World Turn'd Upside Down

February 18, 2012

There's a Word for That: Presentism

"presentism /'prezen,tizəm/ n. uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, esp. the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts." -The New Oxford American Dictionary

This is a relatively new word to me although I have long noted the existence of this phenomenon in the history field. This kind of viewpoint is often shown when discussing the more gruesome parts of history such as slavery, the oppression of women, styles of warfare, and daily life choices.

In the history field, we constantly hear "I would never do that!" But, it is far more complicated than that. Just like many of us would not harbor a fugitive today, many people understood the real 1800s risks of harboring a fugitive slave.

Today, very few of us would let a doctor operate on us with the fresh blood of another patient on his arms and apron or squeeze their internal organs to get a tiny waist.

Information and knowledge builds upon existing knowledge, things that are obvious to us or "common knowledge" may not have been to people in the past. Today, every child knows that germs can make you sick and that washing your hands can keep you safe. Three-hundred years ago the technology to prove the existence of germs didn't exist. People responded to the modern scientific and medical information at their disposal.

People in the past were not any less intelligent than people today. In 300 years, schoolchildren everywhere will laugh at the stupidity and ignorance of the inhabitants of 2012. You cannot judge people of the past by modern standards, values or ideas, you can only try to understand them through the lens of the time period in which they lived. Many people fall into this trap but study can help create a fuller understanding of the people of the past, what motivated them, and their experiences.

February 13, 2012

Valentine's Day Card Patterns from 1911

It's that time of year again! I think we should bring back a Valentine's Day tradition that has largely been lost. Cards have been generally given by admirers on Valentine's Day since the 1700s, but they used to be anonymous! Imagine the fun! I am also a huge fan of homemade cards.

These patterns and cards are from a book entitled "Suggestions for Handwork in School and at Home" published in 1911. The templates were designed to be cut out of colored paper and affixed to cards or cut out and used as templates for paint. There are also some cute sayings and poems.

Check out my other Valentine's Day Posts:

-Valentine's Day Cards : A short history of Valentine's Day cards and come old fashioned cards to send people.

-The Language of Flowers: The meanings of flowers taken from a book from 1856.

Think about sending a homemade card to someone you love. Better yet, make it anonymous.

February 7, 2012

Volunteer for CWT's Park Day!

March 31st is the Civil War Trust's Park Day where volunteers help clean and fix up battlefields and other historic sites.

Some of the big battlefields will be participating, such as Cedar Creek, Antietam and Gettysburg but there are a lot of smaller sites participating too. Pennsylvania only has two participating sites but Virginia and Tennessee have a lot participating.

This really is a great time to help out your favorite site, especially since many sites are significantly underfunded. Each site has different jobs to be done from landscaping and cleaning to locating and identifying graves.

Click here for a list of participating sites.

A lot of visitors really does take its toll on historic sites. The sites really do appreciate having a lot of extra hands to do work that needs to be done. You can bring tons of friends and make a really fun day of it.

Anyone planning on participating?

February 3, 2012

Civil War Boy's Jacket Pattern from Godey's Lady's Book

When I went to Antietam, the museum there had a tiny Zouave jacket worn by a musician during the battle. It has fabric covered decorative buttons on the red patterns and was sewn with white thread.The coat was small, it was almost sad to think about the boy wearing it.

I found a very similar jacket pattern in Godey's and wanted to offer the pattern to my readers with children.

I was going to wait to post this until I had it drafted to correct shape and proportions but school has been extremely busy again and it doesn't seem like I'll have a chance to do it for a while. So far I have the back proportioned out correctly but am working on making the front armholes a comfortable curve. My drafting skills are terrible so I am sure someone else could have this drawn out quickly.

January 30, 2012

A Letter of Introduction: Dispatches from Company 'Q'

I have the pleasure of introducing my readers to a new blog by a seasoned blogger and writer, Jeff B. of the 2nd Delaware Volunteer Infantry. He's currently writing a Civil War based blog that focuses on the military side of reenacting and history.

For those of you who do not know Jeff, he is a Northern cousin of my Southern Civil War persona. In his real life he is a photographer, artist and writer. He has always had an interest in history.

He just started reenacting last year and is still learning but is anxious to share his knowledge with newer recruits. He has been doing a lot of good research and I expect to see some great contributions in the future.

His blog was half intended to be a companion blog to mine, covering the areas of reenacting that I don't cover as often, but I have no doubt that it will stand on its own. it's nice to think of them as "sibling sites."

Dispatches from Company 'Q.'

*****A word of caution to my younger and lady readers: My cousin Jeffery has been spending much of his time around soldiers and has picked up quite a few ungentlemanly habits, such as foul language. Please skip his blog if it offends you.

Please check out his blog and don't forget to snag his blog buttons: