Reenactor Classifications: Then and Now

[major bill]

???



I would use "Hardcore" as synonymous with "Stitch Counter." People who obsessive and purist to the point where it's off-putting to just about everyone except other Hardcore Reenactors. They usually wish they could live in the 1860s.

I guess .my cousin was hardcore then. He quit his job and move to an Amish area to farm with horses. Live like it was 1860. Took out the electricity. Got rid of indoor plumbing. Only owned period clothing. The family thought he was odd.

He want me to become a reeactor. My wife was not open to the idea of no electricity or indoor plumbing. So reenacting was out for me.

He passed out plowing and neighbors took him by buggy to hospital. Brain tumor that was operable. They didn't do that type of surgery in 1860 so he refused. Died a few months later. Family went from thinking him odd to believing he was crazy. In a way I admired him for living and dying as he believed. So hardcore hardcore?

 

[archieclement]

At time of article was campaigner really the fastest growing segment? Is it still?

The few local units I knew of would all fall into more casual groupings then campaigners I would think. There may been a few campaigners within the units, but wouldn't think it would been fair to classify the unit as such.

 

[Dan Kohli]

At time of article was campaigner really the fastest growing segment? Is it still?

The few local units I knew of would all fall into more casual groupings then campaigners I would think. There may been a few campaigners within the units, but wouldn't think it would been fair to classify the unit as such.

I believe that this is still the case. It does also seem that it's not uncommon to have at least one "campaigner" in mainstream units.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Family went from thinking him odd to believing he was crazy.

Nobody is eccentric; they are merely undiagnosed.

How long before they found the brain tumor did he go Amish? Seems like there might be a connection.

 

[jepridgen]

I believe that this is still the case. It does also seem that it's not uncommon to have at least one "campaigner" in mainstream units.

This is very true. Myself and a couple other guys in my mainstream group are campaigners a couple as I alluded to earlier in the thread. Most of the individual companies in our overall organization have at least one or two.

I've found that the more authenticity effort you put into a mainstream group usually results in better recruitment. The unit with just old timers who scoff at trying to buy higher end (or at least correct patterned) stuff because their stuff was just fine in the 90s usually end up dying when they age out.

 

[Dan Kohli]

This is very true. Myself and a couple other guys in my mainstream group are campaigners a couple as I alluded to earlier in the thread. Most of the individual companies in our overall organization have at least one or two.

I've found that the more authenticity effort you put into a mainstream group usually results in better recruitment. The unit with just old timers who scoff at trying to buy higher end (or at least correct patterned) stuff because their stuff was just fine in the 90s usually end up dying when they age out.

I've seen that as well.

 

[peacefulanimalguy7]

I've found that the more authenticity effort you put into a mainstream group usually results in better recruitment. The unit with just old timers who scoff at trying to buy higher end (or at least correct patterned) stuff because their stuff was just fine in the 90s usually end up dying when they age out.

I agree authenticity is important, but I also feel being able to promote yourself is also important. My unit (37th Alabama) is very much mainstream with old timers, but our website is the first one that pops up when one looks up Florida Reenacting (And how I found them). We usually field about 20 men per event and gain 2 new recruits every event. Another mainstream Union unit in Florida, the 17th Connecticut, is very much active on Facebook with 300+ followers and recently fielded about 40 men for Olustee.

 

[7thWisconsin]

I think the important thing for a unit is to actually do something at events. Sitting around, not engaging, not creating some period activity is the recipe to not recruiting.

 

[jepridgen]

I think the important thing for a unit is to actually do something at events. Sitting around, not engaging, not creating some period activity is the recipe to not recruiting.

Very true, being open to new ideas and learning are important, but avoiding the exact same pattern for every event is also critical. If you don't participate in extras like reenactor only "tacticals" or guard/picket duty, etc., new folks will wonder why they don't just go camping with a modern tent and warm sleeping bags.

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

I think the important thing for a unit is to actually do something at events. Sitting around, not engaging, not creating some period activity is the recipe to not recruiting.

Yeah and I mean that's a big part of the problem with both older reenactors and groups that have been around forever (the Venn diagram of the two being very nearly a perfect circle). They attend the same events with the same schedules on the same weekends every year, and every moment where there is not a scheduled activity, they are socializing with their "pards" they haven't seen in forever (usually ~12 months). Even if copious amounts of alcohol are not involved, a lot of BSing around a campfire certainly is.

Weirdly, as I grow older I need and wish for LESS of that sort of thing, not more.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Yeah and I mean that's a big part of the problem with both older reenactors and groups that have been around forever (the Venn diagram of the two being very nearly a perfect circle). They attend the same events with the same schedules on the same weekends every year, and every moment where there is not a scheduled activity, they are socializing with their "pards" they haven't seen in forever (usually ~12 months). Even if copious amounts of alcohol are not involved, a lot of BSing around a campfire certainly is.

Sadly, this isn't a problem just a problem in the reenacting community. I see this kind of identity crisis happening with all sorts of clubs and civic organizations I've interacted. It predates the pandemic and it's groups without young members so it's not the fault of "kids these days." I get the impression this wasn't such an issue 50 years ago.

You can be reenactors or you can be a social club that dresses up in period costumes.
You can be a book club or you can be a social club of people who read books.
You can be a history club that holds meetings at historical sites, which include a member social, or you can be a social club that meets at historical sites.

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

Sadly, this isn't a problem just a problem in the reenacting community. I see this kind of identity crisis happening with all sorts of clubs and civic organizations I've interacted. It predates the pandemic and it's groups without young members so it's not the fault of "kids these days." I get the impression this wasn't such an issue 50 years ago.

You can be reenactors or you can be a social club that dresses up in period costumes.
You can be a book club or you can be a social club of people who read books.
You can be a history club that holds meetings at historical sites, which include a member social, or you can be a social club that meets at historical sites.

Very true. Everyone is competing for others' time and attention. That was one of the things I tried to work in when scheduling events for my group, but to no real avail. The idea being, okay, this is a hobby, a part time hobby at that. Realistically we might be able to "borrow" 6-8 weekends per year from the most dedicated members, and 2-4 for others.

But in practice it's even less than that. And then so when it comes to actually reading the book from the book club, or study the significance of a historical site you might actually get something out of the token speaker they hired…or, you can study and practice your Casey's…or you can go talk about it on the internet. Or watch Netflix. Or any number of other things that make that extra hour of dedication to your hobby impossible.

But that is all leaning toward "kids these days." I'm much more concerned about those who have done it X way for 40 years and can't be convinced by the kids to spend that extra hour studying the loads of primary source info that has surfaced in the past 20 years since they decided to stop evolving.