Another event in the books with with the Crew of the Charles Revenge-Living History today, portraying the merchant crew of the London for the 250th anniversary of the Charleston Tea Party this past weekend!
(Pictured are photos I took while visiting the Nao Trinidad afterwards)
I also got to take some pretty cool photos this summer at D-Day Conneaut in Ohio. It was super cool to get in with the troops on the beach and take photos.
I'm honored to be an out of kingdom teacher this Saturday, March 4, as part of the @scakingdomofatlantia Arts and Sciences Festival in the barony of Bright Hills! In teaching a finger loop braid class at 12:30. BYO string or I'll have kits available for a $1-$3 donation. https://facebook.com/events/557680249624107 https://kasf.atlantia.sca.org/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CpTD4e8u8NN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= #SCA #MySCA #SocietyForCreativeAnachronism #SCALife #LARPGirl #LARPersOfInstagram #QueerWeaver #Dalhraidia #reenactor #reenactors #FingerLoop #FingerLoopBraid #FingerLoopBraiding #HistoricalCostume #HistoricalTextiles #HeritageCraft #TraditionalWeaving #TraditionalCraft #WeaversOfIG #TabletWeaving #TabletWeave #CardWeave #CardWeaving #CardWeaversOfInstagram #aethelmearc #Æthelmearc #BMDL #BaronyMarcheOfTheDebatableLands #KingdomOfAtlantia #Atlantia https://www.instagram.com/p/CpTGpBduJTH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Another successful day in the books! Spent the day out at the Colonial Days event at the Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner, SC, along with other reenactors of the Crew of the Charles Revenge! While there I spoke of navigation at sea, Charleston's pirate history, much on Blackbeard, and my newly released book "Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of the Southeast Coast"! I was constantly swarmed with people the entire six hours, but it was a good time. And good job to the rest of the mates as well on a living history presentation well-done.
It was particularly nice seeing so many children there brought by their parents who were homeschooled. I was homeschooled from 3rd grade to graduation and I like to think I turned out okay. Reminded me of my mom taking me out and about to stuff like this as a kid.
As a bonus, the museum here is on board with stocking my book in their gift shop!
“Should we call them a couple of bikers or a couple of pikers? An amusing incident as two pike bearers of the Cromwell period ride in for dress rehearsal in the Aldershot tournament.”
- from the Toronto Star. May 25, 1932. Page 23.
[This is likely part of the Aldershot Command tattoo held in 1932, which often featured an assortment of British soldiers in historic garb.]
This is an impression of a French tank crewman operating outside their tank. One may see this uniform on tank commanders marching in front of their tank with cane in hand during road marches and on other crew members behind the lines. The marching cane was particularly useful within the Artillerie Spéciale as tank commanders used it to judge the softness of the terrain the tank is moving over. Often one can tell which tankiste was the commander of the crew as they may be walking beside the tank nonchalantly with their marching cane.
Being outside the tank, the tankiste may be seen wearing their 2-liter Bidon Modèle 1877 modifié 1915 (canteen) and Étui-Musette Modèle 1892. Despite being one of the larger examples of a liquid container during the Great War, these canteens would most likely have wine or coffee inside them instead of water as the French struggled with providing clean drinking water to the troops for nearly the entirety of the war. The tankiste per regulation were issued two canteens, though usually only one was worn as pictured with the other stored elsewhere. The secondary canteen may also be in the form of the earlier 1-liter Bidon Modèle 1877. Both canteens would usually have different liquids in them.
The first cloth headgear issued to the tankiste was the standard infantry horizon blue wool Bonnet de Police Modèle 1918 service cap with its Napoleonic style of two tall peaks on each end. When performing vehicle maintenance, this service cap would sometimes fall off the head and get stuck in the small confines of the tank, becoming visibly dirty. Because of this, tankiste would purchase black civilian Basque style berets to replace their service cap, becoming commonplace by 1917. The berets seen being worn by the tankiste were all civilian berets purchased by the tankiste themselves and were not regulatory, varying in size and style. The black beret was well liked among the crews as it fit snugly on the head and would not fall off while inside the tank. Just to be safe many of the tankiste would wear the beret in an interesting fashion - centered and pushed snug down over the head to ensure it would not fall off. Wearing the beret like this appears to be some sort of inside fashion joke among Veteran tank crews, as this method of wearing the beret would continue after the war despite proper beret wearing regulations in place by then. Like the black leather coat, the black beret was chosen as it masked any vehicle oil stains the beret may collect when in use.
The beret would soon be adorned with various metallic or embroidered insignias such as rank stripes, badges, playing card symbols, and other miscellaneous AS pins. In the case of the tankiste here, he wears an NCO version of the original insignia of the Artillerie Spéciale, depicting a mythical fire breathing salamander. The NCO versions were in silver while the Officer versions were in gold. While not technically within regulation, the wearing of such insignias and unit markings was ignored by the AS administration as it promoted esprit de corps. The black leather coat was not immune to this adorning of insignia, and we can see here that a private purchase Renault FT pin has been placed on the left breast of the coat. Like the AS specialist insignia tab on the tunic, this pin is intended to show others that the wearer was a tank crewman when wearing the coat. This was less common to see but many of the enthusiastic and eager fighters within the AS would sport pins like these. Unlike the French infantry which were characterized as the rugged and reluctant warfighter Poilu, the tankiste remained in a high morale and eager to fight state throughout their service during the war - a side effect of incorporating many officers who previously served within other 'proudly elite' units like the cavalry.
Additionally we see a closer view of the regimental collar tabs and left arm service and insignia tabs. The buttons on the Vareuse Modèle 1915 were of course standard artillery buttons with a flaming bomb over two crossed cannons.
American Heritage Museum: Reenactors morning briefing.
There are a handful of events I look forward to every year, but my favorite is the American Heritage Museum’s production of “Battle for the Airfield.” I say production, rather than reenactment, as I now look at this annual event as a World War II film that has come to life “in front of a live audience.”
American encampment.
Yes, this is a…
I’ll drive down to Newport, Rhode Island for any occasion, and Bastille Day seemed like a good one as French expeditionary forces landed there in 1780 as part of their formal and personal commitment to the American Revolution, a commitment that is honored today by the “French in Newport” festivities on the second weekend of July. From the Rhode Island perspective, the French “occupation” of…