Votes For Women

Suffragists at Strawbery Banke 2016

Last year in the month before SBM's first reenactor'stimeline event I was looking at the lineup of military camp after military camp, and at the concentrations of groups by time period and decided the event desperately needed some women's history, especially representing the early 20th century.

As a bit of a lark I put up a Facebook post asking if any of my friends would be up to portraying a few good suffragists to help drum up support for votes for women at the timeline. I got many good responses, some of whom were actually quite serious about coming out on July 2nd, especially if I could supply costuming. A quick conversation with the head of SBM's role players confirmed that she would be happy to help with costumes (we have a 1908 house and a 1919 one) and would like to help with the group itself.

The group that came together was a fabulous mix of feminists, reenactors, and friends. Not every one was a history nerd, not everyone was comfortable portraying history in front of the public, but we all felt it was really important to respect the women who stood up for our rights by reminding museum goers of the struggle less than 100 years ago. In the few weeks before the event I convinced my dad to go through his plywood collection for some sign sized pieces, found some blank banners online, and even roped in one of the SBM summer interns to make up some votes for women ribbons we could pin to our costumes. I frantically painted signs and lettered banners, just enough for a small group of women to be recognized as suffragists.

I saved the orchard next to SBM's 1919 house for our set up, and in the week before the second I dug through my closet and went to the local thrift shops to assemble my own outfit. I was going for 1908 for my outfit. I already had the petticoats & walking skirt, but my early 20th century shirt is a warm flannel one, and my hat is a winter wool one, so a new shirt and hat were in order. Along with organizing a new event, and putting together the suffrage group I unexpectedly spent a week in the hospital just before July. I had no time to make anything, but I had a black straw hat, and found taffeta ribbon at Michaels. I wrapped the entire spool of fluffy white net around the crown of the hat to make it look like a massive (but light and airy) Edwardian hat. Then at a local Portsmouth store I found a white cotton nightgown with the right sort of details and collar. I didn't even bother to shorten the nightgown, just tucked it into the skirts and wore it like a shirt. I knew I would not get to spend a lot of time with the other suffragists, I'd be too busy managing the event. But I really wanted to dress up; and a nice shirtwaist, walking skirt, and straw hat were fine for this working girl.

 

Early on the morning of the 2nd all us suffragists met in the SBM costume storage rooms. Most of the ladies had not met each other before, but they all quickly bonded while getting into new and interesting costumes, and talked modern politics as well as historical. By the time I lead them out to the orchard I knew they'd have have fun and well represent our foremothers. During the day they figured out to let people try on the "votes for women" sandwich board, visitors had a good time taking photos of their friends carrying the signs. The women talked to visitors from our modern perspective about why equal rights are still important today and about the historical fight to vote. From all the feedback I heard only good things about all the conversations they had.

By the end of the day they all agreed to come back next year, and even maybe get together some other times too. We haven't done that yet, but I've got plans. I think the group will be even bigger in 2017, but I'm hoping it will be just as positive and just as much fun. I think I'll have a cool new outfit too.

Percy drives Mama in a Model A. Probably a good idea to keep my eyes closed.

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Midwinter Mischief at Old Sturbridge Village

Stephen and I went on a Midwinter Mischief tour at Old Sturbridge Village on February 4th. It was their first day of the special program. We went on an afternoon tour, but it was still the first day of a new program. The program was a semi-guided tour, with a meal included for $20 for non-members, which is a very decent price.

From the OSV visitor center we were lead by a costumed guide who walked us across the village to the Bullard Tavern. He stopped us halfway through to recite a verse about the experience we were about to have. He was very awkward, dropping his lines and struggling with the tempo and rhyme scheme of the verses. I got the impression this was not his idea of a good time. But when we were met at the tavern by “Mr. Bullard” he was enthusiastic in his acting. He encouraged us to eat first and assured us we’d get on a tour, but we declined since we’d eaten in the car on the way down. After using the restroom, we asked where we could catch our 1:45 tour, it turned out the 1:30 tour had not left yet so we jumped in on the end of the orientation for that tour.

The orientation was lead by the “town gossip” who was very good at making everyone laugh as she handed out cards to each person with the “role” we would be playing. Everyone got a nicely printed glossy card with a silhouette on one side and a paragraph about the role on the other. In the sitting room of the tavern another costumed person came in to tell us , in verse, about the peddler who spent last night at the tavern, ran up a tab he could not pay, and promised the tavern keep that he would return “with a tin cup overflowing with Gold”. The costumed person (who I’m told was supposed to be a tavern regular)told us the peddler then went to the Tinsmith shop, and we should go there to look for him. He did not follow us, but pointed the group in the right direction, we all walked ourselves (I think there were just under a dozen up is on this particular tour) over to the Tin Shop.

Inside the tin shop we were given some basic interpretations by the two men working in the tin shop, and one of them almost sounded like he was speaking in verse but it was so natural and interspersed with info on smithing and the history of peddlers that it was hard to tell. We spent about 10 minutes in the tin shop before they told us the peddler went on to the Parsonage, and we should look for him there. Over the course of the tour we visited:
- The Parsonage, grating chocolate with the parson’s daughter, getting a sermon on the evils of drink from the parson.
- A house in the village, helping dip candles,
- The village store, learning about what was sold there and buying on credit,
- The schoolhouse, getting a lesson
- The pottery, doing some hands-on wheel work
- The barn, sawing some firewood
- The farmhouse kitchen, making sausages
- Another kitchen, baking pies
- The blacksmith shop, shoeing oxen
- Outside visiting, with an oxen pair.
All of these stops were roughly ten minutes in length, all involved some interpretation, at least one hands-on opportunity for someone in the group, plus a few verses of script about “that pesky Peddler.” Each stop felt like a pretty good length, with a good mix of learning and story. None of the walks between buildings were so long that they felt arduous, and even though most of the stops the group had to stand, there were enough sitting stops mixed in that the general visitor did not feel too worn out by the end. We almost bumped into the group before us twice, but both times they were coming out as we went in, and we never ended up waiting for them. We never ran into the group behind us. Nor did it feel like the interpreter/actors were watching the clock, or rushing us through, their timing was very good.

After the last stop, our visit with the oxen, we were met by the last actor, a skinny young man in a top hat who did even more verse speaking, heading back up to the tavern. He was dressed quite differently from the other interpreter/actors, and was a better actor than most of them. Halfway through the walk back toward the tavern he produced a tin cup, giving the first inkling that this was the peddler we’d been “looking for” during our tour. For a little while at the end of the tour it felt quite clever, how the script had worked our group around to “discovering” the peddler, but by the time we got inside the tavern the clever part felt pretty empty.

My takeaway as we sat eating our soup (they’d kept some warm for us when I’d refused to eat before our tour) was that the “Midwinter Mischief” was a cute gimmick to get people on to the grounds during the month of February. The OSV actor/interpreters were the museum’s regular staff, and while a few did a superb job most of them gave off a distinct air of silly. They were portraying silly town characters, reciting silly lines about a silly peddler. This tour was not something to be taken seriously. In the end, everyone knew the peddler would come out on top, the town was no worse off for his visit, and there was no effect on the lives of real people, real history.

I think that did an incredible disservice to the history that they were interpreting. Every visitor was given a lot of information about life in a New England town in the early 1800s on this tour, but since the script was so gimmicky, and the actors so obviously just reciting their lines and not portraying real people, I believe it was hard for the visitors to go away with any emotional investment in what they had learned. Mystic Seaport does an incredible job using engaging emotional content in their programs, as do some of SBM’s roleplayers, so I know it can be done. Midwinter Mischief’s plot was fairly weak, and definitely came off as an excuse to visit the best houses in the village, not as an interpretation method itself. This could be because OSV hired a theatre person instead of a history person to write and direct their program, but I’ve seen amazing theatre that is emotionally engaging, so that can’t entirely be it.

I think the most I can say about the program is that it is a cute gimmick to get people through the doors, and show off the best of OSV in a winter setting. The worst is that there was so much potential if they had put more emphasis on actual history, and if their staff running the program had felt more comfortable playing their parts.

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Living History 2016 in Cute Baby Pictures – Summer Edition

I’m a bit sad I did not post more in 2016, ah well. Trying to remedy that this year (sound familiar anyone?) But there are more cute toddler pictures on the way!

American Lives

I manage the museum's 4th of July event, so that one deserves a post all to itself, and I’m going to try to do that. In the meanwhile I can talk about my family. My husband and parents are so supportive of what I do. They come out to just about every event that I manage at the museum. It helps that Stephen and my parents like history, they like Portsmouth, and almost all of the events I do are kid friendly. In fact, Percy was only 2 weeks old when we took him to his first Strawbery Banke event: An American Celebration on the 4th of July. I’m also really lucky that my boss loves kids and Percy in particular, so as long as things are going smoothly, and I have someone else to hand Percy off to I  can have Percy time and museum time at the same time!





Great Northeastern War
Just like last year, I went up to Maine to my second SCA event of the year: Great Northeastern War. Stephen couldn’t go, he had to travel, but we’d agreed to teach classes so at least one of us had to. Percy slept most of the way up, and like always, got into his historical clothes without much fuss. We watched a battle, walked among the vendors, looked at the arts & sciences projects on display. I taught a class on the Renaissance Baby. I prepared a brief handout about clothing, and a much more extensive one about period approximate toys. If I re-find the handout I might put it up here (this totally is a trend!) The class was attended by mostly moms with kids, though a few ladies who hope to be moms someday did come as well. I shared around a lot of goldfish, and put all Percy’s toys on the table to let the kids run around and play with them. Good news, most of the toys worked for older kids too. I got fairly annoyed when one of the moms told everyone after I was done talking about how easy wool gowns are, that she recommended modern cotton tunics! But she liked my toys hand-out. Stephen’s talk was on Landsknecht, and though he was willing to talk about the culture, he figured the SCAdians in attendance would mostly want to talk about the clothes. He was right. He sent me up with a basket full of books and his clothing, which I spread out, and then asked folks what they hoped to get out of the talk. Only one male was there for more than the clothes, all of the females were there for their boyfriend’s clothes. I let them go through Stephen’s outfit, and made sure that they all knew that they would never get a proper fit out of cotton, that really the outfits had to be wool, and gave a bunch of the tips and tricks we have used over the years. There were almost no questions that I could not answer, which made me feel pretty good, though I do with Stephen had been there. When leaving one of the guys said he was hoping to get an SCA Landsknecht group going. He did not have a business card and with an increasingly tired Percy I was having trouble keeping names straight, but I gave him my business card and told him to let me know, because we always like to engage with people as Landsknecht. I never head back.


Gatsby on the Isles
My favorite event of the last few years has become Gatsby on the Isles. Getting Percy in a little sailor outfit, and Stephen in a summer suit, me in fancy hat and shoes and getting on a boat! What could be better? This year we took not just one friend with us, we took two friends and my parents! My folks don’t really do the dress up thing, but my mom has nice linen dresses with no waist to them, and my dad has linen suits. They both enjoy the Isles of Shoals, picnics, and will do just about anything to spend time with their kids and grandkid. We all met on the docks, and watched the dapper gents and fancy ladies line up to get on the boat. Such amazing outfits! Such gorgeous luggage! When everyone is wearing hats, it really does feel more like a proper outing.

We had more of an idea what to expect this year, so we brought our big basket cooler, some bathing things, and blankets for the picnic. I also brought a bunch of Percy’s toys. This year he was old enough to figure out we were on a boat, and to enjoy the sensation of a new mode of transportation. He loved having his grandparents there, and being able to play in the sun and the water. He is always our ice breaker, we made new friends because he is so darn cute people like to take his picture, ask us questions, and generally enter into conversations in ways they might not normally.

On the island we tucked ourselves into the shadow of the big hotel, and dug in to all the food we’d brought with us. I think only half of what we brought got eaten, and we pretty much ate all afternoon. We listened to the music, strolled through the hotel and on the porch, played with Percy on the playground. We definitely played it cool, and did not exert ourselves all that much. I had brought Percy’s swim trunks, and made myself a kid-of 20s bathing suit, so we brought his watering can and wooden boat down to the water to splash for a bit. Percy’s grandpa took him around to the other side of the island to the other beach too. And before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go. In 2017 I hope to bring more people, and maybe even stay overnight at the hotel.

Trip to Scotland

Just after my busiest event of the year, just before the CT Renfaire, Stephen and I went a little crazy and took a vacation to Scotland! Of course we brought along Percy, even if he’d just started potty training not two weeks before! Now I won’t go into tons of details of our vacation, but we saw a ton of castles, some ancient mounds, and event got to see a small reenactment. My favorite part was definitely the island of Islay (pronounced I-la.) where the villages looked exactly like they were supposed to, and we got to visit an artist’s colony with huge community type garden, and a still operating woolen mill. Yes, I bought fabric. I can’t wait to make something (hopefully two things) out of it. Plus we got tons of cute Percy pictures.

Connecticut Renaissance Faire
CT Faire is still our biggest LH event of the year. We’re out there for 5 weekends: living in camp, making food, caring for the kids, holding demonstrations, interacting with our whole group, and being as close as we can (in the middle of a renaissance faire) to the 16th Century. I missed the first weekend and the first day of the second weekend, then all of the final weekend because of work stuff. It is a good thing I love my work, because I sorely missed being there. This year Percy was clingy, but did not try to kill himself with every camp implement. I could do very little without him being attached to me, but he was fine playing with his historical toys as long as I was playing with him, or very close by.

The best day for me was the day that there were 4 kids in camp. Four kids! We had Percy, and a boy 4 months younger, then we had a four year old and an eight year old. Percy and the 4 year old have been playing together since before Percy could even play. He wears all her historical hand-me-downs. When they get together it is just like cousins, they seem able to pick up where they left off. Since Lilly kept Percy amused, I could sit nearby and do my own thing, instead of having to constantly interact with him, and with Percy to play with that kept Lilly out of the way of all the other women who were working hard. I wish I could say I was a help with all of the kids, but the youngest is fast and motivated, he was a full time job all on his own.

After Faire was over I had to throw myself right back into work, so didn’t get to go out in costume again. But I felt pretty good about all the living history that did happen over 2016. And we got so many cute pictures out of it!

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Living History 2016 in Cute Baby Pictures – Spring Edition

Another year has gone by. Another one full of dressing up, learning, and having fun in history. What I learned this year is that there is a history themed event going on within 3 hours of my house every single weekend, though only a few of them are kid-friendly. Also, that I have very high expectations of what a history-themed event should include. Here is the highlight post.

Birka
Our very local-est of events is a winter time marketplace SCA event in Manchester, NH. In 2015 I could not go because of a snowstorm, and I missed it this year (2017) due to stomach bug, but we did get to go last year! It is mostly a chance to see a lot of old friends in the middle of the winter, since the items for sale are varied and either not in our period (16th Century) or not historical enough for us. But the chance to get out of the house, dress up, and hang out with friends in the winter is always appreciated.

Early Modern Muster of Arms
This past year there were only two of us who went out to Fort Wayne, Indiana. I actually left Percy and Stephen at home! There was too much drinking and not enough history for everyone else to come out, but since I stayed in the kitchen most of the weekend, I had plenty of history and very little drinking. I actually had more interesting history experiences on the way out and the way back than actually at the event itself.

My companion this year was incredibly agreeable, so on the way out we stopped in Seneca Falls at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, which is run by the National Park Service. The building where the first national women’s suffrage convention took place is still standing, but not in the same form as it was in 1840 (its last function was an auto repair garage) but still, you can go inside and sit in the space. The museum next door was quite good, geared towards both those that already had a background in American Women’s Suffrage, and those who are new to the history. As a pilgrimage site, I’m very glad that we went.

On Sunday we left the event early, because one of the most well known Living History museums (at least among academic circles) is in Indiana, and since I was pretty sure this was my last year going out to this event this was my last chance to go see it. Yes, it was several hours out of our way, but when you’re on a road trip… We went to Conner Prairie. What a big site! There was no Greeter or introduction video, we just got our map with our tickets and fumbled our way through for the next few hours.

We went to three distinct areas: the 1830s village, the Civil War village, and the original house. The 1836 Prairietown is the part that I had read about in school, and heard about at conferences. It is a “village” of moved-in houses where everyone is first person, and representing early life on the prairie. I was hoping for meaningful conversations, but we did not get a single person off their well rehearsed script and onto more in-depth topics. Nobody felt real, they all felt like they were acting. I know it can be better than that.

The Civil War village was interesting because it incorporated video and audio, the whole area was telling one unified story of a confederate raid. There was a script, and an order to which you should tour the buildings, and it was mostly well rehearsed. The volunteers at the end of the tour were annoying, but I thought the rest was very well done, as long as you were content with the info they were giving you. The Conner Homestead also felt newly reinterpreted, not just a static display in the historic house, but really informative panels and hands-on activities in every room. I am very glad we stopped, because it was a lovely day and I can say I’ve been there. I had high expectations, really probably too high, but I did have a nice time anyways.

Watch City Steampunk Festival

Steampunk isn't real history. Also, we're totally late to the party. But anything that is history inspired where I get to wear my historical clothes, and possibly make contacts for work is worth the outing. I raided my 1870s clothing bin and wore my pink silk corset, and matching pink ruffled petticoat totally exposed beneath my black wool maid's outfit. Stephen pulled out his wild west stuff along with a lovely coat made by friends of ours: Chrononaut Merchantile. A few weeks before I was perusing our local kid's used clothing store and found a little tuxedo! I'm sure it was originally worn to a wedding, and probably only worn once. Steampunk is fluid in time, and Percy is cute in just about anything, so he wore a tux.

We arrived just at the beginning of a dreary sort of day, took a turn through the vendors and decided the only thing we had any interest in was the food (which is generally the case at renfaires too.) The music was actually quite good, and the people watching was fun. I reconnected with the NH Wheelmen who used to come to a lot of the Museum events, and we chatted for a long time with a reenactment group that was portraying Zouaves because they also do earlier times: pike and shot like we do, and many of their members have interest in armor just like Stephen. We ran out of time to do any of the local museums, or indoor activities so I guess we'll have to go back again.

NH Renaissance Faire
The spring of 2016 was about Percy and I going on historical adventures, just the two of us. Our first such foray was to the NH Renaissance faire, just two towns over from where we live. I forget why Stephen could not come, He was traveling, or sick or something, so Percy and I set off on our own. No big deal, we have so many friends at the NH Faire that if we had needed assistance we could have asked for it. As it was we did just fine walking around, talking with friends, eating faire food, listening to music. I passed out business cards to musicians who I thought would be good additions to Candlelight Stroll, basically anyone who performed historical music and did not mind being outside in all weather. It was hot so I stripped Percy down to his historical underwear and he charmed everyone by playing with his historical toys. As a small renfaire it was more about dressing up and hanging with friends than anything historical, which puts it on the “maybe” list instead of the “definitely go again” for 2017.

Massachusetts WWII weekend

My co-worker says this is our Grapes of Wrath look.

I am interested in all sorts of living history. If it is an event where I get to dress up and will see history in action, I want to be a part of it. So Percy and I drove out to far central, almost Western Mass. to the Massachusetts WWII weekend . There were a lot of tanks. A lot. Percy has fairly sensitive hearing, so the shooting and the flame throwers were not his cup of tea. But he thought the (Modern) helicopter was a ton of fun. We walked around the different reenactment groups, and sat in some of the jeeps. The groups that had the most interesting set up, from a non-participant perspective were definitely the German camps. They had good signage, talked about food and shelter, did quite a bit of interacting with the public. The other groups mostly talked amongst themselves, they let you look at their equipment but did not bother trying to engage; even with folks in costume, even after remarking on how adorable Percy was in his sailor suit. I got a few business cards out of the trip, but most of the groups that seemed at all interested in an event at a museum in New Hampshire were the folks in their 50s and up who would not mind bringing out their cars. I’ve got an antique car group already. Before I left I asked about an APO dance in the evening, and if they might be interested in that next year. I guess they had done one the year before and found the interest to be mediocre in holding another. I did get a very nice photo of Percy and I inside one of the jeeps, and I got a better idea of what WWII events are expected (by their participants) to be.

Immersion Weekend

Like 2015 we planned a weekend to spend in the woods behind our house totally in character with no modern intrusions. We came up with a different scenario for 2016: visiting a small shrine after a victorious battle. Saturday was hot, and many of our guild members exhausted themselves building shelves into our trailer to better keep track of all the guild stuff, so we ended up staying inside in the air conditioning on Saturday night and just watching Tudor Monastery Farm, which counts as historical. Instead we went out on Sunday morning, did a bit of exploring, visited our makeshift shrine, and had a celebratory meal. It was not nearly as cool as the year before, but we also did not kill ourselves, and that is a good thing.

I feel like we were in custume way more than that, but last spring seems long ago now. I’m sure that we had guild workshops, and outings with friends where we did not dress up which only sort-of count. And I guess for the early reenactment season, with toddler in tow, that is really good enough. Summer and fall are coming in the next post!

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Living History in 2015 through Cute Baby Photos

What did I do in 2015 that was Living History related? I learned a heck of a lot. Mostly about what it is like to reenact with a baby, and about what I can do even in a low-energy year.  in the early summer I shared a little bit about Early Modern Muster of Arms, and then a bit more about all the activities in June, but then I lost blog writing momentum. I don’t want to bore anyone with event recaps, but I think it will be valuable to look back on last year and remember what mattered at the time. These are not necessarily in the order they took place, I admit the summer has rather blurred over the winter. With plenty of cute baby photos to keep you interested.

Great Northeastern War
For the past ten years I have mostly been a history event participant, and not an event attendee. Just attending an event with very little to do while there other than dress up, walk around and soak up the atmosphere drives Stephen batty, but in 2015 I’ve learned to enjoy it a little more. We went up to an SCA event in Maine on a hot weekend this summer on my urging. I was hoping to meet more local history people. My history friends are scattered all over New England, and the travel is rough on Percy so on of my goals this past summer was to stick closer to home, but more importantly, make more history friends.

So we drove very far into Maine. Okay, not close to home but this is a big event for all those from New England who are members of the SCA, and I knew at least some of the attendants live pretty close to us. Since it was an SCA event everyone who attends is a participant, but we did not take part in the fighting, archery, displays, teaching classes. We did not spend much money in the shops, attend many classes, nor did we camp out. That was probably the biggest mistake, we should have camped which would have given us something to do and a base of operations. It also meant I missed the dancing in the evening, when we were back at the motel trying to get Percy to sleep. Stephen was fairly restless with all this walking around, sitting, and observing, but has agreed to try again this year if we set up our encampment with all of our usual camp activities to keep him (and us) occupied.

Newport Illumination
Another far away event! We drove down to Newport, RI to participate in a day-time event to celebrate the arrival of L’Hermione on the east coast. I wanted to do this one because it was hosted by a LH friend who has been doing a lot of good events, and because those in attendance have the reputation for being seriously good reenactors without taking themselves too seriously. There were about a dozen of us in a nice old building mostly interacting with people who came in off the street and had no idea what to expect. There were two kids plus Percy, who crawled around, played with toys, and did not manage to nap until an hour before the event ended. I learned quite a bit about French occupied Newport, RI and did make some contacts in the reenacting world. Plus I got some super cute photos of Percy, which is always important.

Percy says "We're celebrating Illumination!"
Photo from Newport Historical Society

At the end of the day, Daddy's shoulder is the best.
Photo from Newport Historical Society

Hillsboro Living History Event
I’d been to this one before, some years ago but not in costume. When preparing for my own events at the Museum I got in touch with the organizers, who were nice enough to invite me up to one of their meetings. This event is organized by a volunteer committee who were super nice, and very dedicated to the event. After they shared so much I thought the least I could do is enjoy myself at their event. Stephen had something else on his schedule, so I was joined by Kristina, my trusty companion in historical adventures and Percy came along too. Since this is a multiple time-period event Kris and I chose to pull out our regency dresses that we never get to wear. I found a little white dress for Percy at a thrift shop and he wore his medieval underclothes as the base. We got a ton of compliments from envious participants and volunteers as we strolled along looking regal (and cool) in our light dresses. This year I made a lot more contacts among the reenactors and performers. I even hired a few at the museum this past winter. Percy proved to be a great ice breaker. He wanted to play in every single water bucket we passed, and since most encampments had a fire, they almost all had buckets of water placed on the ground in the middle of their camps. We had many nice conversations with encampment inhabitants while Percy splashed around with his wooden spoon and horn bowl in their buckets. Then when Percy got tired, we headed out, no sense in tiring everyone out!

Kris and Percy in History Jail
Photo by Alena Shellenbean

In the shade at a friendly encampment
Photo by Kris Skillin

Gatsby on the Isles
I think the theme of this year was relaxed events were we dress up and have fun. This one fulfilled the theme admirably. Stephen got to wear one of his tailored suits, I actually managed to sew something, and Percy’s grandma stitched him up the cutest little sailor suit. We put on our spiffy duds, drove in to town, and took a lovely boat ride out to Star Island. There was picnic food, a jazz band, a turn of the century hotel, splashing in a little pool, and making new friends. I appreciated this event not just as a chance to dress up Percy, but also since it is right in my back yard I got to meet really local people who love history. We had never been out to the Isles of Shoals; being on the boat was fun and I got to check that item off my list of local things I had to do. Exploring the old hotel was great because unlike most hotels, this one really has not been modernized a lot. The rooms were small, with bathrooms at the end of the hall. No plush queen sized bends, but the twin beds were under windows of lacy curtains, with wash stands in each room and a feeling that they were totally real. We did not spend the night (baby and limited finances) but came back on the afternoon boat. We still had a lovely time, made new friends, and determined to bring more people next year.

Percy Sets Sail. Photo by Julie Stickler

Picnic on Star Island. Photo by Julie Stickler

New York Renaissance Faire
2015 was the first year that the New York Renaissance Faire has had a group set up a Landsknecht encampment. The organizers of this new encampment contacted us last year, and we were more than happy to share our knowledge, sense of humor, and even some of our hand-me-downs! We traveled out to New York for their opening and closing weekend to lend our support and experience. For opening weekend we brought with us some items we’ve upgraded that were still perfectly good: water pitchers, chamber pots, serving trays; and we gave them a box full of the modern “necessities” that we’ve used over the years: sun screen, travel clock, first aid kit, trash bags, duct tape, extra rope, so many useful things that we packed the little wooden box to bursting. During the day we worked our normal magic: welcoming faire patrons, going over the basics of life in the Renaissance, explaining what exactly is a Landsknecht. Since the folks forming the new guild had never done anything like this before they were finding their feet on everything: cooking, tent set-up, educating the public, sticking to a schedule. We could not help with everything, but we could be there in our cool clothes, answering questions and walking around with the cute babies.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we came back the last weekend too! Actually our main reason was our friends from the Bristol Renaissance Faire were going to be there, and since NYRF is practically in our back yard (hah, when did a 4.5 hour drive start feeling like noting?) at least compared to a trip to Milwaukee we went to visit both our old friends from Bristol and our new friends from NYRF. And dress up in a baby-friendly history environment.

Connecticut Renaissance Faire
I really did look forward to getting down to deeper history. I wanted to do some real education, and use all that I know, but I ended up feeling pretty detached again this year. The rest of the Guild had a great year, a number of new members stepped up, we got into religion quite a bit, and made our meal time in the middle of the day even more historical. We also had a ton more kids in camp. We’ve had one or two before but this year we had children aged: 1 year, 1.5 (Percy), 4, 6, 7, & 8. Not all at once, but having at least three kids running around under foot while the women cooked and cleaned, the men worked with weapons or gambled, etc. made the camp feel totally alive. The older kids played with toys, with each other and with visitors. I mostly chased Percy while he tried to run into the fire, drown himself in water buckets, choke on tent ropes, grab kitchen knives, eat black powder, knock over swords,  and generally harm himself in the most historical ways imaginable. Sure I talked with visitors, but I never really felt like I was able to do more than half-heartedly answer the same old questions while mostly keeping Percy from damaging himself or others. Hopefully next year when he is a little older he’ll be a little less inclined to kill himself, and I might even have found a helper to keep an eye on him so I can get back to cooking, gossiping and pondering the historical subjects I like to ponder.

Percy tries out the guild's new wheelbarrow. Photo by Julie Stickler

I'm not making a mess! Photo by Alena Shellenbean

In Conclusion
What did I get out of Living History in 2015? An appreciation for the opportunities to just attend instead of being an organizer and doer. I missed getting deeper in to history, but I’d rather think about it as toddler-level history, and grow-up level networking. I’m laying the ground work for 2016 and beyond.

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Learning Through Movement

I am a big supporter of alternate methods of learning, especially when it comes to learning history. Lectures, static exhibits, and books have their place but I’m just tickled that my job allows me to think out of the box and plan for all the different ways people can learn history.

In my role as Manager of Special Events I’m in charge of the celebrations surrounding the 4th of July. When I came in to this position, July 4th was the only event that did not make money for the museum. It was a scattered sort of event, with dozens of random activities, the event needed a serious streamlining. Back in March I talked on this blog about some of the problems, and my first thought about making the event more cohesive. I did not get a full reenactor’s timeline off the ground this year, though having a few more reenactors join us, and a few more time periods represented was a really good start.

What I did manage to do was add two opportunities for folks to get up, move around, and connect to history by using their bodies: a swing dance for adults on Friday night, and an Old Fashioned Field Day for kids on Saturday the 4th. This post is about Friday’s dance, the next one will be about Saturday.

When stumping for the reenactor’s timeline I approached one of the active members of Portsmouth’s vintage community, and asked if he would get a picnic together for the 4th as part of the timeline. He wasn’t very interested in that, but suggested to me that Portsmouth did not have any swing dances, and that we might be ripe for a dance instead. After Adam told me there was nowhere to swing dance on the seacoast I did some research to ascertain if that was true. The only stuff I could find was a dance club at the University of New Hampshire (The Hepcats) and a defunct group on Facebook. I emailed the local dance studios, some of them sometimes offer swing lessons. Boston has a huge swing community, and we’re not that far away. I know they swing in Lowell, and in Manchester NH. Hmm.

Several months after Adam suggested SBM host a swing dance the new head of role-players here at the museum came up to me and asked if, as the events person, I could add a swing dance to one of my events. Well two different people asking for it, and enough interest in vintage outings in the area and no one else doing it, this swing dance was looking more likely.

It took a lot more than just that, The July 4th event went through several more incarnations: we almost hosted a strawberry festival, pancake breakfast, Barbeque, the curatorial team really wanted a pony (I’m not kidding.) but by the time we made it to June the dance was one of the only parts still standing. We scheduled it for Friday night, July 3rd, the same night as the Portsmouth Fireworks. I hired a big band, a tent with a dance floor, and a network of people to get the word out. We made posters, and I did a lot of posting on Facebook. I was so worried that no one would attend that I comped in a couple of dancers on the understanding that they would stay on the dance floor and drag out reluctant attendees too. I got a couple willing to do a dance lesson in the hour before the band played, and asked for their advice on hosting a dance (provide hand sanitizer and breath mints.)

We sold tickets online in advance, but sales were slow. I was a nervous wreck in the afternoon leading up to the dance with the usual July 4th stuff still scheduled to happen the next day, plus the dance was so brand new. The band arrived in plenty of time, the dance instructors, and plenty of SBM employees and volunteers showed up to help out. I supplied pizza to all the volunteers and employees who had agreed to work late (we all missed dinner because of the dance) and the first attendees started to arrive before we’d all finished our first slice. By the time the lesson was well under way the dance floor I’d ordered was nice and crowded.

Folks of all ages, abilities fill the dance floor at Strawbery Banke on July 3rd.

The crowd was swinging and the band was hopping at Strawbery Banke on July 3rd.

And people danced! The lesson was noisy with enthusiasm, and once the band started up people stayed on the dance floor. The dancers I’d invited did a great job of drawing people out who were reluctant, those that had taken part in the lesson tried out their moves. We attracted some more experienced folks as well including quite a few HepCats from UNH who were still around for the summer. A few attendees were even in their vintage best. I only made it out on the dance floor once, but I was so thrilled that everyone else seemed to be having a good time. When the dance ended just as dusk was falling, many folks made a point of coming up to me and telling me that I had to do it again next year.

My volunteers, the SB employees, and I cleaned up fast since it was late, and the tent would be used again first thing in the morning. The band cleared out quickly too and we almost managed to get everything done before the Portsmouth town fireworks started. We all went out on to the lawn to watch the display, which showed rather well over the trees. It was a lovely end to a successful evening, even if we all got stuck in fireworks traffic on the way home.

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Clothing the Renaissance Child: It Takes a Guild...

I feel like I need to apologize because I have had so little time to sew, craft and create historical stuff. What I can do is profusely thank all the wonderful people in my life who are making it possible for me to continue reenacting and participating in Living History as a family.

A few weeks ago Stephen, Percy and I went out to Ft Wayne, Indiana to a “Pike & Shot era” LH event. It roughly covers the 1500s through 1600, maybe a bit beyond. There are so few of us who do this time that we travel long distances to get a group of any size. This was my third year are the event (read about 2013 here) but the first year with Percy. We’ve been doing this long enough that Stephen and I have a fairly well established kit (i.e. our clothes, eating gear, bedding, personal items) but Percy had grown out of the stuff he wore at faire this past fall, and now needs toys and solid food, and shoes… he needs his own kit! I never would have had the energy to assemble a full (if very small) kit for another person, but lucky we have a guild full of friends who all chipped in without us even asking.

Some of the clothes made by my guild mates for little Landsknecht

Tom and Amanda have a daughter who is about 4 years old now, who has been participating with us since she was born. Amanda made all the clothes for her daughter Lilly, and has since passed them down to us so Percy can wear them. Once Percy has grown out of them, we’ll pass them along to the next baby in our group. Tom and Amanda also gave us a lovely baby shower gift of a wooden box full of historical tidbits: a horn bowl and spoon, hand hemmed linen cloths for baby messes, a bag of marbles for when he is older, cloth covered pacifiers for when he is tired. Such a thoughtful gift, I am still discovering all the useful things packed into that box.

Along with the hand-me-down clothes was a fleece hood that Brittney made for Lilly. There was also a pair of little shoes that Brittney had gotten, slashed up the toes, and added little puffs of fabric to make baby-sized kumal shoes! Brittney and Marc had also given us a lovely little bowl they bought on their honeymoon in England.

Percy is rich in eating gear. Rhiannon, a newer member of our group, had gone to a paint-your-own pottery place and done up a lovely little bowl with historic motifs. We all think it is amazing but she was not as happy with the design, so she gave it to Percy; if he bangs it up or breaks it she does not mind. He was given a wooden spoon by my mother, and he was given a lovely reproduction pewter one (lead-free of course) that our friend Julie bought. She ordered the spoon hoping it would be one she could use, only it turned out to be a miniature spoon, way too small for an adult, but perfect for Percy! Rhiannon and Julie also helped out by allowing me to make repairs to my shirt during a recent sewing session: they amused Percy while I stitched furiously, and when he needed mommy time they picked up my shirt and finished the seams while I bounced or fed him.

Bowls and spoons, toys for tots.

My main concern for the weekend was toys to keep him amused. Amanda had given him some wooden beads to teeth on, and all the bowls and spoons are great fun, but he likes rattles. There are quite a few rattles in renaissance portraits, even one surviving silver one! I cannot afford to get Percy a silver rattle, but I did go out and buy little silver bells. I went to a hardware store and got a turned wood stair baluster that Stephen chopped down. Then I attached the bells to it using jump rings and staples. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, until I went to Pier One and found a red painted wand of bells that was much nicer than the one I had created. Ah well, now he has options.

I added a few other things to his kit, a wooden ball, a linen sling to carry him around, a wool blanket to wrap him up, a little ceramic pot of diaper cream. Plus all his modern diapers, bottles, wipes etc.. I packed it all in a pack basket that mom had given me many years ago, so I could sling it on my shoulder and carry it around the fort; if he needed a toy or a change I would have it all with me whether I was in our room, the yard, or the infirmary.

Percy did great all weekend long. The folks at the event were super welcoming, and all my guild folks took turns playing with Percy when I needed to run around for a bit. He played with the other baby in attendance, and smiled at everyone who came to visit. He napped through the firing of guns, but woke when the drum called everyone to muster. I am really lucky with my healthy, happy baby, and I am so thankful for my generous, helpful guildmates.

Percy makes friends at Fort Wayne

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A Reenactor's Timeline

A few of the groups (I'm in there in the middle) at the LHA's 25th timeline event in 2011

I've attended a few LH events that are "timeline events" where groups representing a number of different historical eras/cultures set up encampments, hold demos, participate in fashion shows, and more. For those of us who portray an era that is a little less common, sometimes timeline events are the only events where were get to interact with other people who do living history. Military History Fest is not called a timeline, but it has all the elements, and we've been attending that one (this past February being the only exception) since it started. When we were just starting out with Das Geld Fahnlein we drove all the way to Maryland to participate in a timeline event with another Landsknecht unit, and a few years later tracked down a small timeline event in the middle of Vermont. We've event thought of hosting our own for a while, but getting something new off the ground can be quite difficult.

Winter in the office is when I plan all SBM's events for the next year: get feedback on last year, take a good look at the way we have done things in the past, and think about making changes for the upcoming seasons. Many of the events that I oversee are very established with key elements that work well, and only need minor changes every year: Halloween is about safe trick-or-treat, Christmas is about holiday stories, music and decorations, but July 4th has always seemed a bit unfocussed. We have a big naturalization ceremony in the morning to welcome new citizens to the United States, but as fun as it is to attend, most visitors (or potential visitors) don't think of a naturalization ceremony as a good reason to come to a museum on a day usually devoted to parades and barbeques. This past month I've taken a look at all the elements we've included in our July 4th celebrations: food vendors, craft sellers, kids games, reenactor encampments, garden crafts, special tours, readings of the Declaration, a kid's bike parade, cupcake walk, the list of random bits and pieces went on and on with very little to unify them other than the color scheme. So I took off the list any bits that fit in with other events we already host: we have two food-related events, and a big craft event in the fall. Those bits that had little to do with history like the non-historic kid’s games and cupcake walk I tossed out. Then I looked at the list of things I had left and picked out my favorite parts. The bike parade is a huge hit and I love parades of all shapes and sizes, garden crafts fit so well into the museum’s mission and everyone has fun taking a bit of the museum home, and then there are the reenactors.

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will know that I feel very strongly that Living History is a great way to engage with the past, and reenactors do just that, they themselves engage with the past, and help others to do so as well. In 2014 there were three different reenactment groups that participated in SBM’s July 4th festivities: one portraying 1740, one 1865, and one 1943. In year’s past there have been even more: a 1770s doctor, some 1914 folks. Then there are our normal costumed roleplayers who are inside the historic houses representing 1777, 1870, 1907, and 1919. Then there are the Junior Roleplayers who all come out on July 4th and bring to life the buildings and lanes that are usually so static. Once I looked at the event through the lens of my own interests, I discovered that I already had a reenactor’s timeline in the making, with many reasons to cement the theme.

Why a reenactor’s timeline? Strawbery Banke already shows change over time with houses interpreted from 1690 to 1950, so we are well set-up to host multiple time periods. Our houses represent some eras that are less commonly reenacted (not just the ones during major wars) so I’m hoping to attract reenactors who portray some of the less common personas. Strawbery Banke Museum is known to a lot of local reenactment groups, many of whom had told me they would like to be more involved here. Since I do some reenacting on my own I have connections in the reenactment community that I can utilize to get more people involved. Even more exciting to me, I plan on actively looking for groups or individuals that have non-military impressions. We show daily life here on the seacoast, I’ll welcome military reenactors but I want to showcase all sorts of history. There is a fairly active vintage community on the seacoast that I hope to engage; they love history and live locally, but many of them do not visit SBM. One of our staff members has a Model-A Ford which he will bring, and he has promised to bring out a few of his antique car buddies too. I’m excited to get some Native American groups involved, and hopefully some of the fantastic African American LH presenters that are in the area.

I’m gearing up by contacting as many local, or not so local, museums and historic sites that host reenactment events, so I can ask them questions, and hopefully make some professional contacts. I’m reaching out to folks in the LH community that I’ve never worked with before. I’m making a list of all the timeline events in New England, and finding those with interesting, not necessarily military, displays to enrich those that come out to visit SBM on the 4th of July.



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Fall Museum Plans

Even though it is still summer by most American calendars, fall and winter planning are well underway at Strawbery Banke. The two events that started off my career as Manager of Special Events are coming around again and I am super excited to add a little of my own creativity into them this year.

Ghosts on the Banke: last year I had only just started less than a month before our Halloween event, so mostly I was carrying out the vision of the last person in my position. "Ghosts" is a safe trick-or-treat that last for two hours per evening on Friday and Saturday the weekend before Halloween. It is a small budget event, and most of that budget is spent on candy so over the years it has gotten away from being a history event, though it is still about community. This year I'm going to try to bring a little history back, by enlisting the help of local theater groups: improv troupes, high school clubs, anyone I can find, to tell "ghost stories" or historical themed skits and scenes on the grounds during the event. I'm going to have to put in some miles tracking down groups to participate  but hopefully this will add a new level of community involvement, more history, and lot more life to the event.

Our holiday event: Candlelight Stroll is also on my mind. To this one I need to add more outdoor activity. This is not that easy to do in December in New England, but that is what I am hoping to do. I am trying to increase the number of caroling groups, or at least spread them out more evenly over the three weekends; I am hoping to work with local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troupes to get them involved, and I have been given the okay to hire more costumed role players!

The last one is the one closest to my heart, I've done so much historical interpretation, acting, role playing, whatever you want to call it, myself. I think it is a great way to bring history to life, and Renaissance Faires have taught me that it is also a great way to keep a crowd entertained. Since we have houses ranging in date from 1690 to 1950 I am looking forward to hiring people to portray all sorts of townsfolk from all sorts of eras. I've already written up the casting call even though I will not put it out until September. The next step as far as putting more costumed role players on site is to start in on the research, also tons of fun, and something I have missed doing! Read this entry on entry page

Percy's first LH Event

Percival Shellenbean

Well it has been a busy spring and summer for us here. In mid-June baby Percival was born! We are both healthy and happy. I’m getting used to being parent to an infant, he is learning important stuff like digesting milk, and waving his arms and legs.

Percy in his antique pram, Lilly looking on.

We have not done much history stuff this year, we attended a really fun immersive event in April, and then visited the Connecticut Renaissance Faire’s Robin Hood show to attend a friend’s wedding. The visit to the faire was two weeks before the baby was due, and since then we’ve stuck pretty close to home. Now that he is closer to two months I’ve gone back to work. I have big plans for Halloween and Christmas, but I’ll share those later. We also took Percy to his first history event this past weekend. Well, he came to my museum on July 4th, when he was two weeks old, but we were just there as visitors, modern clothes, stroller, all that.

This past Sunday we got all dolled up and went to a Roaring Twenties lawn party hosted by Boston Swing Central, held at the amazingly lavish Crane Estate at Castle Hill. I heard about the event last year through some blogs I read, but had forgotten about it until the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers’ newsletter arrived in my inbox. I did not get the news letter in enough time for the initial date, but the event was postponed due to rain which gave us one week to prepare. I was so desperate to get dressed up and get out of the house that I was determined to go even though we did not have proper attire, nor the energy to make up the clothes etc.. I did manage to convince our friends to come out with us with their cutie 2 year old daughter. They pulled stuff out of their closets, I scoured TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, Stephen wore his lovely tailored suit, and Percy wore an actual vintage piece, sewn for Stephen’s grandmother when she was a baby. My mother pulled the vintage pram out of the attic that she used to push me in when I was a baby, and we bought picnic stuff on the way out of town.

The Shellenbeans, photo by Amanda Sullivan

The weather was fine, the band was amazing, the dancers looked fabulous, and the site was extravagant. There were some impressive antique cars, and some of the vintage shops from Boston had come out with their wares. I did not do any dancing myself but it was fun to sit on the blanket, eat cucumber sandwiches, and watch the well dressed people go by. The crowd was so different from any of the other events we attend. There were a lot of folks in their mid-twenties to early thirties looking spiffy in their vintage duds. Then there were the slightly older couples who were obviously there to dance. Generally the audience felt more hipster and less nerdy than the Renaissance faire crowd, though he clothing level was about that you might find at a Renaissance Faire: some really awesome, most folks at least trying, way too many sneakers. There were a few kids in attendance, but only a few. The crowd was also very different from those at battle reenactments: much younger, much more relaxed and fairly evenly divided between men and women. Surprisingly, it was also a different crowd from either the SCA dance events we attend, or the Colonial and Civil War dances: those tend to be much much smaller, a little more welcoming to newcomers, and fairly heavily clothing centered. All in all, attending this event made me feel really lucky to live in an area where I can participate in such an amazing variety of Living History events.

The Sullivan family, photo by Alena Shellenbean

Percy was such a good baby. He was fine in the car until we were almost there, then he submitted to the funny dress and the crocheted cap once he was in a clean diaper. He enjoyed bouncing along the in the old pram, and when we got to our picnic spot he nursed, lay on the blanket for a while, then fell asleep and went back in the pram. We got a ton of compliments on our own antique transportation, and folks adored Percy in his finery. We were only able to stay out for a few hours, none of us are sleeping through the night, but it was so worth it.

Now we’ve got to get back into the sewing room and get ready for the fall! Read this entry on entry page

Vacation for my Role-Playing Soul

Stephen and I spent this past weekend down in Williamsburg, VA at a retreat for role-players sponsored by the Association of Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums. The FPIPN conference runs every-other year, Stephen and I have attended the past three. They have each been very different, but good and are a great chance to re-charge, and renew our energy.

This year we presented two talks: one we entitled “Get Real” about connecting our audiences to the past by portraying real people: using the emotions, conflicts, life issues that all humans face. The other talk was a long session (two hours) where Stephen and I did a version of the LH Triangle I presented at Strawbery Banke last fall.  Unfortunately doing so many presentations of our own meant that we missed out on attending many other people’s presentations, ah well.  Our talks went over fairly well, and most excitingly, there were two folks there who asked if we go out and do trainings at other museums. The answer is most definitely yes!

One of the joys of this year’s conference was that it took place a little later in the year, and was held in a location far enough south, to be a nice break from the winter. We left NH covered in 2 feet of snow, and found Virginia to be full of songbirds, and spring shoots, 20 degrees warmer, and pleasant enough to sit outside to eat our lunches. We took afternoon walks, Stephen had a morning run, we left our coats in the car and just walked around in sweaters. Turns out I really needed a couple of days in the sun.

Even better than the break from the weather, was the company. The population of people as obsessed with the highest level of Living History Interpretation as me is very small. It was wonderful to spend a weekend with other folks who worry about how to present prejudices of the past (it would be false to leave them out, but alienating a visitor can shut down learning) and how to get beyond our own modern mind-set to give a truer impression of life in the past. We got to tell some of our funny stories, and hear the funny stories of other folks. I was a grumpy-puss at the fancy dinner on Saturday night, but I did enjoy listening to other people’s conversations. There was also a great moment where one of the participants got up and sang a tavern song with a chorus that he taught us all (actually Stephen and I knew that one already) and inspired other people to get up and sing. I sang a bit of a Yiddish tune since I was presenting Mrs. Shapiro and Stephen sang Finnegan’s Wake since he was there as George Rose.

I always wish these things could be twice as long. So that we could talk to more of the participants, attend more of the talks, see more of each other’s work. We also did not get a chance to visit Colonial Williamsburg during open hours. We were in CW’s training facility, but on Saturday we did not get out until most of the museum buildings were closed, and on Sunday Stephen had a flight to catch. Now I guess we have an excuse to go back.

What a nice re-charge.



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Candlelight Stroll 2013

Family Parlor in Goodwin Mansion

This past weekend was the second weekend of Strawbery Banke Museum’s Candlelight Stroll. This is the Big Event for me in my position of Manager of Special Events. The month leading up to this past weekend, and the last couple weeks in particular have been hellishly stressful, but the weekends went off beautifully. Yes, the first hour of the first Saturday was spent running around fixing all the things, and there was a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do that did not get done in time. But visitors seemed to have a good time, I got some compliments, and only the nit-pickers found anything to complain about.

So Candlelight Stroll is big.

Eight of the museum’s houses are set up how they would have looked in December, in eight different time periods. That means 8 different research bases, 8 different stories to tell, 8 different sets of costumes, music, food, everything. Oh, and eight different sets of decorations made from local botanicals in historically appropriate designs. Every house is full of light, and role players, and activity.

Then there are the demonstration and exhibit houses. During regular museum open hours there are demos of: Hearth cooking, weaving, pottery, coppering, and blacksmithing. This past weekend those were joined by: windsor chair making, tin smithing, and basket making. Then there was all the food: the museum has a new cafe, plus this year we served booze in the 1777 tavern, free hot cider and cookies, and museum members got their own food-filled reception.

Then there was all the live music. Local choruses singing carols, piano music in the Visitor Center, bands in the Cider Shed, Roving guitarists. And puppet shows, and wandering role-players, and a kid’s treasure hunt, and Saint Nick handing out candy, and horse-drawn carriage rides, and hands on crafts...

Yes, I am in charge of all of that.

I get a ton of help from the Horticulture Department, Curatorial, Education, Development, heck, every department. This is by no means a one-woman-show. But ultimately if it falls apart or succeeds I am the one responsible.

Making magic like this event, I absolutely love that. I love that visitors have a magical-non-commercial experience. I love creating safe, celebratory experiences that have a ton of really rich history thrown in.

But I really missed role playing. I was not in historical costume, I was not personally bringing the past to life. I got to hire a bunch of really talented people to do it, and that was definitely satisfying, but not the same.

Peek in the door to Rider-Wood

I’m looking forward to next weekend, when we get to do it all over again for the final time this year, and I’m looking forward to the next time I get to dress up, even if it won’t be for a while. Read this entry on entry page

Halloween and What I'm up to

This always seems to happen, I hit the end of October and just feel like sleeping for the next few months. Last year I did manage to blog a tiny bit in November, the year before I did not manage a single post in November. Yup, it is a trend.

This year I’ve spent the last month and a half jumping in the deep end of event management here at the museum. My first day was October 1st and my first event was October 25th. Luckily the person I am replacing was both very well organized and willing to come in and spend a number of days helping me get going. I have relied very heavily on her past planning and notes as I get going organizing and carrying-out special events here at the museum. Now, I am not in charge of all events; weddings and private events are handled by someone else, educational events and fundraisers are different too. I am in charge of Halloween, Christmas, Independence Day, and a wine and food festival in the fall. That means my schedule is very heavily weighted towards this time of year, just when I am getting started!

Halloween was interesting. As an event it strays pretty far from some of the museum’s mission: specifically the part about encounters with history and preservation, but it does have a lot to do with community which is also part of the mission. The Friday and Saturday before Halloween the museum opens for safe and spooky (but not scary) trick-or-treating for kids of all ages. There are a few activities, some Halloween themed entertainment, but mostly it is a chance to walk around the neighborhood that is Strawbery Banke Museum and fill a bag with all sorts of candy. With the help of the properties department I got to purchase over 35,000 individual-sized pieces of candy. Just the smell of all that candy was enough to give anyone a sugar high. Over the two evenings more than 3,000 visitors came through. By the end we had just a few pounds of candy left, and from what I heard folks seemed pretty satisfied with their experience.

So what did all that have to do with history? Very little, unfortunately. The event really is geared towards all the local families that want a safe place to trick-or-treat, and the evenings are so crowded that a lot of the historic houses are just too small and too fragile to be used in this manner. Could more history be injected into the event? Heck yes! I did not have a lot of time this year to come up with anything new, these past few weeks have really been about learning the ropes, but anything I am involved in inevitably gets history injected into it, and all these events take place at a museum! Next year I’ll have those trick-or-treaters learning some history, I guarantee.

Next up, the biggest event at the museum: Candlelight Stroll. Three weekends in December, every building on the museum grounds, 300 years of history, over ten thousand visitors expected. This one is a whopper, so if you don’t hear from me for a while please understand I’m bringing history to life in some of the most exciting, magical ways that I know how.

Then come visit me at the museum!


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