Why Not Thirteen Months?

I recently had the pleasure of escorting some family members to one of New York's historic forts. Some of you may recall seeing photos of two grandsons having the time of their lives at Fort Niagara this past spring. When I learned there was a Revolutionary War reenactment at Fort Ontario, in Oswego, NY, I thought it was a good opportunity to give the girls a chance to dress up too!

Unfortunately, August is my craziest month of the year and we went with less than period-appropriate costuming. The little one wore a hand-me-down Regency dress (yes 1812) and the older one wore... gasp... I can barely admit this... a polyester 'colonial girl' costume we grabbed from Amazon.

If you know how much I love to sew and make costumes, you'll know how this bothered me!

But what was important? Having fun and learning history.

We couldn't have had a better day for it!

And that day even Granny learned something when we had the pleasure of chatting with and learning from a Seneca man. He brought a large pack full of items, and after the kids sat at his feet to listen, a a larger group of people gathered.

So, my reference to thirteen months?  Do you see this snapping turtle shell made into a ceremonial rattle? Our instructor said he was a 'Twisted Hair' and though he didn't have curls, he explained it denoted him as a medicine man or shaman.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/39718914_native-american-snapping-turtle-rattle

The very long neck of the snapping turtle is splinted as it dried to use as a handle, then reinforced.

If you've never had the pleasure of seeing a snapping turtle in person, you might be surprised at the length of their neck! While they are pleasantly cordial in the water, never try to make friends with one on land. Best to watch and enjoy! SNAPPING refers to how quickly they could break off your finger! While some say the safest way is to carry it by the tail, that can cause injury for the turtle.

Our teacher at Fort Ontario described how he might use the rattle in a healing ceremony and then pointed out that the shell could also be used as a calendar! How cool is that?

The main part of the shell has thirteen segments.  
The smaller edge segments number twenty eight.
Now, I can't tell you any good reason why we have twelve confusing months with varying number of days in them. Is Rome to blame?

The Haudenosaunee people, like most 'first people' of the Americas (and around the world) simply used lunar months. Thirteen moons and twenty eight days apart.  I don't know how 'leap year' day works into this formula, but I like a nice straight and logical idea like this turtle shell calendar!

What do you think?

Arnold T. Drooz, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

A Memorable Trip to Old Fort Niagara

Fort Niagara (in present day New York state) is the setting for my Backcountry Brides novella, A Heart So Tender. With their first event of the 2018 season, “Patriot’s Day”, I decided to take my two eight year-old grandsons along for some fun. They are great fans of costumes, history and weapons. Blessed by some amazing spring weather, we visited on April 21.

Dressed up in makeshift costumes and some fancy tricorns, the boys were awed by the site of the fort. They didn’t know what to expect. With a light crowd throughout the day, re-enactors and visitors made much of a sunny warm day where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario.

The view from the South Redoubt (Block house) toward the French Castle

With muskets in hand, my grandsons were easily conscripted into the colonial army and learned how to load their muskets, follow commands, and march—even learning how to pivot in formation!

Across all that water? Fort York, or as we know it, Toronto, Ontario. And, yes, we could see the skyline!

The muskets had quite a work out. Can you imagine how much fun it was to run all over the fort, over berms, lurk around stockade fences, and spy on the enemy from the walls of the fort and the two redoubts (block houses)?

Here they are along the berms/ramparts where centuries of soldiers fought against enemies approaching by land. Behind is the north Blockhouse and in the distance, the French Castle sitting on the corner overlooking both the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.

These young men surprised me with how much they knew, but the experience made for an unforgettable look into our history. Fourth graders in New York have a ‘colonial history’ day and these costumes will come in handy! They learned about the parts of the uniforms of both armies worn during the Revolutionary War, and demonstrations of musket loading and firing, and how British regiments fought in formation. 

Watching a demonstration of Revolutionary War era uniforms and clothing. Fort Niagara hosts an amazing French and Indian War encampment, as well as War of 1812 and Revolutionary War events, among others. (Ignore the hooded sweatshirts on my soldiers! It had snowed the day before.)

Before we left, we witnessed a skirmish meant to simulate "The shot heard round the world", the battle at Lexington and Concord. 

Indoor corridor on the second floor. The French Castle was built in the 1700s and has seen three nations' armies in the nearly 300 year history. It's always exciting to see the places my characters walked. 

Please stop back tomorrow when the authors of Backcountry Brides host a day long tea party and an afternoon facebook party with prizes and treats and lots of fun!

The Art of Glass Blowing at the Jamestown Colony

When most people think of glass blowing, crystal images of carved items and cute animals may come to mind, or the glass blowing demonstrations at Disney's Magic Kingdom. Few realize that the first glass blowing business in America began as early at 1608 in the Jamestown Colony.

Replica glass blowing furnace (1608)

While the first glass blowing attempt did not last, there is written evidence that it did survive as late as 1610, and therefore, may have been successful in the first couple of years. In 1948, the glass furnaces were rediscovered and excavated near the Jamestown settlement.

The site now serves as a glass blowing museum where visitors can view the remains of the furnaces from the early 1600's and observe the living reenactment of how it would have been in 1608. The current furnaces are built and used exactly in period-style fashion. One significant difference is that back then the furnaces were heated by wood and the replicas are heated by natural gas. Today's artisans wear colonial clothing and serve as apprentices for a number of years, learning and perfecting the trade. You can visit and watch them in action and ask as many (or more) questions as I did.

Heated substance being molded into candleholders

We visited right before Christmas and wanted some red colored candlesticks for the holiday decor that we could take home with us. The artisans explained that their owners only allow them to reproduce the exact colors that would have been available back then. If you love to see history in action, it's hard to find a place more authentic than this.

Reenactor molding glass

For each piece that they make, it is placed in the store where it is made and sold to visitors who come through to visit and observe them in action. While some of the pieces are similar, there are no two pieces exactly alike. You will find candleholders, wine bottles, glasses, vases, paperweights, pitchers and other period pieces you can purchase and take home as a souvenir. One thing you will need to remember and warn everyone in your household is that these items are not made for modern-day use. They cannot be placed in the dishwasher or microwave, nor can you pour hot liquids in them. These items may break and shatter in pieces.

If you cannot go and experience this authentic place in person, you can visit their online store and order their unique items through their website.

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Author Jennifer Hudson Taylor
www.jenniferhudsontaylor.net

Jennifer Hudson Taylor is an award-winning author of inspirational fiction set in historical Europe & the Carolinas. Her debut novel, Highland Blessings, won the Holt Medallion Award for Best First Book, followed by Highland Sanctuary. Jennifer has six published novels and several novellas. Her work has been reviewed in USA Today, Publisher's Weekly and the Library Journal. 

She provides keynotes speeches and workshops on the publishing industry, the craft of writing, & digital marketing.

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Constructing a Red Cape

Reenactors at the Battle of the Hook - Two with Red Capes

I have a story where a red cape is one of the plot details. I've been on the lookout for construction of capes. So when Cynthia Howerter and I came across these lovely ladies at the Battle of the Hook reenactment last year, we had to stop to chat with them!

Below is the inside of the longer red cape. As you can see, it requires a great deal of material. I was told that the cloth, a bright red wool, is often available through reenactor sales suppliers.  You'll see in the pictures that follow, that the hood can be lined with white fabric.

Here it is fully pulled open. You can see the panel on the right, that I'll also show below.  So below we can see she is pointing to the seam that was stitched to hold the extra panels on the ends.  Note, above, that the material is gathered at the neckline where it meets the hood.

Below is the hood from the shorter cape. Note how the center of the hood becomes almost a cone shape when pushed through.

You can see from the picture below that the spacious cape comes in handy for keeping your daughter warm, too! Loved meeting these ladies.

 In the picture below, the excess lining is gently gathered and tucked inside between the wool and linen or cotton lining.

Here we can see how the fabric is not stitched together in this hood, but it can be, if you prefer. It is not required. This is a nice time saving if one is in a hurry to get ready for a reenactment event. Or if one is a busy mother with little time to attend to the detail for finely sticking down the gathered sections which is very time consuming.

I sure wish I had my own red cape. Alas, I still do not. And I don't think I'll be able to construct my own at this point in time. But this project does look very doable. The heavy wool does not really require a hem at the bottom. It can be cut with sharp sheers with little to no fraying.

Until I have my own red cape (which I'd love to have used with some willing young lady as model for the cover I have in mind) I'll have to content myself with looking at these pictures of these beautiful red capes!

Question: Is there some colonial garment that you wish you owned? 

Reenactments as Learning Tools for Homeschoolers by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Last year I had the privilege of attending a reenactment of the Battle of the Hook which took place in Gloucester, Virginia. Cynthia Howerter has also blogged about this experience on Colonial Quills. Today I am writing about the value in bringing your homeschoolers to such events.

The picture above is the scene we were met with when we entered Warner Hall. Can you imagine, living back in the time of the American Revolution, what it would be like to wake up and find an army encamped in your fields? By bringing children to some of these events, they can see in real life what their history books are talking about (without the gore of course!)

Youth in regimental uniform

You can bet that the young fellow pictured above has learned a great deal about colonial times by participating in reenactments with his parents. We've just begun homeschooling this year, but we've been bringing our son to many of these events over the years. And he earned perfect SOL History scores in public school. God has been good in giving us opportunities, where we live, to experience "living history" in Virginia's Historic Triangle.

The adults we met were very helpful in answering questions about their regiments, which had come from all over the United States. This is an opportunity for your young scholar to hear from people who have knowledge about specific parts of the eastern seaboard. Before going to an event, ask your homeschooling child to come up with some questions they'd like answered. Have them bring a small notepad and a backpack.

Also, for moms and dads, bring your pocketbook for all the amazing shops for reenactors clothing! I was able to purchase a colonial outfit for myself at a fraction of the cost I would have paid for such an ensemble locally. Word of caution--when purchasing hand sewn items for children, double check that the stitching is tight and is double stitched. I found a gorgeous shirt for my son that tore after only one wearing. I should have known to have checked because I learned to sew as a child.




With Virginia reenact ors dressed in frontiersmen's garb, this is an opportunity for parents to ask their children why these soldiers are dressed differently. And to discuss the differences between local militia units and being part of the Continental Army. Also great chance to ask about what the militia men and their families faced by having left their homes, and potentially crops, behind.

Frontiersmen Reenactors

We also got to view an arrival by water, which was really wonderful! If you look at the water, you'll see reenact ors arriving at the battle scene by boat! I've never seen anything like that before.

Set at gorgeous Warner Hall, a bed and breakfast, The Battle of the Hook Reenactment was open to the public. But you can also come stay on these historic grounds at other times as a paying guest at the inn. Last year they also had a Christmas event with cookies and hot cocoa for the children.  Warner Hall was so expansive I had to take two pictures to fit it all in. Notice how the building extends to the right. And below I've added the picture of the left flank.

This is the main house at Warner Hall

Left flanking house from Warner Hall

Looks like a great place for Mom and Dad to come back to by themselves, don't you agree?

Here's the link to The Inn at Warner Hall (click here.)













Read more about Warner Hall here on Janet Grunst's post last year on CQ (Click here.)

Jennifer Hudson Taylor also blogged about the value of reenactments. (Click here.)


Q: Do you have a special reenactment event that you like to attend?




Bio: Carrie Fancett Pagels is the Amazon bestselling author of "The Fruitcake Challenge" and "Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance" and loves almost all things colonial!

Dispelling Colonial Myths: a reenactor myth started it all

Beautiful Drayton Hall ... occupied by the British

Living in the Charleston area for more than two decades can give one an interesting perspective on history. Not only have I gained a different slant on the Civil War than my Midwest school education gave me, but the richness of colonial history rooted here took me quite by surprise.

I’d been bitten by the reenacting bug a year before when attending a Civil War reenactment, but in May 2005 a new and intriguing historical event came on the scene, the 225^th  anniversary commemoration of the Siege of Charleston. This grand reenactment spanned all three major Ashley River plantations: Middleton Place, Magnolia Gardens, and Drayton Hall. Each plantation had its own encampment, and each had its own admission price, and after deciding we didn’t have the time (or energy!) to hit all three of them, my family picked Drayton Hall, simply because it was the one of the three we hadn’t seen before.

Love the expressions! And the uniforms ... :-)

Thus my introduction to the British Legion, since none of the American (patriot) camps were at this location. During our exploration of the British camps, one friendly young reenactor cheerfully bestowed all sorts of useful and interesting information upon us.

A neat cluster of muskets

One nugget in particular caught my interest. The British soldiers, he said, often brought their wives along to help with the work of caring for the army—laundry and nursing and suchlike—and they were the ones the term “campfollower” originally applied to. Only later, especially during the Civil War, did it become synonymous with prostitutes who followed the army for their livelihood, although some of that happened during the Revolution as well.

The overlap of historical and modern

The young man proceeded to tell us that if a woman was unlucky enough to be widowed, the British army gave her a mere three days to attach herself to another man before abandoning her to whatever fate might dish out.

Three days.

My imagination fired at that, and the story premise behind Loyalty’s Cadence was born.

Later, I would join an 18^th century research email list, frequented by historians and reenactors of the period, and I discovered this was not the case at all. The British army had very detailed regulations for the care of campfollowing wives, and the standard policy was, in the case of widowhood, to provide for her return to England, if she so wished. (I’m sure in the field, there was much room for difference of interpretation, but that’s another discussion.) I was indignant to find I’d been handed a common “reenactor myth,” told for the sake of sensationalizing history.

Standing guard at the house

As if history needs sensationalizing.

Thus also began my quest to find the truth in research, or at least as close to it as is possible through the reports of people who see events through the lenses of very different experiences and opinions.

And if I write with too much sympathy of the British and loyalist cause, I suppose it can be blamed on the fact that we chose Drayton Hall that muggy May day in Charleston. :-)

 

(Another highlight of the 225^th Anniversary of the Siege of Charleston: a lecture, complete with visual aids, on colonial battlefield medicine. Useful stuff, for a writer, though his description of amputation left me very queasy. That, too, was inspiring in its own way!)

All photos are my own.

Adventures in Historically Accurate Costuming, Part 3

Reed for boning, unbleached linen, twill tape ... ready!

So, as things turned out, I wound up in our hometown-to-be the first weekend of November and missed attending the RevWar event in Camden. Finishing out my 18th century ensemble has been put on hold for now, but I’ll talk about my experience with doing a fully boned pair of stays ...

I explained how the cardboard mockup gave me severe cramping across my lower back and hips. I’ve wondered, with my history of back issues (an injury at age 15 made chiropractic care a near necessity over the years), how much of wearing stays was the 18c way of dealing with chronic pain, since at that point they were as much about support as shape, especially among working classes. Infants and children wore specially made stays as well, because society during that era believed that developing bodies needed the support.

Inside of the stays...center is front

Determined to get a rudimentary pair of stays made, I ordered ash boning reed (essentially the same thing used for splining on caned chair seats) and a few other supplies. The wood boning is preferable to other materials because of its flexibility and breathability—using all plastic or metal poses the danger of overheating during summertime wear. For the fabric, I needed three layers: outside, interfacing, and lining. I cut the outer layer from a rough, unbleached linen, the interfacing from white linen left over from my shift, and the lining from the unbleached linen. (I should have switched the interfacing and lining.) I’d made a mockup of cheap muslin and tried it on, and found that it fit well enough I could pretty much just cut out the pieces according to the original pattern. So much for the cardboard mockup being accurate. :-)

Outside of stays

It was also recommended that I not assemble the stays as directed by the pattern (each layer as one), but by pattern piece, sewing the layers together on the boning channels before assembling them as a whole. Also, I made the stays front-lacing as well as back lacing, so I edged the front and back openings alike, following the directions for the back.

Lacing holes--I've hand stitched the edges of one, but not the others!

After sewing in channels and and assembling the two halves of the stays, I inserted one length of boning into each, and made holes down the front and back openings for the lacing (not cutting the fabric, but poking a fine knitting needle through, then a thicker one, and using a heavy embroidery needle to pull the twill tape through the holes for lacings). At that point, there wasn't time to finish out the stays before trying them out for my book launch party.

Pattern for pockets, and other goodies

The fit was amazing! Just enough support and shaping that I shouldn’t have to alter the dress much, if at all. And they are comfortable enough for several hours’ wear, without pain. (No photos of this part, sadly!) I did discover that I'll need to beef up the boning--two lengths per channel--for strength and rigidity. I'll also need to attach the lining before trimming the edges and attaching the binding, which I hear can be a job all its own, depending upon whether I use linen or soft leather. I'm told the soft chamois pieces sold at auto parts stores work great for this.

Pattern for cap

After the book launch party, I’d planned to continue construction on the ensemble—finishing the stays, adding a colonial ladies’ cap and possibly pockets—but all that came to a grinding halt in favor of preparations for my husband to travel to his new job and then my last-minute househunting trip out there. But I have plans to complete the ensemble, after our move.

Any questions on the process? Details you want to ask about? I’m happy to share or clarify!