2012 Reenacting Season Begins Soon!

It seems like the new year just started, but we're already nearing the end of it's second month. The beginning of the season seems far away, but battalion drill is just a few weeks away, and before we know it, we'll be at Neshaminy again. We have a few new faces in the company this year: a welcome sight!

Since reenacting season is approaching quickly, it's probably time to break out all our gear and make sure everything's in working order. Here are a few tips to save you from scrambling at the event to find makeshift remedies to problems easily solved at home.

1. Simply go through your stuff and make sure everything's organized and together. There's nothing like realizing you can't find your shoes the day before the event, then turning the house upside down and inside out only to realize you left them in the trunk of your car at the end of the season.

2. Try on your clothes. Make sure everything still fits, and there are no..erm...embarrassing holes that need to be patched....again..

3. Make sure any accessories or weapons are still in working order. Damaged baskets, dirty muskets, and torn haversacks can be fixed/replaced a lot easier BEFORE you get to the event.

4. Make sure you fill up on supplies. Personal effects like soap can be kept in your haversack. Go through your haversacks, baskets, and bags. Make sure the containers are full. For our soldiers, make sure you have sufficient rounds rolled and stored for a few events. If you have enough for more than one, you can make it through the next event even if you don't have time later.

5. Check your tents/shelters. Make sure tents aren't torn, your poles are in good shape, and you have enough stakes/pegs.

Everybody's life gets hectic, and we often forget about preparing properly for events. This leads to a lot of stress right before and even during the event. Making sure you're prepared will help ensure you have an enjoyable event, making you a happier reenactor and enabling you to have more time to spend having fun with your friends. Next time you're not sure what to do with yourself, check out some of your gear. You can even check the integrity of some of your gear, or perhaps sew on buttons or patches, while watching television.

Remember, while life can be busy, reenacting is a hobby and should be enjoyed. By following some of these steps you'll ensure it will be!

Civil War Pancake Recipe

  We are trying something new this event. We normally stick to eggs for breakfast but this time we are thinking of trying pancakes. These "pancakes" are actually closer to crepes, being thinner and rolled up with a filling inside.

Ingredients:

- 1 Cup Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Cup Milk
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- Butter
-Powdered Sugar (Granulated Sugar pounded in a mortar) or Preserves.

Instructions:

Whisk the eggs separately, add milk and salt and slowly mix in the flour. Heat up a skillet or frying pan. Add 1/2 ounce of butter to coat the pan in between frying pancakes.  Pour in approximately 1/2 cup of batter into the pan, making sure that the pancake will be thin enough to flip and roll them. When the pancake is solid on one side, flip it with a spatula. and fry the other side. Once out of the pan and cool enough to touch, sift powdered sugar or spread preserves on the top and roll the pancake up. Eat right away. 

I'll post some pictures after we make them. I can't wait, I've never been to this event before. For more recipes, visit our "receipt book" using the image link on the right or visit my blog World Turn'd Upside Down.

New Market Reenactment 2011 Surprisingly Not Muddy!!

You read that right! The New Market Reenactment had no mud until 10 minutes before all the reenactors packed up to leave.

The event was really good. The battles were exciting, the men getting to tramp through an orchard and over a fence. The temperature wasn't terrible but the humidity was high.

We were so happy that even though the weather forecast was thunderstorms that it held out. Saturday night we had a bit of rain but no thunder or lightning and the wet ground had dried before morning.

 

To read more about the Reenactment, see my blog post about it here.

New Season!

We haven't posted in awhile. We've been preparing for the new season and can't wait for our first event, next week.  We have cleaned all of the weapons and the cooking utensils. We will be trying out some new recipes this year, including "Popovers" for which there is a recipe on my blog. Hopefully if we make these at home in advance, it will cut down on some cooking time in the field while still giving the guys a snack before the first battle.

We've been in such a cooking rut just to simplify cooking and food buying, I'm excited that we will be trying some new things. Our first event will be the Neshaminy Reenactment in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Practice Shooting

Most of the regiment went black powder shooting with the reproduction rifles. It was tons of fun.

Civil War Era Hair Oils

Did you ever wonder how people kept their hair so tidy? Remember, hair pins were not like modern "bobby pins" and were incapable of holding down flyaways. People used hair oils which tended to be a simple oil, such as almond oil, and a scent and pomatums to keep their hair sleek. Ladies tended to use "pomatum" and men used hair oil.

"Hair Oil.-- The best hair oil is made by mixing high proofed alcohol and cold pressed castor oil. These ingredients are the base of all the celebrated hair oils." -- M. L. Dunlap, The Illinois Farmer Vol. 8 (Springfield: Baker & Phillips, 1863), 117.

1860s Carriages and Coaches

Coaches, carriages, buggies, and omnibuses are absent at most reenactments due their their high cost and the lack of manufacturers. During the mid 1800s, you would only have a family carriage if you were relatively wealthy. For the middle class, one could rent a carriage for a night or take an omnibus. Omnibuses were carriages that could hold around 6 people. Some omnibuses ran on assigned routes, but many were willing to drive along the established route and infringe on other companies' territory. 

Most carriages were pulled by horses; therefore, someone had to prepare and ready the horses in advance. Outings had to be planned out ahead of time so that a servant or a male family member could harness the horse or horses. By this point, carriages had springs that would absorb much of the shock from driving over unpaved roads.  

Newspapers frequently joked about ladies not being able to fit into carriages because of their large cages and hoopskirts. Etiquette guides of the period strongly urged ladies not to enter omnibuses that had too many people in them. Their reasoning was that the lady would not look ladylike trying to cram herself in a packed car and would make other people uncomfortable. 

 Clippings from:

Ezra M. Stratton and George Washington Wright Houghton, The New York Coach-maker's Magazine Vol. 2 (New York: E.M. Stratton, 1860).