I came across this blog entry which basically touches on what your impression would have knowledge of. The basic premise, I think, is a point we should consider when doing living history.

http://passionforthepast.blogspot.com/2009/07/but-it-was-invented-in-1863-that-means.html

That seems so self-evident to me, but I've been surprised a few times by people who simply can't get the concept--usually historians rather than living history people.

I remember a long conversation/argument with a special-collections librarian who simply couldn't conceive that there was a correct answer to the question: "Who would someone living in 1863 think was the author of the song Dixie?"

The only question his mind could address was: "Who wrote the song Dixie?" and any answer which wasn't the correct answer to that question was simply a wrong answer.

I think a related issue is reenactors who see the hobby as a sort of game with rules, and the rules say that as long as it existed before 1865, you can use it. I've also heard buckskinner types say the same thing: anything before 1840 is okay.

So, by those rules, context really doesn't matter, since it's not about re-creating a historic time and place, it's about getting by within the rules (though, ironically, those folks are often also the ones most apt to consider hidden anachronisms also okay, within the rules).

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

I think another thing we need to watch out for is the old they had 8 track tape players in the 1960s so therefore they would be accurate for 2009.  Who today really still owns an 8 track player?  Very few, and those who do realize that it isn't typical to own them in this modern age.

I also think about how much the telephone has changed, from picking it up and asking "Sarah" to get so and so, party lines, private lines, cell phones.  When did all the changes take place -- I lived through them, but wouldn't know the answer without some research myself.    

I remember walking in to the local feed store a few years ago and being amazed to see the old rotary dial phone they were using.   It was a culture shock to me since that style phone is virtually non-existant today, but was very much a part of my childhood (I still wouldn't mind owning one again for old time's sake).

And that's what our character's should be able to do.  We should be able to recognize what our characters would consider old timey, what they would consider common place today, and what we shouldn't comment on because they wouldn't have known about it.

So what I'm getting at is not only do we need to watch when things became common, but when things faded away, as well.  It doesn't mean that something faded away entirely, but who would still have it, and why?

Linda Trent

Good point, Linda. The big thing here is research--reading letters, newspapers, diaries from the time and the area you are representing. It is time consuming and offers a lifetime of study. We cannot expect ourselves or anyone else to amass the knowledge the people of 186x had gathered in a life time in just a short span of study. Another reason this type of board is so helpful--pooling knowledge.

Here's another example. I would like to add a fairly nondescrïpt butter churn to our gear for civilian impressions. OK these were very commonplace not all that many years ago but try to find one today for a reasonable proice that hasn't been modified into a lamp or planter or some such. There's one in my parent's basement that a friend of theirs who passed away owned, the problem is he drilled holes in the bottom so it could be used as a planter. Now based on many reenactor's perception, they existed prior to 2009 so thay should be correct for 2009 but in reality they are few and far between now.