3-043-853 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Preparing for croquet, 1871. 'An English family party in a well-kept English garden is the fairest sight upon earth...The domestic life of English ladies and gentlemen can nowhere be seen under a pleasanter aspect than upon the verdant lawn...in the cool leisure hours of a fine summer day...Decidedly the Englishwoman shows to best advantage out of doors, and so does the Englishman when bred in the wholesome national habits of simple diet and active exercise; but her place is the garden, while his place is the field. As a neutral ground of compromise between the open-air pastimes of the two sexes in this country, the modern game of croquet is found to suit them both very well...it shall not here be denied that croquet deserves the preference now allowed it as a pursuit for both sexes in a combined party...There is also, we are told, a frequent opportunity for saying or doing such little things as may serve to invite or reward the expression of a particular mutual regard between the young lady and the young gentleman. We contemplate this result as we see them now coming out, with the little children, to superintend the work of the gardeners in mowing the lawn to perfect smoothness. May the course of true love be made equally smooth'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.