More on Egroups

Good day,
I am finally following up with my blog (I need an 18thC term for "blog") about egroups for reenactors. I want to provide info on how to join them and get the most out of them.

Joining a Group
Many egroups let you browse the messages without joining, some do not. Almost all require you to be a member before visiting their links, photos, files, etc. But you cannot get any messages sent to you by email if you don't join. So, you need to join.

When you click on the link for any one of the egroups in my previous blog, you will go to the "home" page for that egroup, and in the upper right corner, you will see the blue button that says "Join This Group".

Click on the "Join This Group" button. That will take you to a page where you specify your email address, how you want the email messages sent, and other information. The "Digest" means you get all the emails rolled rolled up into one rather than having them sent individually.

In many cases, the egroup moderator(s) will have to review your request. This may take a few days, as they are normal people who manage the list for fun.

In all cases, Yahoo! sends you an email to confirm that you are you signing up you. Click on the link in that email. Then, you will get a second email from Yahoo! when you are in, and you can just click on that link to go to the egroup website.

Getting the most of out Egroups
To get the most out of egroup, create Yahoo! account. You can send and receive emails from the egroup without joining Yahoo!, but you can access all the wealth of information on the egroup websites only when you have a Yahoo! account. Just go to Yahoo.com and create an account.

Once you can do that, you are able to:
~Search archives of messages: Click on Messages on the left side menu and that will take you to a page of messages where you will see a Search box. Enter key words and Yahoo! will show you previous messages where those words occur.
~Post and answer messages
~Read files and photos (other people's research)
~Post your own files and photos to share with others.

I could go on, but I think I will stop here. I trust you are clever enough to figure it out yourselves from here.

YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey

18th Century Reenactor's egroups

Good day,

One of the best resources around for reenactors who use the web for research, shopping, and socializing, is the Yahoo! egroups and other email distribution lists. If you aren't familiar with them, I will tell you later how they work. For now, let me list the ones I know of that are worthwhile for 18th Century Reenactors:

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/18cMusic/: a bit of a misnomer, as it is there to assist reenactors in the accurate portrayal of the 18th Century military field musician, not 18th century music in general (as the name implies).

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/18cWoman/: without a doubt one of the best, this is a place to discuss everything about women in the 18th century, clothing, manners, status, condition, and more. Stories of actual women, excerpts from letters & diaries, sources for study. Emphasis on regional differences, and the abilities displayed in home and the running of businesses. An exploration of how events affected their lives. Men and women are both on this list, and "men's stuff" does get discussed now and then, especially clothing.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/250thFIEventsLakeGeorgeNY/: focused on the 250th anniversary of the events that occured at the southern end of Lake George and which will be re-enacted through 2007 at Lake George.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cookfi/: relevant to the 2005 Cook Forest (PA) F&I War Encampment plus a number of other great events in the PA area.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FandIBrits/: This group is intended to communicate information between members of French and Indian War reenactors portraying British Regulars,Provicials,Rangers and Natives loyal to The British Crown.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FandIWAR/: military battles, life in camp, material culture of the times, weapons, the social order of colonial America, and just about anything else on subjects pertaining to the eighteenth century, including topics specifically related to re-enacting the period on both sides of the conflict (French, British, general Colonial, and Native American).

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FandIWomen/ a discussion of women and their pertinent issues in the French and Indian (Seven Years) War era, including interpreting the daily lives of women in Nouvelle France (roughly 1740-1760); this list is useful because 18CWoman has a strong emphasis on Rev War era and very little influence on Canadian women.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/historic_animals/: while not just for reenactors, this forum brings together Living historians and breeders of historically correct breeds of Livestock which includes cattle,horses sheep,pigs,goats,poultry,cats and dogs, for discussing historically correct breeds, and for reneactors who are intersted in incorpating the historically correct animals into the Living History community.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalTrekking/: dedicated to living history or historical trekking, for people who are interested in recreating the daily life skills and activities of the people who lived in North America during the 18th century.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MiddleWatersGroup/: not a French group or an English group, an F & I, Revolutionary War or 1812 group specifically, nor exclusively military or civilian, they are a group of Midwestern reenactors who need to share information for people, personas, and events in their area of the country.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeList/: for people involved in living history who portray 17th-early 19th Century Native Americans, mostly of the Eastern Woodlands' cultural groups during the 18th century, the scope also including people who portray Indian Agents, Traders, or members of recreated military units that supported native operations, but not Indian Fighters.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nieuw-Nederlandt/: for people interested in the historical New Amsterdam/New Netherland and interested in the living history portrayal of it.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/: an active community of living historians, re-enactors, research historians, historical writers, genealogists, and other persons interested in the period of time during which the American War of Independence was fought, with topics including military battles, life in camp, material culture of the times, weapons, the social order of colonial America, and just about anything else on subjects pertaining to the mid to late eighteenth century.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RevWarBuySellSwap/: for folks into Rev War reenactment to list things they are either looking for, selling, or willing to swap.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RevWarCostume/: for discussion on making and wearing Revolutionary War era costumes and clothing (Costume:" 1. A style of dress, including garments, accessories, and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period, or people."-Websters). There is some overlap here with 18cWoman, but this list has more info on men's clothing.

~http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SavoryFare2/: focuses on the historic foodways of the 18th Century, including receipts (recipes) and appropriate documentation, ingredients (both finding original and possible modern substitutes), measurements, cooking methods, foodways background and relevant material culture of colonial America, including immigrants of the period and their contribution. This group is the successor (hopefully temporary) to SavoryFare, until we can get subscription problems sorted out on the original list.

Whew!! That's enough for now. Check back tomorrow to find out more about how they work and what you need to do to get the most out of them.

Oh, if I have missed any that are important, please leave a comment and let me know.

YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey

Master List of Reenacting Events??

Good day,

I read now and then about people looking for a "master list" of events. Here are my thoughts on that:

~ Far and away the best resource is the newspaper Smoke and Fire News, which is published monthly by Smoke and Fire (sutlers). This covers the entire country, and it includes a large number of time periods (including a generic "early American" which is for events such as rendezvous with wider time frames than just F&I or Rev). The newspaper costs a mere $18/yr which is $1.50 per month (cheaper if you sign up for more than one year at a time), and that is really worth it. It also includes a lot of advertising so you can find sutlers and resources.

~ Another good site but one which focuses on events for the F&I War, is the War For Empire website. They have a calendar of events, and while it seems to be a bit PA-centric, I think it will be helpful. I don't know anything about who runs it or how they get their info.

~ Another idea obviouysly is to go to the websites of popular forts and historic sites and visit their calendar of events. I have several listed here and am happy to add more.

I know there are events out there that do not show up on any "big" list and I will try to capture some that might be of interest by creating a dedicated web page. If you want to send me something to put on my website -- when I get that page done -- please do by making a comment here.

YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey

Learning to make 18th century women's clothes

Good day,

Some of you know that I sew men's shirts. Some of you might even own one of my shirts. I make them partially hand-sewn, or entirely hand-sewn. Putting together a colonial shirt is really just putting rectangles together. The difficult part is the gussets, since the seams come together at a triangle, which is difficult to sew. I prefer hand-sewing because it is easier to manage colonial clothing by hand, in my opinion, than with a machine.

Now, however, I have a burning desire to make MYSELF some clothes for a change. So, a couple of weeks ago, I took a class on making an 18th Century shift, and a workshop on draping a gown.

The first class was taught by Sharon Ann Burnston, author of "Fitting and Proper" (available from most major sutlers). Using the shift she has dated to 1752 (based on its known provenance), she showed us some amazing details about how it was put together. Then, based on that and hand-outs she had made, we cut out the parts and began to sew them together. In the process, we learned a few new stitches and techniques.

The second class was tought by Carrie Midura. (Sharon also does a gown draping workshop, and I'll do that as well). In this class, we paired up (this is NOT something you can do at home alone) to drape muslin onto the other person, and mark and cut it to make a pattern for the bodice. From that, we made a paper pattern, and then cut out the lining. We sewed the lining parts together and then started to sew (hang) the gown to the lining. I got as far as completing two of four back pleats. Carrie then cut one side of the skirts to show where/how to do that tricky cut. So now I have to finish that project and I have a pattern for future gown-making.

I certainly didn't get too far with either garment, as each class spent more on learning than doing (although I got more done than I thought I would). But that is what I'm paying for -- the learning, the benefit of someone else's experience.

I need to return to each garment and finish them before I forget what I am doing. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, if you are too far south for Sharon's or Carrie's class, you might check Mara Riley's site now and then to find out if she is offering one (which she did in February, 2005).

YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey

First Blog

Dear Visitors,

I hear more and more about how people come to my website to see what's new, which is so flattering! I have tried hard to keep it up-to-date but sometimes that's a big effort. While I still want to follow my original "story-telling" format with lots of pictures and related info, I came across this as an option to make small contributions to keep the site updated. I hope nobody minds my going so modern as to be blogging (something I never thought I would do - but then, I never thought I would be reenacting, either). The content may or may not move in time to full web pages. For now, it is an experiment.

I remain YMH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey