How do you motivate others or improve the hobby?

[Craig L Barry]

Re: The Back to the Mainstream Movement

There you go. Simplicity at its finest. That is what Doug was saying, at least as I read it. I am probably missing the boat again. I think I should use that in my signature line, but I am too much of a Luddite to figure out the editing features, much less the acronyms.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: The Back to the Mainstream Movement

Also the participation does not have to be mutually exclusive to only one type event. Nobody with any sense is advocating that. Many participants do both as meets their needs and preferences. This is a hobby, and if the EBUFU is the best use of your time than have at it. You can make a good case for that. However, it is not less worthy to participate in an event attended by the hoi polloi that generates funds for battlefield preservation. Who really cares how somebody else enjoys the hobby, what their priorities are or the Halloween costume grade of their impression? Improving my own impression takes up all my time.

The Watchdog has donated over $5000 to the Mill Springs battlefield preservation fund over the years. And we are debating the merits of an event (half-assed though it was) that raised over $125,000 in one weekend? Do the math...

[Spinster]

Re: The Back to the Mainstream Movement

[ Do they raise funds for battlefield preservation or not?

Whoa Darlin' Man--settle a bit. We're grateful for those who spend endless hours doing the research too. Sometimes we don't say it enough.

The various forms of Events By Us For Us hold several things in common--one of which is a contribution to the named cause that is included right in our registration fees. Since there are no spectators at the vast majority of these events, all the money comes from our pockets. Since there is no overarching structure, there is no 'fund'---but there is a good sized check at the end of the event for the cause of choice. One recent event, in addition to the large check presented by the organizers, also resulted in a 'stuffing the donation box' to overflowing proportions by folks who went out of their way on a long drive home.

We're talking some common goals here---we're just arguing on how we accomplish them.

[Charles Heath]

Re: The Back to the Mainstream Movement

...but lets then see these people shaking the tree for these events at the well listed c/p/h schedule.

Thank you, Tom. That's the best laugh I've had all morning.

Time to put a lock on this thread. It ran its course years ago.

[paulcalloway]

Re: The Back to the Mainstream Movement

I had a fine time at Mill Springs - seeing old friends, enjoying the Mellodian show, seeing the SCAR company. All that was good.

Mill Springs as a whole though - lets not make the mistake of elevating this to event-immortality. It was alright, but it was a powder-burner, in the extreme.

We weren't "allowed" to take hits on Saturday - a brigade level (or higher) decision that had us burning over 100 rounds on Saturday. We may well have accurately recreated the actions in some respects, but in other respects - including a total lack of casualties, it wasn't accurate at all.

We were literally picked up off the ground and pushed back into ranks if we took a hit - thats all well in good in the first half hour, but after two hours of burning rounds, it was downright ridiculous. Not the SCAR guys' fault... I know they were wanting to take a nap in a pile of horse-poo, just like me.

I thought the registration fees were too high - and argueably it kept a lot of guys away. The 3PM EST Sunday battle was way too late for guys with a long trek home. The dance of the sabre fairies was customarily dangerous. And it doesn't get my history-buzz going to see cannon being pulled into position on Saturday afternoon by a 4 wheeler.

[hernicus]

Re: Reenactor w/Health Problems......Fitting in..

There are many accurate opportunities for "health-challenged" enactors.

In my opinion, being in the "company" is not one of them. The company is a fighting unit, and there are no "extras" hanging around at that level.

When you get up to battalion level, there are positions as clerks, cooks, and servants that require just as much authenticity but not as much mobility. Try talking with your Battalion commander about a slot in the enlisted staff. Believe me, those positions are not for slackers: If you do it right, you are up before the men in the ranks and you don't go to sleep until way after they do. Ever had to fill out a battalion morning report at 5am under a single candle light? Or try to get a fire started in the frost/rain/snow?

Shuffling off to the medical unit to sit under a fly all day isn't a great option. Stay with your Battalion. Do a quality HQ impression. IF done right, it adds a lot to the event experioence and more pproperly portrays an Army in the field. Remember, for every man in the ranks with a rifle, there were 3 or 4 "behind him" supporting him.

Good luck!

[hernicus]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

Cotton balls work best for me; cotton is authentic and was readily available; molded styrofoam (in orange, yellow, or flesh color) was not so readily available in 1862 LOL!

[DJCasey]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

I usually cut small pieces of gun cleaning rags to stuff in my ears.
It works very well.

I do the same thing. My first few events (as a 16 year old) at mainstream events I used the neon yellow ones you see everywear. When I saw others with those and realized how stupid they looked, even with flesh colored ones, I stopped. The next event I went without and regretted that for a few weeks after. I then started using small gun cleaning patches and I have never had a problem. I can hear commands better then the foam guys, but I have never had painful eardrums or ringing ears. I keep two in my cap box all the time, that way I never forget and have scramble for them while going into a battle or drill field. As soon as I hear that first command to load and I reach for a cap I always feel them and remember to wad them up and stick them in my ears. No fussing or missing the first volley because they are always there. At the end of the battle I put them back for next time. I try to changed them when I think about it, becuase they can get gross!

[cprljohnivey]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

Safety trumps authenticity always! Go with a flesh colored ear plug when available but do use something. This goes right along with the "do I take my medication with me to events" discussion. Safety/Health first!

Regarding hearing aids... if you can go with out then go with out. If you can't hear a lick with out them then wear them. Try to get discrete ones if you have the means but again I think that this falls into the safety trumps authenticity argument. It is hard to get someones attention and say "Hey, look out for that falling widget" in sign language. My father is deaf in one ear and since he can hear well from the other, he goes with out a hearing aid at events.

[vamick]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

****HUH**??? whhadja say??:D folks Im as hard headed as they come, and partly because of that trait my right ear has had a constant ring since may of 1986:D ( a .357 in yer ear is loud ) wear em if ya got em! I still go without when I forget but the damage done isnt worth it for you younguns out there!

[Rob]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

For hearing protection, go to a shooting supply store and get the ones that fit in your ear. Then tear the cotton off a Q-Tip and glue it to the part which shows, being careful not to plug the sound-hole with glue. It will merely look like you've stuffed cotton in your ears.

[oldsecesh]

Re: Hearing aids & hearing protection

I've been involved in Civil War living history events and reenactments for nearly 26 years now. I sporadically wore ear protection and now am paying for it with Tinitis (spelling?), which is a constant ringing in the ears. For the last few years after developing this, I wear flesh colored ear plugs at events where there is firing. Its kind of like closing the barn door after the horse got out.

[burke69nyv]

Re: Reenactor w/Health Problems......Fitting in..

The Quartermaster's impression is the way to go! Cook, help set up camp & guard duty while everybody's out burning powder. I have also put together a collection of original artifacts to display; this really pleases the crowd.

[JeffLawrence]

Authenticity: How to Tell?

Folks-

I'm brand spanking new to reeancting, and I very much want to do it as authentically as practicable. I've long had a passion for the period and have read obsessively about the war. Finally, late this summer I decided to take the plunge and start checking out some units, see what I liked and didn't like, all in the interest in figuring out what I was really looking for.

For my part, I'm very much into portaying a first-person style living history presentation as my primary interest. Although my career has strayed far from my original want to be a history teacher, the desire is still there to educate the youth and the public on this period that I feel so strongly about. Secondarily would be an interest in the battles and tacticals (heaven knows that's likely what draws the crowds to present the educational opportunity in the first place).

I recognize and agree that the best possible way to present the living history element is to be as true to the period as possible, from mannerisms and speech patterns to the material goods that outfit me. There's a long row to hoe in that regard for me, because while I've certainly done a library's worth of reading on the war, it's largely been works focusing on the war itself from the scope of tactics and strategy, the unfolding of the battles, and of the primary personalities involved driving events. Certainly, the autobiographies of Grant and Sherman present a very different tale than the private soldier I'll be portraying. To that end, I've begun reading "Co. Aytch" and am seeking out other such goodies. With the number of first person accounts that have been written, I have little doubt that I can garner all the information I need to properly portray an appropriate period persona.

All that said, there is one element that is still vexing me: The material goods.

I've been up and down the AC approved vendors list, I've read through the requirements of my unit and their approved sutlers as well. I've checked those against the information on the Columbia Rifles site (among others) and think I have a handle on which sutlers provide good, appropriate equipment. The thing I really can't say I have a handle on is what makes the uniform/equipment/weapon appropriate and period?

Clearly, adherance to the oft-cited triad of materials, craftsmanship and patterns is key; but what I'm wrestling with is this: How can I tell? This is a particular problem given that I live far from the heart of reenacting country and can't just stroll into somebody's brick and mortar shop to compare and contrast. All I have to work with are opinions and fuzzy JPGs.

Maybe I'm being a little psychotic about this pursuit given that I've been offered advice at will by the folks I'm working with, and that there are so many resources pointing at one sutler or another, but... I guess the lack of details is what's bothering me most. I've seen comments here and there about how one reenactor or another will walk up to a rack of sutler's wares and immediately pick out the one gem in the rough. I wouldn't even know where to begin.

Example: At a mainstream event I was at in late September, I chatted with a nice fellow who was telling me about his sack coat, pointing out that he'd saved a few bucks by having the button holes machine-sewn rather than hand-sewn. I know that pushes it into farb, and that's exactly what I want to avoid. The thing that scared me was that I was looking right at the blasted thing, and I had no idea how to tell the machine sewn from hand-sewn. If he hadn't told me, I doubt I would have known; though from what I've read, apparently everyone else around would have seen it as a gigantic neon sign.

That worries me.
Is my eye just that bad? If so, how can I train it?

I'd love to hear any advice anyone willing to give it has to offer. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed. If I can't even tell a button hole from another, what kind of trouble am I in?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Authenticity: How to Tell?

Hallo!

Herr Jeff....

You have asked an easy question, but with a lengthy, involved, and never-ending philosophical answer- because "authenticity" is a Journey not an Event, and it is a Horizon that continually retreats the closer we seem to be getting to it. (And Board Wars and Personal Wars have been fought over the answers...)

In brief and to over-generalize...

Yes, ultimately it is not that a Widget is Period Correct or "Authentic," it is WHY it is authentic. And that, IMHO, is the Journey.

"Authenticity" is a combination of the "Triad" of material culture, the mental and physical man, and Period activities. IMHO, the very best "impressions" are personae that possess all THREE (the Three Legged Stool Paradigm).

Knowing why a Widget is authentic, obtaining said Widget, and then seeking out the "enviornment" in the form of events and activities that provide the "laboratory" where we test our research, beliefs, assumptions, and ideas about Life in the Past -are key.

"Research" to be an informed customer and educated consumer (at whatever "level" our chosen Mental Pictures of what we see ourselves doing and where we see ourselves fitting in are or will evolve over time to be) is also a Journey.
Ideally, doing one's own research into what makes a Widget "correct," how was it used, and then creating the environment to use it in, is Best of Best. Viewing, handling, measuring, analyzing original Widgets and comparing that to the reproductions offered by the very best makerts and vendors is a start. As are the historical Primary accounts of Life in the Past.
However, few of us have that luxury of extensive personal collections, access to private and public collections, or the money or time to be a true Producer of Research. So, as Consumers of Others' Research there are fine books, web sites, boards and discussion fora to help out.

Also, in a "Birds of a Feather" kind of thing, a knowlegeable and experience mentor or mentors, and a support-group in the form of like-minded folks are great assetts and resources. So is seeking out and attending the "Right Events" rather than the "Wrong Events" (not that folks do not pick-and-choose the people and events that rightfully best match their chosen Mental Pictures- but sooner or later most folks come to appreciate that oil and water do not long stay mixed...)

And of course, purchasing from makers or vendors who do their research, work closely from orignal Widgets, and have a reputation and track record can help supplement the mix.

Others' mileage will vary...

Curt