Next Era

When browsing around the internet I came across this Dream Regency Wardrobe. There are way too many pieces to this wardrobe for me, but oh goodness wouldn’t I like a dream wardrobe full of historical clothes! Actually, I do have a closet full of historical clothes, but they represent eras from the 12th Century through 1945. And the itch has struck me again, I think I need to take up a new time period!

What with a baby, job, house, and the eras I already play in I probably do not need another time period, but remember the link that started this crazy train of thought is about dreams, and my current daydream is about the next era that I would undertake, if I were to undertake another era. But which one? Well there would have to be local events at which I could take part, and it would be a bonus if I could bring Percy along. There would need to be something about the era that I was interested in researching. Oh and the outfit. Is there a specific outfit that I would like to re-create?

Here are my three top choices of the moment:

1812: Proper Young Lady
Oh how I would love to reenact the era of Jane Austen. The crisp white dresses, the romance, the dancing! And I could take part in the Regency Ladies' Wedgie Society! But really, I’m not a young lady any more, and Jane is so far across the pond. How does the era stack up against my list?
Events: There is an awesome, if somewhat early (year 1800) event that takes place down in Providence RI called: What Cheer Day. I’m not sure I’m up to their standards, and it is very far, but I do dream of taking part one day. Commonwealth Vintage Dancers do have a Regency dance weekend, I’m busy that weekend this year, but maybe next year.
Research: The museum where I work has a house furnished to the late 18teens, I could certainly start there. I might even continue just looking at Portsmouth history during that time, there is a rich history that involves African Americans, neighborhood fires, the start of industry, and the blossoming of the neighborhood known as Puddle Pock.
Outfit: I actually already have a few dresses and spencers that could go in this time, but I’ve really always wanted to make a military inspired wool pelisse. I love the long lines, and the warm look in the face of all the flimsy cotton!

1912: Suffragette
Cast off the shackles of yesterday! But seriously, we’re still fighting these battles, and what better way for a reenactor feminist to do so than by honoring the suffragettes of our past? That and I’ve wanted an early 1900s suit forever.
Events: Well, now that the anniversary of the titanic is past, I don’t actually know of any events where I could wear this. Maybe just out to tea? A few years ago a friend hosted a fancy tea in Concord, MA, and a few years before that we went to dress-up tea on Cape Cod. Maybe it is time for me to host one not too far from our new house.
Research: I am intrigued by the time right before World War One. I even have a couple of books on this era just waiting to be read. I wonder when I’ll have time to read a whole book.
Outfit: Did I mention that I already have the design picked out? I’ve wanted a traveling or walking suit for a very long time. I think they are elegant, yet practical, and I think the style would fit my frame so well. Oh, and I already bought the fabric, it is a white wool with red pinstripes. Oh, how I want to make this!



1920s Leisure Life
Oh the dancing, the picnics, the croquet! Actually this time appeals less to me than some of the others, but there are plenty of events, right in my area.
Events: This one is very event heavy. Last year we attended the “Jazz-Age Lawn Party” down in Ipswitch Mass, and now I find there is a similar one here on the seacoast of NH that involves a boat ride out to the islands, and a picnic by the old hotel. Blankets on the lawn on a summer afternoon are perfect places for toddlers, I think these sorts of events fit the family for this summer.
Research: I think what most interest me about the 20s is the dance. I’d love to learn the Charleston, foxtrot, and I bet I could learn a lot about daily life by studying dance trends.
Outfit: Last year I just bought some stuff from TJ Maxx to attend our first event, but I would be way too embarrassed to do that two years in a row! Besides, one of my favorite bloggers shared this post about a new pattern she tried. It is a modern pattern, but from a very retro company and looks like I could easily make a few modifications to make it even more twenties, but still be able to wear it out and about an no one would know it was not a modern dress. Plus I have a lovely pink and green striped linen in my stash that is just begging for a dress like this.

So while I'm not sure any of these project will get done this year, a gal can dream, right?

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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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Telling Lies

A while ago a visitor asked me if the sink in the Shapiro's bathroom is enamel or porcelain, I got to tell her truthfully that I'm not sure I'd know the difference. I told her it was purchased second-hand from one of the scrap metal yards, which is conjecture, but is very likely. I'm not sure why, while kneeling on the floor staring up at the base of the sink with a visitor this should pop into my head, but pop it did: " I bet if Mrs. Shapiro was confronted with a nosy visitor like this she would be tempted to lie."

That is a thunderously dangerous, but highly liberating thought. It is dangerous, because it is my job to inform the public about history as it occurred. But at the same time everything I say has some falsehood to it because I am not really mrs. Shapiro. My husband and I did not purchase the house in 1909, but Mrs. Shapiro and her husband did. So my job is to personalize facts, but I strive to make sure they are really facts, just delivered in a more theatrical manner.

I’m reading Freeman Tilden’s Interpreting Our Heritage. I’ll put up a book review when I’m done, but in the meanwhile I was struck by one of his points he makes about interpreters. He says interpreters should never lie. In fact, Joyce Thierer in Telling History makes a big deal about checking every fact and having at least three sources for every fact. But what about storytelling? What if we don’t have all the facts but have certain themes we want to get across?

In Shapiro we make a pretty big deal about Mollie’s birthday. It happens right in the middle of the summer, and is something most American kids can relate to. Getting a gift for Mollie’s birthday is how we connect kids to the past, and connect the Shapiros to the American culture they are learning. We don’t know what Mollie was given for her 10th birthday, we don’t actually know for sure that she was given a gift, but the museum has purchased a reproduction of a 1919 pogo stick that the kids who visit can take into the yard and try out. We call it Mollie’s birthday present even though her grandson is pretty sure she did not have a pogo stick while growing up. But at least some 1919 kids did have them, and trying out the pogo stick can help kids who have been stuck listening to museum folks and need to be active. Since those of us who are interacting with the visitors are doing so as Mrs. Shapiro, do we have a little more leeway to make up the story about the pogo stick being a gift for Mollie’s 10th birthday? Or is that lying?

I hope that most of the audience will forgive us these stories and see them as story telling. I am obviously not Mrs. Shapiro living in the year 1919. So is it more like seeing a play, or is it more like a scene in a documentary which is expected to reflect the actual events?

Many years ago when I was working as a museum garden intern, I lobbied hard to get a well put into the back yard garden where I was working. I was willing to concede that it could not be an actual well, but a wooden platform representing the well top and a well sweep could be very educational to the visitor. The argument I heard against it was that although there was evidence there was a well in the yard, we did not know where in the yard it would have been, so it would be inauthentic to just place it randomly. My arguement was that is was even less authentic to knowingly exclude a well, when we know that there was one. So is it more of a dis-service to the visitor to put the well in the wrong place, or to not indicate that folks back then had to work hard to get their water?

So back to lying. I justify letting visitors walk around the house with a mix of biblical hospitality and with the  fact that the Shapiro's rented the third floor to boarders. I treat most visitors like potential renters so they have an excuse to explore the house and I have an excuse to tell them about my family. As part of that I talk up the newness of the indoor plumbing, and the cleanliness of the kitchen. I am giving historical information about the technology and urbanization of sanitation, and I am giving cultural information about kosher meals in a gentile city. I hope that my visitors know that as Mrs. Shapiro I might be exaggerating the cleanliness of the kitchen, but I also hope that does not diminish the factual knowledge I am sharing. According to Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro, their daughter Mollie was so smart and good, she always finished her homework and did her chores. Was Mollie the perfect child? I doubt it, but she died young and as a good girl was the way her parents wanted to remember her.

But what about whoppers? Actual falsehoods? We make up so much of our characters out of the scraps left to us through the ages, that we all try very hard to give as accurate a presentation as possible. If visitors can not tell very deliberately that I may be stretching the truth (like saying that my daughter is always such a good girl) I try to avoid lies at all cost. But I bet Mrs. Shapiro lied, on occasion.

So now I’ll have to think about some lies I could tell as Mrs. Shapiro. Not to the visitors, that would be awful. But in the spirit of A-E Shapera’s Easy Street a lie through which I can include visitors, as a story I am telling that they are now in on. I already do something similar when folks ask how the peaches in the jar on the counter are preserved. When they ask I look around, lower my voice, and ask if they are police. When they assure me they are not I tell them that the peaches are in vodka, even though prohibition is gearing up all over the country. So I am informing them about food customs, but also the politics of the day, and including them in something that was illegal at the time, but now is considered quaint. Now I’m challenging myself to come up with a few more, see what I can do with some whoppers.


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Inhibition and Improvisation in Roleplaying

Sometimes, a series of seemingly unrelated events will all come together in my life in a way that shouts IMPORTANT to me. This happened not too long ago.

I was running late, so I was in the car at an unexpected time, only long enough to hear the opening of a radio program where the host talked about a recent study where they had a bunch of improvisational jazz musicians play improv jazz while receiving an MRI scan. Now the image of a pianist inside a MRI tube has been amusing me for close to a week, but that was not the remarkable part of the story. The MRIs showed the creativity centers of the brain all lit up, just like one would expect, but it also showed the part of the brain that self-censors with less activity. The inhibition parts of the brain shut down while someone trained in improvisation was plying their craft.

The study was done with jazz musicians, but I believe it could equally be applied to other types of improv artists, like actors and first-person roleplayers. What is that you say? First-person roleplayers are not actors? Well I think there is an element of acting involved as I explained here and if you don’t believe me check out the LH Bibliography because most of them agree with me too.

The day after I heard about the Jazz musicians I was participating in a role-player training where the training leader assured us that she would not make us play any of those “silly games” like the one with the “imaginary ball”.

I know exactly the one she is talking about: You all stand around in the circle and someone mimes holding a ball, they determine the size and shape, and get that across to everyone else through pantomime, by hefting the pretend ball, and gripping it, then throwing it to another person in the room who must change the size, shape, weight etc. of the pretend ball before pretend throwing it to someone else. If you let it, this activity can make you feel incredibly silly, that is the self-censoring part of your brain talking. If you are able to let it go and let your imagination discover the size and heft of the imaginary ball you are quieting your self-censor and letting the creativity and positivity parts of your brain activate.

I think Improvisation can be a masterful tool. It can help us get “into character” and better imagine life back then. It can help us find interesting ways to portray the facts and figures we’ve been researching. Most importantly, it can help us meet every single visitor from an open and inviting position, we don’t have to bore then with a pre-prepared story, we can have a conversation and make a real connection. All of these things are one thousand times harder if our self-censor is telling us: “you’re dressed funny, you don’t know all the facts, they might be offended if you say something like that!”

One of the things Stephen and I talk about every time we get in front of a group to talk about first-person is we say: “You are dressed funny, you will make an ass of yourself, it is okay.” Up until now I knew it to be true but could not tell you why. After reading the article about the jazz musicians I can say, “Your prefrontal cortex wants to get in the way here, but in this instance the creativity centers in your brain need to be in charge.”

When the trainer in the roleplaying session at Strawbery Banke said for the second time “we won’t be playing those silly games” with a wrinkle in her nose and a superior air I just had to speak up. I briefly told the group about the study on the brain, and that those games actually could help them get closer to the brain activity that will make them better role-players. I just pointed out the study, I did not belabor the point. I can only hope that a few of them heard what I had to say.


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Perfect Vision

Last July I got Lasik eye surgery. I had been wearing glasses since I was either 14 or 16 depending on whether you want the long or short story. I decided to subject my eyes to lasers for two reasons, neither of which was a desire to look pretty. The first reason I did it was because it fixed my vision. All my friends with asthma out there would get a little laser surgery if it would fix their lungs. My friends with bad backs, shoulders, wrists etc often get corrective surgery, so I saw nothing wrong with getting it to fix my eyes.

The second reason was because glasses are not correct for every historical period I portray, and I have trouble wearing contacts. I have a friend who has written a long post about how glasses are not necessary, but I disagree rather strongly. I suffer from anxiety, not like stage fright but like diagnosable, life-impeding anxiety, and not being able to see the world around me can bring on panic attacks. So just being blind was not really an option. I’ve worn contacts at history events for almost ten years, but they are harsh on my eyes, I never felt comfortable wearing them more than a weekend.

The day I forgot to take my contacts out before falling asleep I woke up to a world I had never seen. I blinked my eyes and saw the face of my husband next to me. I saw the ribs of the tent overhead (I only wore contacts at history events) and saw the shadows of the leaves on the tree overhead. I saw that the blanket had slid half off Alysa’s sleeping bag, but she was peacefully asleep inside the sleeping bag, with just half her face sticking out. All I had to do was blink and I could see the world. That morning laying in our bed in camp, actually looking at the world around me was when I decided to look into Lasik.

The only qualm I had about fixing my eyes was it would make me more perfect in a way that most historical people were not. Nowadays we get things like bad backs and bad teeth fixed, but historically many people did not have that option. In the Guild of Das Geld Fahnlein we have some folks who have bad backs, but they take pain killers and do not walk around with canes. But wouldn’t it be more historical if they did hobble around? Am I doing our historical portrayal a dis-service by refusing to bring on my own panic attacks? This year my dentist took out several old silver fillings and replaced them with tooth-colored ones, because the old fillings were damaged and all new fillings are tooth-colored. So now my teeth look more perfect. But the silver fillings did not fit in with the 16th Century either! I am not going to refuse dental work just because I spend a lot of time portraying someone from the past.

But part of me wonders if I should have.

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In-Between-ish

Two weekends ago I attended the New England Reenactor’s Fair and Swap Meet with Das Geld Fahnlein. We set up a table to hopefully recruit new members. Last weekend I attended the New England regional conference of the Association of Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums. I attended that one on my own, though the keynote speaker was from Strawbery Banke. I did not really have to explain my attendance to the folks at the swap meet, though most folks found it odd that a group depicting something other than American history would attend. At the ALHFAM meeting the opening question is always, “what institution do you work at?” I found it difficult to explain that I was not there in affiliation with a specific museum. 

I’m sure if the other folks at the swap meet had the opportunity to attend the conference, they would have learned a lot and could have added a lot as well, but there is a massive gulf between the “professionals” and the “hobbyists” and I seem to be stuck in the middle.

Why was I reluctant to tell the folks at ALHFAM that I work at SBM? Well, technically since the museum is not open, I don’t work at the museum. Also, the museum does not provide me with a living wage. I make just enough to pay for my gas and food. It does not cover housing, health insurance, my kid, phone, anything else.  At least Das Geld Fahnlein does not pretend to be something other an expense in the budget. I paid my own way into the conference, I was not there as a representative of SBM.

I had a lot of fun at both events. At the swap meet I met new people who also love dressing up and living history, got to spend time with some of my fellow guild members, and I got to purchase some round wooden containers for herbal medicine that I’ve been looking for for a very long time. I got to do some medieval cooking to prep and I got to feed my peeps, which I very much like to do. At the conference I learned how to butcher a turkey and make split-rail fence. I got to learn about 1870s knitting and 19th Century bee keeping, and hang out with a group of people who love dressing up and doing history.

Maybe it is just the yucky end-of-winter weather, but now I feel all ugh, and in-between-ish about my place in the world of living history. I’m not your usual reenactor because I don’t do Civil War or Revolutionary War, I’m not your typical Museum person because I don’t make my living by working full-time at a museum.

At the Saturday dinner that was part of the conference I sat down at a table that looked mostly empty so other folks could decide to join me, but I would not be crowding out anyone if I chose to sit at the wrong table (hello flashbacks to grade school.) There was only one other person sitting at the table when I sat down, so she and I chatted while everyone else straggled in. She has 4 part time jobs and is also struggling to make a life out of history (and textiles in her case.) I mentioned that one of the things that Stephen and I do is offer workshops to reenactors on any number of topics from historical portrayals, to research, taboo topics, and (our favorite) interacting with the public. She thought that was fascinating and mentioned “putting out her shingle” to offer the same workshops herself. Doh, I should not have mentioned it. We really don’t do enough of those to need any competition. Sigh. 

I really hope winter is over soon.

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Tools for Effective First-Person Role-Playing

When chatting with some of the other folks that were new role-players at Strawbery Banke one of them mentioned that when she started she had a hard time getting into character and talking to visitors as if she was her historical role. This is an incredibly common problem, especially since she was given only one set of tools in training: the historical record. Don’t get me wrong, the historical record is incredibly important. Without facts, historical documents and scholarly interpretation, we would not have a foundation, nothing to stand on. Knowing how to write does not make you a journalist, or novelist. You can have the best costume in the world, and know the most knowledge, but if you can not get it across to your audience then you are not an effective first-person role-player.

There are two other sets of tools that I think someone needs to be an effective first-person role-player: interactive improvisation, and educational presentation. I believe both of these can be taught, and that they should be taught. The new roleplayers at SBM were not taught about education, it is expected they know a bit about teaching before they get to the museum. And many “professionals” look down on theatre as fiction, it is certainly not serious study, like us role-players. But without being able to teach, and without interactive improvisation, I would be much poorer at what I do.

I’ll talk about education tools first, since I think these will be the easiest for most folks to agree with. Every teacher out there will tell you that there are skills needed to be an effective teacher, I think many of those translate to being an effective first-person role-player. Not every visitor needs to know the exact same fact, there are many different ways to learn, not everyone makes a good discussion leader. A teacher can tell you all this and a role player can use them to get across all those great stories they’ve learned through research. Modern folks can empathize with folks from the past, we can learn about ourselves by learning about where we come from. Sometimes just knowing that our jobs as roleplayers is not only to get across the past, but to teach it, to relate it in ways that are meaningful to our audiences can boost our effectiveness.

The third tool that I use in every visitor contact is interactive theatre (yes, I went to a posh sort of college and spell it “re”.) There is an element of acting in Living History portrayals. It is not the same as acting in a play, or movie, but interactive theatre is very different from those too. When the audience is right there interacting in the story, you need to be willing to throw the pages of the script out the window, but not loose sight of the underlying story you are telling. It takes flexibility and empathy; you need to be a good listener, know how to stay positive, and not be afraid to look like a complete donkey. Theatre techniques, practice, and yes, games can be a lot of help.  I promise your audience/visitors/MoP/students will never know.

I started doing this crazy dressing up and acting like a person from the past (i.e. first person roleplaying) nineteen years ago with a little theatre background, a little history research, and basically no educational training. Since then I’ve not only absorbed a lot of history and some educational theory, but I was trained in interactive improvisational theatre. I am a much better role-player for my training, and I think all of us role-players could continue to improve with more of all three.


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When Did Winter Get So Busy?

Happy 2013!

A couple of years ago Stephen and I jumped at the chance to attend the Sudbury Militia’s 12th Night Ball because it gave us a chance to dress up and have fun during a very quiet time of year. We’re planning on attending this year but instead of being the only event, it is just the beginning of a very busy winter.

After the 12th Night Ball, there is one weekend with nothing historic scheduled (yet), then our local SCA hosts a big winter market called Birka which is an old home day for us, and only a half an hour away.

The weekend after Birka we’ll be quite a bit further afield when we attend Military History Fest out in Chicago. We spend three days in tons of different timeperiods catching up with old friends, making new friends, and teaching and learning.

The weekend after MHF there is a Pride and Prejudice Ball put on by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers on Saturday, and a workshop by The Hive on Sunday. Two weeks later there is a New England Reenactor’s Trade Fair where Das Geld Fahnlein will have a recruiting table.

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You Have To Believe

I listen to NPR a lot, and recently on the way in to work (my temp work while the museum is closed) I heard a story  about a man who plays Santa Claus at this time of year. He said the most important thing, for him is he must believe that he is Santa. Even in the face of teenagers and beard pullers he must believe, once he puts on the suit, that he is Santa.

How true!

As someone who spends quite a bit of her time as someone else, often in the face of teenagers and (even worse) retired age men, I must believe that when I am dressed as Mrs. Shapiro and enter museum grounds, I am Mrs. Shapiro. I am in my kitchen preparing meals for my family. When in camp and I get dressed as Hanne Reischach, I am Hanne. On the march in foreign lands with my husband. If I don't believe it, who else will?





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future plans

I'm a very superstitious person. Not like the number 13 or broken mirrors or anything, I just don't like to draw attention to my successes for fear they will get sabotaged by fate. I especially hate to mention future plans out loud for fear they will not come true. Warding off the evil eye, or really any divine or other-worldly attention has always seemed like a really good idea. That is why I mostly write on this blog about projects, events, etc. once they are over and could not be changed by unwanted attention. This has the advantage that I don't have to write about my failures. But then again what if you, my readers, could help me achieve my dreams, with your positive thoughts or possibly your connections?

Back in 2005 I gave up the idea of making my living doing something related to history, and decided history would just be a hobby for a while. That has been fun, I've grown and learned, but I'm pretty ready to put history on the front page again. I'm rather at an in-between place in my life right now. There are a million different directions I could head, and a million I would like to, but I've also got a recent failure making me reluctant to jump feet first into something big in case it is more than I can handle.

No matter what the economists say, this recession is not over for non-profits, and definitely not for non-profits that are not direct-service related like historical sites. While I am looking for museum jobs, or otherwise history-related jobs, I can't hold my breath hoping I'll snag the perfect opening. Stephen and I have started businesses and projects that we had hoped would turn into careers, but none of them have worked out quite that way. What about going back to school? There are tons of master's degrees out there for people like me. Educators interested in history are pretty much expected to have master's degrees. But would it benefit me to spend gobs of money for three years, and then be back out looking for my career again?

Maybe I should stay on the corporate path until Stephen and I can afford our farm, and then we'll invite all the LH folks we can find to join us, and we'll create our own history.

Any advice? Anyone know who we can pitch a reality TV show to?


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Inspirational events

Stephen and I do not make our living through Living History. We are paid for some of the things we do, and we have tried various schemes throughout our lives, but at this juncture our mortgage etc. is paid for by “normal” jobs. But we spend most moments when we are not working those jobs in pursuit of history and Living History experiences. We work hard to make great clothing, kit and equipment, we do tons of research to make sure we’re as authentic as possible, we network and teach to enrich the entire community.

All that means a lot of effort, less sleep, an investment of money and time. We don’t spend enough time with our families, we miss out on the latest movies, we ignore our other interests to cram in as much history as we can. By November of every year I’m usually more than a little burnt out. I’d rather watch TV than slog through another academic paper, play board games rather than struggle with another clothing pattern. That is why conferences like Military History Fest the first weekend in February and the FPIPN retreat at the end of March are so very important to me. I need inspiration to keep doing what we’re doing and also to get new ideas and try new projects.

The best part of these conferences, for me, is being surrounded by like-minded people. People who love history. Some are even interested in similar historical things: the European Middle ages and Renaissance, lovely hats, women’s history, agriculture and food. I enjoy the dressing up, people watching, shopping, encampments, and the seminars and discussions, but I enjoy all those things because of the conversations and the connections. We all get to tell our crazy moment stories, the ones about the stupid visitors, about the horrible weather we’ve endured, and our newest project.

I get to learn from folks who have spent a lot of time and energy on their areas of expertise, I also get to teach others about the things that I think are important. And for me sometimes that is less about historical facts and more about how those of us who love history and dress up etc. have a lot on common.

I can’t wait to see even more funny dressed people who love history!


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Horseback riding on the Mediterranean

Sometimes, the (potentially) cheesiest adventures turn out to be the most rewarding.

When Alysa’s grandmother generously paid for Alysa’s plane ticket so she could go to Israel with us I was excited, but also a bit trepidatious. She and I would be spending our days together, just the two of us in a foreign country. We get along just fine, but I’m an anxious individual and Alysa had never been out of the country, I wanted us both to get something out of the trip and our interests do not always overlap. When one of the guidebooks I was reading mentioned a chance to ride horses in the Mediterranean surf, I looked for more information because Alysa loves horse back riding, and I certainly enjoy it on the rare times I get an opportunity. I was worried that it would be totally cheesy because I’ve been on group horseback trail rides that were pretty awful, where there were 20 tired horses all tied in a line and a bunch of awkward tourists who had never been on horses before. I was worried we’d move at a snail’s pace and spend the whole time feeling so sorry for the horses and not enjoying the limited time on the beach. Our experience was the exact opposite of those bad experiences; our ride was wonderful.

Sunday there was a rain storm. Israel does not get many rain storms, so when we asked our hotel staff to call the ranch on Sunday night about getting reservations, the folks on the other end of the phone were very reluctant to guarantee we could go out riding, but Monday dawned clear and sunny, so the hotel desk called up and got us a 9:30 appointment at Cactus Ranch. They also gave us directions. They told us it was not on any maps, did not have an address to type into a GPS and was a ways off the road, but said there were signs and we should call on our way in. Alysa and I hopped in a taxi to a car-rental place, then rented a car and sped out of the city. Okay, we did not actually speed, it took us a while to get a car reservation, a while to pick up the car, and then the GPS got us lost trying to get out of the city, so we were already late when we arrived in the village, saw the little sign for Cactus Ranch, and pulled off the paved road. Many turns and a few miles later Alysa and I were hooting with hysterical laughter as we dodged puddles the size of small ponds and hollered every time we saw a sign with a little horse on it. We were almost an hour late, but when we pulled up everyone was happy to see us, seemed to be expecting us, and spoke enough English that we could all communicate.

The place was pretty muddy, but they told us the rainstorm had been very fierce on the coast, and all the horses were acting happy and well-fed, just, well, muddy. We watched as only three horses were groomed and saddled; apparently the off-season meant that there were no other tourists, and the weather had scared away all the Israelis. It was just the two of us and a guide. Since we both had some riding experience, verified by the fact that we mounted up, sat up strait and held the reigns without being taught, our guide Itsak was willing to give us a lot of leeway.

We trotted through fields of wild flowers, down dirt roads, and up on to the beach, where we splashed in the waves and gazed out over the big swells of a winter-time Mediterranean. I gave Itsak my iPhone and he took photos of Alysa and I smiling and laughing as we tried to urge our horses further into the waves (Alysa’s horse was afraid of the water and mine thought he was king of the herd.) The beach part was a blast, but the rest of the ride was even better.

After the beach our guide led us up the dunes and along the top of a cliff. We had great vistas up and down the coast where industrial smokestacks and glassy high rises were encroaching on the lovely brush and bramble covered seaside, but I was able to ignore the signs of civilization to enjoy the amazing land and sea. The Med was rough, with plenty of big whitecaps, but it was still warm and green. It looked so much more inviting than the North Atlantic has ever looked. Even to a land lubber like me it looked like a body of water on which to have adventures. As we made our way up the coast I could not help but imagine Odysseus, Jason, the Phoenicians, all adventuring on that wild but enticing sea.

Even when the cliffs blocked our view I could not help but feel like an intrepid traveler, like one of my ancestors making her way across the arid, but lovely land. Maybe Sarah or Miriam, or even Mary on the back of a donkey, because surely on the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem she travelled through the same land, gazed at the same plants, and I’m sure some of the days of travel might have been sunny and bright. I know that is totally romantic. We spent a few hours on horseback on a bright clear day in a lovely setting, very far from the experience of those in the past. But surely my ancestors must have had some bright moments when they took some delight in the road, the location, and that circumstances were, for the moment, just about perfect.

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How Many Personas is too Many?

A few years ago I was having a conversation with a friend about branching out into reenacting other time periods and she mentioned that she would have trouble keeping track of too many different personal portrayals. She mentioned that someone she knew got around that problem by being a German milk maid in all the different periods as a way to keep the character, but make different costumes. For me, that would never work because I’d rather have different personas so I can explore different aspects of each time.

Currently I have only a few well fleshed out personas:
Rose, the 12th Century Herb-Wife
Rose started when I flirted with making a 13th century renfaire character, but she found her base when I joined the Medieval Talk Show panel given every year at a middle school in CT. She will really come to life this spring in a new group of 12th century reenactors. Rose is a simple woman, somewhat shallow with a love of home-town gossip. Through Rose I get to investigate herbal medicine, agriculture, textile production, and the birth of the High Middle Ages.

Hanne, 16th Century Baron’s Wife and Camp Frau
Hanne came about when we were starting to form Das Geld Fahnlein. I needed a character that fit into the world of the Landsknecht and as the wife of a nobleman. Hanne is proud of her noble upbringing, and even more proud that she married a Hauptman since her father was a Hauptman. She does not mind getting dirty, and is thrilled to be on campaign and not locked up somewhere like a convent or relative’s castle. Through Hanne I get to research Renaissance Europe, specifically continental Europe, fashion styles and fancy cooking.

Bess Brown, 19th Century Irish Immigrant, Domestic Servant
Bess has been around the block. My first Irish immigrant character was in high school, the next in college, and while Bess only gets to come out and play a few times a year she is feisty, pragmatic, and incredibly fun. I have spent a ton of time researching life in the US in the first half of the nineteenth century, I also know a lot about Ireland in the 1800s as well as domestic relations, industrialization, sanitation and urban life. Of course there is always more to know…

I have a few personas that are less solid but I could still pull out at a moment’s notice:
18th Century middle-class female
At Strawbery Banke I did my first investigations of an 18th Century persona, and I’ve flirted with programs, reenactment events, and personas ever since. In the past few years I’ve found myself drawn towards a more urban and possibly loyalist portrayal, but have not had a real need for it, so this one is still very much up in the air.

Mid 19th Century activist/lecturer
Sometimes Bess is just not right for a particular situation, so I wanted to come up with another 19th century persona. I took a look at where most of my research has been done and it turns out I know a lot about the fringe social movements of the 19th century. For a one-time gig on Pioneer America I made up a persona of a traveling lecturer, a Jewish female who loved the trains and was enthusiastic about everything from women’s suffrage to temperance and beyond. Recently I’ve been reading up on Susan B Anthony, and thinking how her body type and mine are not all that different, I am hoping for a chance to try out Susan B. Anthony very soon.

Here are the ones that if I had my druthers I’d work on next:
17th century noblewoman/herbalist
I love gardening and herbs, and in the 17th century it was the noble women who did most of the tending and physicking among their villagers. I’d love to put more herb knowledge to use, maybe even do some distilling, the clothing is also of interest. I’d love to do more research on the 17th century.

19teens Suffragette
I also need a 20th century portrayal (though some may think need is the wrong word.) Just as I am drawn to Susan B Anthony and the women’s rights movement of the Nineteenth Century, I love the cultural changes taking place among women in the 19teens and 20s. I am fascinated by the urban culture as well as the leisure class. Maybe I should read up on the lives of a few adventuresses.

Anyone have any suggestions? Read this entry on entry page

New Year, 100th Post

Welcome to 2012!

Quite a lot happened in 2011, some good some not-so-good, but on the whole I am enjoying life and looking forward to the future. I am also welcoming 2012 with my 100th blog post! I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping this up since beginning in 2008. I was hoping to have a lot more entries this past year, a lot more podcasts, a lot more book reviews. Still, I'm pleased with what I was able to put out there, and think that the coming year has the potential to be even better! Read this entry on entry page

Catching Up

I’ve been quiet here for a while, mostly due to employment stuff. But that does not mean I have not been engaging with history.

Shortly after recovering from the Connecticut Renaissance Faire a few of us were lucky enough to be invited to a time line event at Higgins Armory Museum where we represented the 16th Century. Since we were in an armory museum most of our fellow reenactors had armor and weapons to show as well as some daily life props. We brought out the medical tools and charts, as well as cards, dice and other gambling games. The games and medical stuff proved incredibly popular, and made for a fun day.

Since I did not get to make a colonial gown this summer, a friend who is also a costumer came up for a day and helped me fit a colonial gown from books and images of extant gowns. I hope to have it done by January 12th, but there is a lot going on between now and then, so we’ll see how much I actually get accomplished.

We are progressing on our plans to reenact the 12th century. We’ve had a few meetings, done some research, and I’m making up the persona of an herb-wife. I get to use my herb knowledge in a reenacting setting! Now I’ve got to make some clothes, collect some kit, and do a lot more research!

I’m in the middle of a couple of Living History books and papers, and have a few more to add to the bibliography. Hopefully I’ll have time to do that soon, when I am not in the sewing room, doing some piecework for a merchant friend.

The most unexpected and exciting thing on the history front is a chance for the family to go to Israel next month. I’m hugely excited. There is soooo much history in that part of the world, I can not wait to experience a place with more human history than I have been able to experience thus far in my life. I promise to blog all about it when I get back. Read this entry on entry page

Am I a Living Historian?

Once, when I was 28 and unemployed I was confronted by my landlord in an awkward driveway encounter. It was the middle of the afternoon, when most adults are at work and on seeing me arrive at home to enter my apartment my landlord asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a historian doing freelance work, mostly working for theater companies as a dramaturge. In reality I had just finished a stint as Production Manager of a Renaissance faire and was applying for any job I could find. I was doing a lot of history writing, but it was mostly for small stipends, and most real historians would look for the nearest vat of hot tar if they’d heard me say it. But my landlord’s reaction was mostly surprise, and definitely a higher level of respect. I look younger than I am, and I suppose one does rather expect historians to have grey beards and sit in armchairs while smoking pipes. So putting myself in the category of a learned academic meant that I was not going to be questioned about if I could pay my rent, or why I was returning home in the middle of the day.

I have been thinking about this recently because of all the stories about the unemployed who spent 20 years in the same industry but since they have been laid off have lost part of their identity. Can you call yourself a stockbroker if you don’t actually get paid to broker stocks? At the time what little money I had coming in was made by working in the field of history. But not everyone who works in the field of surgery is a surgeon.
In Stacy Roth’s book “Past into Present” at the beginning of her chapter on the Visitor she purposefully evokes the professional when talking about visitor relations.

“From a business angle, interpreters [which Roth defines as one who: translates material culture and human or natural phenomena to the public] provide a service and visitors are the customer. While such a statement sounds crassly commercial and clinical, it is a notion that cannot be ignored by anyone who earns a livelihood from historical interpretation. It separates the professional from the dabbler. Admittedly, many interpreters forget or ignore this responsibility. But the concerned professional interpreter, salaried or independent, and the serious hobbyist or volunteer care about the visitor experience.” - Stacy Roth, Past into Present

So while at first it might seem like Roth defines the professional as those earning their livelihood from LH she then does leave room for those not employed at museums (the independent) and those who don’t make money at it (the serious hobbyist and volunteer.) I’m encouraged that there might be room for me in Roth’s definition of the professional.

If I again find myself in the situation where I need a professional moniker but don’t have a full time job would I consider telling folks I’m a historian? Probably, though I do like the sound of Living Historian almost as much.

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Coming Out

I’m reading Mark Shanks’ dissertation called: Very Civil Wars: Reenactors, Academics, and the Performance of the Past. In the beginning of chapter two Dr. Shanks remarks on the ubiquity of Civil War reenacting and how all he has to do is mention Civil War reenacting and he gets an understanding response from most people. This brought to mind for me all the times I’ve had conversations where I have explained that I spend my weekends dressing up and living as if in another timeperiod. In most cases, I’m still waiting for the understanding.

This could be because I reenact some fairly obscure times. I do not do Civil War, or even Revolutionary War so most Americans are less familiar with the history of the times I reenact. Also there are fewer of us reenacting non-American history in the United states, and those of us who do are spread out in times ranging from the iron age to the present. Those times when I get a glimmer of recognition it is often because the person I am talking to has a relative that goes to Renaissance Faires, or once saw a RevWar group participating in a town parade. I’m not sure I have actually encountered on the street a random person who also does this sort of thing. Sure, I meet tons of them at LH events and online in LH spaces, but the closest I’ve gotten in real life was a few emails exchanged with the fencing coach at the college where I work who used to be in the SCA.

At least now all the folks I work with know that when they ask me if I have weekend plans they probably involve making a 16th century meal or attending an 18th century dance. They are no longer surprised, even if they still do not understand. The times I find much more awkward are when I need to explain to folks who I do not see on a regular basis. I recently had my yearly checkup and I know I explained my hobbies to my doctor last year, but she only sees my once a year so I had to sit there in the cold paper gown and again go over the costuming, the demonstrations, the locations where events are held, and the frequency with which I do this sort of thing.  Times like that it almost feels like coming out, but instead of just being gay I’m coming out as only interested in an obscure gender that most people have never heard of.

Hi my name is Alena and I participate in an esoteric hobby commonly called reenacting, but I don’t do any of the things you think I do.

In fact, I don’t even consider myself just a hobbyist. But that is a tale for another time.

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Remotivated

While I always love LH there are some times when I spend more time thinking about it, and others when I spend more time thinking about laundry.  Last weekend was reunion weekend at the college where I work, and I did a pretty dismal job (in my own opinion) of organizing the weekend. But I’ve got to put it behind me, finish cleaning up the messes and get back to the everyday tasks, and back to dreaming about a day when I can spend most of my time and energy on LH.

A couple things have brought LH to the forefront of my mind. One is Stephen quitting his steady full-time job to become a consultant, so he can pick the engaging projects that best use his expertise. I am behind him 100% and a bit jealous, though I think I might find it a bit more nerve wracking than I could handle. We’re helping Alysa with her college planning and having conversations about how one finds one’s passion and how one gets motivated to do things like get up every morning and go to work. I’m getting the itch to finally do something definitive about getting a master’s degree in some sort of history field.

 I’ve started down that path twice but never gotten beyond a few classes. I took some classes in Public History at UMass just after college, and I’ve taken some classes in Museum Studies at Tufts a few years ago (which was the prompting for this blog.) My dad has been encouraging me to think more seriously about a masters and I’m inclined towards that end myself. I’ve been making spreadsheets of the public history programs out there, tracking the teaching locations of prominent authors in the field (okay, anyone in academia who has written on LH) and dreaming up dissertation topics but I have not yet found the perfect program. Especially not one within driving distance that will accommodate a full-time work schedule. But since it is unlikely I’m going to win the lottery, I can’t quit my job just to go back to school. So the search is still on.

Meanwhile we’re halfway through the run of the Connecticut Renaissance Faire’s fall show, and our last LH event of the season. We’ve got two weekends left, this one is a three day weekend (the faire is open Columbus Day) and I’m in charge of cooking for the weekend. A couple of good friends are also getting married at the faire on Sunday, so that should be fun. I’ve got a half-finished project that I’m going to try and make real progress on for these final weekends, before we get to pack all of it up until April. But before then we’ve got a series of meetings and workshops on our newest venture: we’re heading into the 12th century!

And this morning on my blog feed was a series of portraits of the Yeoman Gaoler at the Tower of London  that included this brilliant photo.

Alan Kingshott, Yeoman Gaoler at the Tower of London, Photo by Martin Usborne

Someday, I’m going to have an office in an old tower and a uniform that was popular many centuries before this one.

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Is the Magic "period" moment really all that important?

Since we just did a podcast on making evaluations I've been evaluating my own involvement in Living History. There are so many things that I hope to get out of any LH venture I undertake. Here are the 4 main ones I’ve come up with:
1. I want to learn,
2. I want to teach others,
3. I want to have meaningful social interactions (have fun with my friends),
4. I want to experience something real.
I am finding that though many folks may have similar entries on their lists, most do not list them in the order I have, nor do most people include all of those entries.

I’m reading a little book called “Seize the Day” and its purpose is to help Civil War reenactors achieve more moments when the reenactment “feels real.” Some people call these magic moments, or even a period-gasm. This is one of the main reasons why people get involved in Living History. It is the topic of an entire book (even if it is a little book.) The most interesting thing about reading this book at the time as I am making my own evaluations, and just after visiting a couple LH events as a member of the public (podcasted here) is that teaching others and expiring something “real” are often in direct conflict.

Let’s face it, having folks dresses in jeans and t-shirts, taking our pictures with digital cameras (or their phones) and asking us what year it is (or more intelligent questions) does ruin the period atmosphere. As close as we get in our surroundings and ourselves, as long as sneakered individuals expecting interaction are in the picture the picture is never going to be all that accurate. But I love the chance to interact with and educate the public! I know this make me very different from most reenactors, or at least most reenactors on Living History Worldwide click here for a summary. But I really do value the times I interact with others who might have some level of interest in history, and to widen a few world views. And no, I have no desire to teach the federally decided curriculum to a very small age demographic; I want to reach anyone who wants to learn, not just in the usual prescribed ways.

What if the public are just spectators?
I’ve seen this done in battle scenarios, where the public stays on the outside and the historical folks on the other. Some groups prefer to put up a rope line to keep members of the public a bit separate. But they’re still there. They are not hiding behind an invisible barrier, and to ignore them completely seems fairly rude to me if you are not doing a theatrical performance.

So how important is achieving those period moments?
Since it seems like on my list numbers 2 and 4 are fairly incompatible, does that mean I have to drop one or the other? I think not. Not every day, activity or event is going to fulfill all my wants (or even my needs) but going forward I’m going to try to evaluate my LH endeavors based on the 4 criteria and make sure I have a balance. Some events are geared mostly towards educating others, but I might learn something, or at least have some fun social interactions. And I might just be more inclined to put some events in my schedule that are not about educating the public, and are more about those magic “period” or “real” moments, as opposed to the magic teaching moments, the magic learning moments or the magic bonding moments shared with friends.

Since we’re talking about LH endeavors, there is one more kind I need to point out when talking about evaluations, and those are the endeavors we undertake for other people. Being kind, sharing, helping our friends and family are all very important. If I attend an event for the benefit of someone else and don’t actually achieve any of my goals for LH endeavors, it does not mean it was an unsuccessful event, just as long as someone got something out if it, then I’m ok with that too.

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Old Houses

I have a complex relationship with old houses. And by old houses I mean those that were built 300 to 100 years ago that are commonly found here in New England. I grew up in old houses and have many time said I would never want to live in one again. They are dusty, which means that I have trouble breathing in old houses. They are often very drafty which means I’m constantly cold (or pay a lot to heat them) and they are constantly in need of repair, which I generally don’t feel like doing. But I LOVE old houses! I love looking at them as we drive past and guessing how old they are, and when the additions or changes were made, I love staying in hotels that were old houses.

I especially love working in them. My current office is in the upstairs room of a big farmhouse built right around 1800. The walls are plaster and wood paneling, the windows let in a ton of light, even if they rattle in a strong wind. All the placement of rooms and halls make sense to me. It feels comforting and happy in a way that the cinderblock office buildings I’ve worked in never could.

When at the herb workshops at Plimoth Plantation a couple weeks ago I got to spend quite a bit of time in Plomoth's Horticulture Building, which is where I used to work. It was originally built a hundred years ago as a carriage house. It had a big room for the carriages, and a smaller room for stalls, there were more stalls in the basement as well as a second floor that was half hayloft half caretaker’s lodgings. I love the feel of the building, working and relaxing in it; washing in the soapstone sink, potting plants in the glass-and-wood greenhouse that was attached to the carriage house. Yes, they are dusty and drafty, but somehow I don’t mind as much during the work day.

I hope in my future there are many more workplaces in lovely old structures. They make me happy.

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