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Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am undertaking the planning and equipment assembly for a portayal of a soldiers' aid society at some upcoming national-level military history events which are sponsored by the contemporary US Army. The activities of the aid society will be co-located with a portrayal of a Confederate hospital by another group of reenactors. I seek advice in regard to some of the activities which I am planning for this portrayal.
My caveats:
1. Our soldiers' aid society is composed of active- and civilian-component personnel who are currently assigned to a large contemporary non-medical US Army unit. Most personnel have had limited exposure to civilian reenacting, and are obtaining their attire and equipping their portayals from scratch. I am running a "School of the Civilian", with the assistance of one person. Those who will portray soldier-patients will include contemporary US Army personnel who are Warriors-in-Transition being treated at a major military medical center. I mention this aspect only because it affects the ability of some of those who will portray soldier-patients, particularly those with residual effects from brain trauma injury, to participate, and I do not want to create a situation in which these personnel will be embarrased in front of the general public, who will not know that they are viewing contemporary Warriors-in-Transition with BTIs. [Of course, since many of the public viewers will be military members or retirees, I would be surprised if those don't figure it out, esp. in regard to those who are amputees.]
2. We only have Army funding for our travel/lodging/messing expenses. We do not have an Army budget for our equipment, and so it is all being purchased out of pocket by myself. Thus, I am exercising some discretion in my purchases. [This is not a solicitation for donations, just a statement of my constraints.]
3. I must transport this materiel out of state, and am not certain at this time if I will have the use of US Government vehicles, so I am bearing this in mind, particularly in regard to the vehicle requirements for the transportation of tentage and furnishings, such as tables, chairs ,and food service equipment.
4. Our "day jobs" as military members with fairly long hours take precidence, and constrain the time which we have available for preparations. Also, we do not work in an "unclassified" world, so our access to the INTERNET is generally limited to a short time at home in the evening. This limits our ability to do web-based research and to regularly participate in eMail. In fact, I have never before participated in a web-forum, and thus beg pardon for lack of skill/knowledge of common usage.
5. We don't have a constraint in regard to date of portrayal, so I'm aiming at about 1863. The seasons of portrayal will be late spring and early fall.
Activities:
1. At this time, I plan to have available the following games, to be played with period-appropriate equipment, which, with the exception of the cards, are antiques from the era:
Chess
Checkers
Marbles
Dominos
Playing Cards (for euchre and whist)
I understand that playing cards carried by soldiers were smaller than the size which we consider standard for today, and I have seen some which appear to be about 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" (although I didn't have a means of obtaining an exact measure at the time). Can anyone please advise me of those dimensions? I'd like to take a contemporary set of reproduction cards to a printer to have sets of smaller cards reproduced on plain cardstock and cut them out for use.
Would a set of nine-pins be appropriate?
2. I plan to have the following original edition reading material:
Period magazines (mostly Harpers Monthly)
Period moral encouragement tracts
Period books (Some of your threads on war-time reading have been very helpful to me)
3. I will have personnel declaiming from period poetry and short essays, and reading from period books. I will also have some solo singers, but, as of yet, have not been able to obtain any individual musicians (ex. mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, jews harp).
I have read some recent articles which seek to disabuse us of our incorrect perceptions regarding the dates of introduction and general use of a considerable amount of what we consider to be the standard repertoire of vocal music in the mid-19th century, and am very concerned about the selection of songs. I would be grateful for advice in regard to appropriate songs, and sources for their lyrics and music.
4. We are prepared to darn socks, do minor sewing repairs to clothing and make bandages.
Any advice on bandages? I'd planned to just cut and roll lengths of clean muslin, but am not certain of materiel or of dimensions.
5. I will have writing materiel for soldier-patients and will also have personnel assisting soldier-patients in letter-writing.
6. I will have some personal comfort items for distribution to soldiers who are not patients as well as to those who are, such as tobacco, lucifers, pencils, paper, mini-housewifes, lye soap, and combs.
Can you advise me of any other appropriate comfort items, ex. small pokes and/or candles?
7. My intention is to serve lemonade, and perhaps some tea or coffee to soldiers and soldier-patients, along with some simple tea cakes, hard cheeses, and fruit.
I'd welcome advice on refreshments. Although milk would probably be period-appropriate, I'm disinclined to deal with that which would be neccessary to conceal the mechanics of keeping it at a safe temperature on a warm day. In particular regard to the fruit, I'm thinking that I might be limited to berries for fresh fruit in the spring, along with some apple butter, dried apples and pears...I don't know about nuts. Advice?
I've poured through works on aid societies and a recently-assembled collection of about fifteen years' worth of the more prominent reenacting-focused journals, but don't yet feel secure about the authenticity of my plans. Thus, I'd welcome advice on any aspect of this undertaking.
I appreciate the time that you may give to considering this, and I thank you in advance for any pertinent advice!
J. White
I am undertaking the planning and equipment assembly for a portayal of a soldiers' aid society at some upcoming national-level military history events which are sponsored by the contemporary US Army. The activities of the aid society will be co-located with a portrayal of a Confederate hospital by another group of reenactors. I seek advice in regard to some of the activities which I am planning for this portrayal.
My caveats:
1. Our soldiers' aid society is composed of active- and civilian-component personnel who are currently assigned to a large contemporary non-medical US Army unit. Most personnel have had limited exposure to civilian reenacting, and are obtaining their attire and equipping their portayals from scratch. I am running a "School of the Civilian", with the assistance of one person. Those who will portray soldier-patients will include contemporary US Army personnel who are Warriors-in-Transition being treated at a major military medical center. I mention this aspect only because it affects the ability of some of those who will portray soldier-patients, particularly those with residual effects from brain trauma injury, to participate, and I do not want to create a situation in which these personnel will be embarrased in front of the general public, who will not know that they are viewing contemporary Warriors-in-Transition with BTIs. [Of course, since many of the public viewers will be military members or retirees, I would be surprised if those don't figure it out, esp. in regard to those who are amputees.]
2. We only have Army funding for our travel/lodging/messing expenses. We do not have an Army budget for our equipment, and so it is all being purchased out of pocket by myself. Thus, I am exercising some discretion in my purchases. [This is not a solicitation for donations, just a statement of my constraints.]
3. I must transport this materiel out of state, and am not certain at this time if I will have the use of US Government vehicles, so I am bearing this in mind, particularly in regard to the vehicle requirements for the transportation of tentage and furnishings, such as tables, chairs ,and food service equipment.
4. Our "day jobs" as military members with fairly long hours take precidence, and constrain the time which we have available for preparations. Also, we do not work in an "unclassified" world, so our access to the INTERNET is generally limited to a short time at home in the evening. This limits our ability to do web-based research and to regularly participate in eMail. In fact, I have never before participated in a web-forum, and thus beg pardon for lack of skill/knowledge of common usage.
5. We don't have a constraint in regard to date of portrayal, so I'm aiming at about 1863. The seasons of portrayal will be late spring and early fall.
Activities:
1. At this time, I plan to have available the following games, to be played with period-appropriate equipment, which, with the exception of the cards, are antiques from the era:
Chess
Checkers
Marbles
Dominos
Playing Cards (for euchre and whist)
I understand that playing cards carried by soldiers were smaller than the size which we consider standard for today, and I have seen some which appear to be about 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" (although I didn't have a means of obtaining an exact measure at the time). Can anyone please advise me of those dimensions? I'd like to take a contemporary set of reproduction cards to a printer to have sets of smaller cards reproduced on plain cardstock and cut them out for use.
Would a set of nine-pins be appropriate?
2. I plan to have the following original edition reading material:
Period magazines (mostly Harpers Monthly)
Period moral encouragement tracts
Period books (Some of your threads on war-time reading have been very helpful to me)
3. I will have personnel declaiming from period poetry and short essays, and reading from period books. I will also have some solo singers, but, as of yet, have not been able to obtain any individual musicians (ex. mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, jews harp).
I have read some recent articles which seek to disabuse us of our incorrect perceptions regarding the dates of introduction and general use of a considerable amount of what we consider to be the standard repertoire of vocal music in the mid-19th century, and am very concerned about the selection of songs. I would be grateful for advice in regard to appropriate songs, and sources for their lyrics and music.
4. We are prepared to darn socks, do minor sewing repairs to clothing and make bandages.
Any advice on bandages? I'd planned to just cut and roll lengths of clean muslin, but am not certain of materiel or of dimensions.
5. I will have writing materiel for soldier-patients and will also have personnel assisting soldier-patients in letter-writing.
6. I will have some personal comfort items for distribution to soldiers who are not patients as well as to those who are, such as tobacco, lucifers, pencils, paper, mini-housewifes, lye soap, and combs.
Can you advise me of any other appropriate comfort items, ex. small pokes and/or candles?
7. My intention is to serve lemonade, and perhaps some tea or coffee to soldiers and soldier-patients, along with some simple tea cakes, hard cheeses, and fruit.
I'd welcome advice on refreshments. Although milk would probably be period-appropriate, I'm disinclined to deal with that which would be neccessary to conceal the mechanics of keeping it at a safe temperature on a warm day. In particular regard to the fruit, I'm thinking that I might be limited to berries for fresh fruit in the spring, along with some apple butter, dried apples and pears...I don't know about nuts. Advice?
I've poured through works on aid societies and a recently-assembled collection of about fifteen years' worth of the more prominent reenacting-focused journals, but don't yet feel secure about the authenticity of my plans. Thus, I'd welcome advice on any aspect of this undertaking.
I appreciate the time that you may give to considering this, and I thank you in advance for any pertinent advice!
J. White
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