Carpet bowls

"In the last century most of the Scottish mansions had two boxes inside the door in the hallway, one with a croquet set and the other with a set of carpet bowls," begins a 1991 article in The Baltimore Sun in which my grandmother was quoted. She was the person who brought this bizarre, intriguing, and addicting game to America. My grandparents were not the most child-friendly couple on the planet, but they loved introducing their grandchildren to their obscure and delightful obsessions. She had bowls of carpet bowls around the house (they look lovely) and we were always encouraged to set up a game in the living room. Modern-day reproductions abound, but the good ones are Victorian and worth the hunt.