Period Dance Lighting

[aplett]

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, it gets dark fairly quickly after sundown, so halfway through a dance it gets very hard to see. I was wondering if anyone has researched this topic, and what type of lighting we should look into. Thank you!

Andrew Plett
Oregon Fife & Drum Corps
116th Penn. Vol. Inf. Co. B

[RedCordCO]

Re: Period Dance Lighting

I do know that one of the events my battery attends every year hosts a Regimental Dinner. For it, we have a great number of candelabras that require a great many candles and 'cloches' [read ' candle drip collars].
Of course, this is not the same as the event you are describing.
From what I've been able to surmise, candles or oil lamps [usually in ceiling-mounted fixtures] were the norm in a great many frontier forts in their larger Mess Halls and buildings. At least from pictures I've seen. 'The Army Called It Home' is the book that comes most to mind. Those pics were generally of the Frontier [70s+80s] era. I'm unsure as to exactly when oil lamps and/or kerosene came into play. Especially as lighting for Government installations. Be interesting to know the ration for lamp oil, by the by.
If I'm in error on any of the points I've made I'd be interested in knowing what actually was used. Before the advent of electricity there wasn't much option outside of candles and oil or gas lamps that I've been able to glean.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, it gets dark fairly quickly after sundown, so halfway through a dance it gets very hard to see. I was wondering if anyone has researched this topic, and what type of lighting we should look into. Thank you!

Andrew Plett
Oregon Fife & Drum Corps
116th Penn. Vol. Inf. Co. B

[markj]

Re: Period Dance Lighting

It all depended on where you lived: in "civilized areas" gas lighting was widely available. Here in Lafayette, Indiana, the "Lafayette Gas Works" was in operation by the 1850's and, in fact, supplied the gas to fill up the balloon that performed the first "air mail flight" in August 1859 (the flight actually came to an abrupt end when the balloon prematurely landed near Crawfordsville IN about 30 miles away). Two on-the-spot photographic images of this event are known to have survived.

At our annual ball, we just set up lots of "hurricane" lamps in safe areas and this provides the proper illumination and "ambience." I have also collected a number of interesting newspaper accounts of Civil War-era "soirees" and can probably send you some if you'd like. They, too, mention the lighting (most of which was gas illumination).

Regards,