Stefan
Could the 1857 Squails colours be more than coincidence?
Or is there another clue hiding somewhere in croquetβs past?
π The investigation continues in the comments.
Croquet Talk β Independent Croquet Media
Concept & creative direction β Stefan Apostol
Created with AI assistance.
