What connects these three seemingly-unrelated subjects: May Day, “Cherry Ripe” chocolates, and Antarctica? Well, surprisingly, the answer is “croquet’, whose international competition celebrates its centenary in 2026.

The first of May (“May Day”) each year is recognised as World Croquet Day. There are 31 member countries of the World Croquet Federation; the most recent to join being the Netherlands and Mauritius. Croquet’s origins are in France, with adaptions added in Ireland before the game was refined and codified in England.

It also predates many other popular sports. For example, when “lawn” tennis was first created, the size of the croquet lawn determined the dimensions of the tennis court.

Standardised rules were written in England in 1856, predating many other sports. For instance, Victorian Rules Football (the origin of AFL) was codified in 1859; Rugby Union in Australia dates back to 1864; soccer to 1880; basketball to 1897; the Australian tennis championships, 1905; ice hockey, 1906; and rugby league, 1908.

Along with many other innovations and developments, the Victorian age was also noted for its keen efforts over rules and codification.

Back to our puzzler: Cherry Ripe and Antarctica? MacPherson Robertson was a Melbourne sweet-maker and chocolatier who create a blended brand name, Macrobertson’s.

He invented the Cherry Ripe and other classic lines and introduced chewing gum and fairy floss to Australia.

His factory in Fitzroy was painted white, the laboratories and manufacturing areas were also white, and employees wore… white, so any dirt would be quickly spotted and remedied.

After the Great War, Robertson recruited returned servicemen to take up concessions marketing his products and also encouraged playing croquet to help with rehabilitation, concentration, and as a means to enhancing risk-taking analysis.

Macrobertson’s donated chocolates and sweets to several Antarctic expeditions, a portion of that continent now named in recognition of this contribution.

In 1926, MacPherson Robertson also donated a shield for an international croquet competition to be played every four years between Australia and England. New Zealand was added in 1935 and the United States in 1993. The centenary matches will be played in England in July and August this year.