Living Historians on SS

[ducks4you]

I (and DH & DD's) have been Civil War Reenactors/Living Historians since 1986. I have learned so much about how our predecessors lived, how they ate, how they farmed, etc. IS there anybody else on the forum who loves delving into history in order to learn how to live today?

 

[old fashioned]

Only if you include reading about it to learn more & old cookbooks. I have several old cookbooks & how-to's from late 1800's & early 1900's that talk about cooking with wood or coal, how to truss a bird-kill, clean, pluck & cook.
I love old books like this. But I suppose that's not what you meant.

 

[abifae]

I'm in the SCA and we look at how things were done in the middle ages. Everything from forging to farming to medicine... What they do in each area depends on who is interested in what. Some areas are all about warfare, others about spinning and weaving...

I think a Victorian reenactment would be fun too

 

[gettinaclue]

I love history - at least the parts that interst me. Old wars bore me lol

You can find a lot of old recipes on line, but measurements are hit or miss.

My neighbor is very active in Civial War reinactment - has been for years. He's been in several articles and the cover of at least one mag for reinactments.

I got mt recipe for hard tack from him. Eeeww lol.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I love history. Mostly the way the people really lived. I love reading about the pioners. Or the way my ancestors lived in Poland or Germany.
I was also very involved with the Renaiscance fair around here while my DD was a teenager.
One of my questions is always, what about going to the bathroom? Or bathing? And definitely, what did they eat and how did they go about getting their food.

I don't care for the wars. Or who ruled the country. I want to know what the women did and the common folk, mostly. What their lives were like, their day to day experiences or routines.

 

[ducks4you]

Only if you include reading about it to learn more & old cookbooks. I have several old cookbooks & how-to's from late 1800's & early 1900's that talk about cooking with wood or coal, how to truss a bird-kill, clean, pluck & cook.
I love old books like this. But I suppose that's not what you meant.

Actually that's exactly what I meant. Most of my hobbies and interests involve researching what the experts from the past did, and how they solved problems. I think it has a bearing on our interest in self-sufficiency.

 

[ducks4you]

My neighbor is very active in Civil War reenacting...I got my recipe for hard tack from him. Eeeww lol.

Not surprised--SO many battlefields not 2 hours from any Virginian's house.
Did you know that the soldiers soaked hardtack in water or coffee before they ate it? They didn't want to lose any teeth!!

Also, the sire of the Thoroughbred, "Seabiscuit" was called "Hard Tack," which was almost like calling him the same name! The 19th century US Navy ate hard tack, too, you see.
(Hard Tack's sire was "Man O'War"--they kept the names in the family.)

DH and I have puzzled over historical facts, like the records of General Custer's 1874 Black Hills campaign, when they said that they rose at 2 AM each day. There were NO time zones in 1874, and we wondered if they set their clocks by New York time, or it they set them by the sun. Turns out, it was by the sun. They rose at 2, and it took several hours for the thousands of men to eat mess, pack up and head out by dawn or 4:30 AM. They went to bed before the sun set each night, you see. FASCINATING!!

 

[lupinfarm]

I guess you could call me something of a history buff. I love history times a million, and we're trying our hardest to be sympathetic in our house renovation

 

[Wildsky]

what the heck is hard tack?

 

[old fashioned]

Wildsky---I think it's like a hard cracker type thingy. But I'm sure the kind from history is probably different.
My dad used to buy "Ryetak" (?) and I still see it in some stores in the cracker section and usually on the bottom shelf. It's big & round about the size of a steering wheel, fairly flat with little pokey holes (to prevent air bubbles?) and one hole in the center about the size of a glass bottom and is dark brown in color. We always put butter & peanut butter on it mmmmmm good. Very hard & very crunchy.


Ducks--in that case, yes I do love history! Too bad I didn't care so much in school or I'd have gotten better grades. I think along the lines of "in order to see the future, one must look to the past" and I've found it very true that history does repeat itself.