Trash or History?

Did you know that litter on National Park land belongs to the government? The same goes for anything interesting you might find.

If you find something really interesting in a national park, the proper protocol is to take photos of it, note it's location and notify the ranger.  Many people are unaware of this or don't think anything of picking up these items and keeping them or giving them to the rangers.

To many, artifacts are the treasure. But to anyone studying history, the context is the treasure. To illustrate, it is the difference between finding a button from a Civil War soldier and finding a button from a Civil War soldier who was only 16 years old and delivered a letter to Stonewall Jackson minutes before he was killed.  

Do you think that there are so many visitors that you shouldn't even bother keeping your eyes open? Very interesting things are found on historic sites each year. Weapons, ammunition, buttons, helmets, and coins are found on battlefields every year. Some visitors even find soldiers. 

Last year, a visitor stumbled upon the remains of a Civil War soldier at Antietam, in a groundhog hole. While no charges were filed against him for bringing the remains to the rangers, this man at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield wasn't so lucky. He found remains sticking out of a river bed, excavated them and sent them to the park service. He was fined over $5,000.

 

Middletown Peach Festival and Fun

This weekend I had a ton of fun at the Middletown Peach Festival in Delaware with the Victorians of Virtue and Valor. We marched in the parade and then occupied the yard in front of the historical society with period games, a fabulous Cinderella puppet show made from period patterns, a recruitment center, a silhouette artist and even a snake-oil salesman. 

While the festival isn't purely a historically based event, the event was lighthearted and there was a lot of interaction between reenactors and visitors.

Beautiful doll fashion show.

Salesman making some sales. 

The puppet show was beautiful and a huge draw for girls and boys alike.  Some visitors even play acted out the whole 15 minute Cinderella script. 

To finish off the day, the ladies tried their hands at a military volley.  

Then Sunday, Andy and I went to help out on tall ship, Gazela. We're joining the crew so will have more updates about the ship later this year.

Overall it was a fun and productive weekend. I was able to see friends and make new ones.

Period Shoes Hurt? Period Shoe Solutions Civil War Knitted Soles

You put on your period dress and walk outside in the nice, smoke filled air. Everything is perfect. You have a nice dress, a great bonnet and an awesome shawl. But something is wrong. It's your cute shoes. Every step you take, you feel the rubbing of your raw foot against hardened leather. Your shoes hurt and it's ruining what would otherwise be a good time.

Much of the uncomfortableness of period shoes would be assuaged by woolen socks, and everyday use molding shoes to fit more comfortably. But sometimes, reproduction shoes just don't fit quite right. Many times, they aren't made to our feet and never fit perfect.


There are a few period solutions to the problem, the most common one seems to be an insole made of "kid leather" glued inside the shoe. This would make shoes a little tighter and could cover any uncomfortable stitches or overlaps.  It is very simple to make this kind by tracing the bottom of your shoe onto leather and cutting it down as you need to make it fit.

For those who wanted a little more cushion, knitted insole patterns were widely published.

I've included 2 knitted patterns below. These patterns will have to be widened slightly to fit a modern day foot. If you have ever had the chance to look at period shoes, they are thinner than most of our shoes and feet today. The size of our feet is linked to our diets as children and modern people in general have larger feet even just compared to our grandparents. If you are a beginner, you can trace the bottom of your shoe to use as a template and increase and decrease stitches to match it.

I like the idea of sewing the knitting to muslin and sealing the outer edge with ribbon:

Plate 21

  

Garden Wedding!

This weekend I got to go to the most beautiful, intimate garden wedding ever! For those of you that don't know, I love garden weddings. I love small weddings. Small intimate weddings just ooze love. Only recently have people started shying away from small affairs in favor of enormous, lavish events.(Personally I don't believe in couples starting out their lives together in debt for a one day party.)

 

There's just something about small weddings that makes your heart feel the romance in the air. Many bigger gatherings just can't capture that.

Many of the details of a wedding are forgotten soon after the celebration dies down. But that feeling of love that burned in your heart when you witness two people can be felt years later.

This really was an awesome, love-filled wedding and I'm so happy I got to witness it. It was a beautiful wedding and such a happy celebration. Congratulations guys!

Know a Veteran? Record their Story!

LOC

The American Folklife Center, part of the Library of Congress, has been conducting an important ongoing project: The Veteran's History Project. The goal of the Veteran's History Project is to collect firsthand accounts from American war veterans, and civilians to aided war efforts from WWI to the present.





As more and more witnesses of these events pass away, their personal stories are lost with them. Many people experienced extraordinary things that they do not feel the need to share with anyone until someone asks. 

Many people discredit oral histories because they have long been associated with many problems.

Problems associated with oral history:

- Interviews conducted years after an event are subject to nostalgia, forgetfulness, embellishment, false memory, etc. 

- The interviewer's questions can make certain aspects seem more important to the interviewee than they really were. For instance, interviewers generally ask specific questions that they are interested in hearing about rather than letting the interviewee demonstrate what they believed was most important. 

-Interviewees may be reluctant to share things that they may be embarrassed of, especially if the interviewer is a family member. 

Even though there are many pitfalls in using and conducting oral histories, oral histories are still important.  Oral histories can bring up forgotten parts of history and give a human face and experience to historical events. Oral histories are good for recording emotions and feelings about events. Writers of history are quick to generalize the feelings of groups of people in the past but oral histories are one way to show the diversity of feelings and emotions that existed. In addition, they also show the diversity of experience. A farm girl might have different feelings about an event than a soldier she was standing next to.


If you would like to take part in the project, the American Folklife Center has put together resources for those interested and instructions on how to record and submit materials. 

-Here is a link to the project.
-Here is a link to their interview field kit.   
-Search to see some of the histories they have collected already.  
-Tips for Interviewers from the Bancroft Library's Regional Oral History Office to help interviewers minimize bias in their interviews.