Joshism
Captain
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Location
- Jupiter, FL
Only the tone-deaf ones.
General Grant unavailable for comment.
Only the tone-deaf ones.
...If the tourists would just STOP AND THINK before they ASK, it could avoid a lot of embarrassment...
I have seen yellow quite a bit! I just know if I was a Yankee drummer, I would prefer a yellow over a red coat!According to the weird battlefield chivalry of the day, musicians were considered non-combatants, so you weren't supposed to kill them deliberately, regardless of what they were wearing. Military uniforms of that era were varied and colorful--some British musicians even wore green or yellow coats!
My best are just from conversations. Once, my boss at another job, a very intelligent woman, asked me which side wore the blue uniforms.
And once I was asked to supply a childhood hero for a website. I told the young lady it was Robert E. Lee. "Hmmm...I'll have to google him," she responded, obviously never having heard of him.
You know, there is no requirement for the specs to stop and think before they ask. That is us putting that on them. And what really is gained by doing that? If the answer is that we establish how very knowledgeable we are, well imho that seems a pathetic victory.
At some point in this field we each learned what seems so painfully obvious to us now, just as we learned how to tie our shoes. We merely learned it at an earlier age. If you think people should know better by the age they appear to be, well that's judging them. Anymore I say resist it, though I've been no saint in that regard.
It's been years, but I remember being at a birthday party years ago--a costume party. I wore a reasonable approximation of a Confederate uniform with a CBF as a cavalry type scarf. A Hispanic girl from, Puerto Rico, I think asked me about the flag. She seemed to think I was an unreconstructed rebel till I pointed out to her that all the mini CBFs decorating the the walls were crossed with US flags. "Oh, Okay!" was what I think she said.I haven't gotten to do any reenacting or interpretation, but I do find opportunities for teachable moments in conversations with friends or family. Some of my friends are from Central America, where the people have suffered from civil wars in very recent times, and many are interested to hear that a war was fought in this country not really so long ago, and what it was like.
Roy B.
Not Civil War related, but history: Recently, a young friend told me she was studying the Middle Ages in school. I let her know how cool that was. She said, "We learned about the Black Death." I said, "Oh, that was a terrible thing. A lot of people died." She cocked her head and said, "Were you alive then?"
Roy B.
I guess he never read anything about the Battle of MonmouthThat made me think of another one--not Civil War era, but close. I was talking to a spectator about how uncomfortable the Rev War uniform is in the summer (they never seem to tire of that topic, regardless of the era). The Rev War regimental coat is a wool garment with heavy lining that you can wear in the middle of the winter and feel comfortable, but they had to wear the same coat in the heat of the summer as well. He said, "Yeah, but it wasn't as hot back then." I really didn't know what to think of that, and just said, "Oh, it got plenty hot."
Later, I figured he might have been thinking of the "Little Ice Age" which lasted from 1300–1850 and resulted in cooler winters and more precipitation in the summers, even drought in some regions, with annual temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere declining by 1.1 °F. So, there might have been something to what he said, but on the other hand, if you've ever worn a Civil War or Rev War uniform in the full, sub-tropical heat and humidity of a Virginia summer, it doesn't make much difference if it's 96 degrees or 95 degrees or even 91 degrees--you're still suffering.
It can be easy even for an educated adult to ask (almost) what might be considered a stupid question at the right time and place. You were in a "historical" venue with people in what we consider "historical" costumes. I don't understand the perceived attitude of the Amish lady. Without checking distances, I suppose Gettysburg is close to PA Amish communities?I nearly asked a really embarrassing question. Back in 1999 I was visiting Gettysburg. At the cyclorama, I was walking up the ramp to the viewing area. A group of schoolkids dressed in what I thought was 19th century costume were coming the other way. Their teacher was a young woman also dressed in costume. I was going to ask if they were dressed up for a school visit. I gave her a polite smile and "hello". She gave me a look a utter disgust. It was then that I realised they were Amish.