Along those same lines, one of the replica Civil War weapons I bought in 1994 now costs twice what was paid then.  

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One shocker was Bent's hardtack. A buck a cracker and no volumn discounts. I'm down to my last box, so will soon be writing a pretty big check.

Rations sure aren't cheap at retail pricing, and I do get tired of seeing good hardtack tossed trailside for no good reason. Maybe I'm the only one (I suspect not) but munching a cracker or two and enjoying the last of the meat ration on the way home from an event is a good way to avoid those Road Food Blues.

I could be wrong, and some would fault me for arguing with a dead man, but I've always thought that the authenticity of the event is not measured by the logisitcs, but by the experience of the participants. There are any number of ways to handle this. At "The Immortal 600," we used Ft. Pulaski's modern restrooms, but lived in the barracks with candle light and fires in the fireplace. The experience was extremely authentic, other than those few moments when Nature called.

It's like those who get apoplectic about bread in "white gutta percha" wrapping: if you are provisioning a large group, you have to keep the bread fresh and sanitary. The wrapping, once ripped off and tossed into the fire, is forgotten in a few seconds.

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Bill_Cross wrote :  I've always thought that the authenticity of the event is not measured by the logisitcs, but by the experience of the participants.

Bill,

Of course, that depends on your own mental picture of what an event should be. If you are very interested in logistics, they tend to be very important to you. If you are interested in First Person interaction, that will be important to you. If you get off watching 5,000 men break out into a line of battle, that's what going to make your event. Heck, if you attend events to get together with your friends and have a few beers around the camp fire, enough wood, cold beer, and good friends is what makes for an outstanding event.

Some of us enjoy a varity of events, while others limit themselves to certain events that most closely meet their needs for authenticity, size, or whatever it is that floats their boats. It doesn't mean anybody is wrong. They just have different needs and desires for their hobby. There has never been the perfect reenactment and there never will be.

Welcome back to the Forum!

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Bill_Cross wrote : There are any number of ways to handle this. At "The Immortal 600," we used Ft. Pulaski's modern restrooms, but lived in the barracks with candle light and fires in the fireplace. The experience was extremely authentic, other than those few moments when Nature called. It's like those who get apoplectic about bread in "white gutta percha" wrapping: if you are provisioning a large group, you have to keep the bread fresh and sanitary. The wrapping, once ripped off and tossed into the fire, is forgotten in a few seconds.

I'd see those examples as entirely different. One excuse works. The other doesn't.

The trade-off for using the modern restrooms was being able to use the original fort buildings. I expect that two legal reasons prevented using period methods in the daytime (though last time they supplied us a bucket for use at night which was emptied in the modern restroom in the morning): health department rules about human waste, and public exposure rules about what you can do in front of visitors in the daytime.

Leaving bread in its modern wrapper, though, is unnecessary. At the vast majority of "authentic" events I'm aware of, everything is taken out of its modern wrappers before the event begins and the modern wrappers removed from the site. The exceptions are, well, exceptions that simply lessen the event, with no upside trade-off like getting to use an original fort.

I mean, come on. If reenactors are so picky that they won't eat stale bread, they're in the wrong hobby, and if hardtack can be issued from a wooden box, there's no reason to keep soft bread in a plastic wrapper. Or are you suggesting that hardtack also should be wrapped in plastic to keep it sanitary during an event? What other modern wrappers should be used?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

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hanktrent wrote :   Leaving bread in its modern wrapper, though, is unnecessary. At the vast majority of "authentic" events I'm aware of, everything is taken out of its modern wrappers before the event begins and the modern wrappers removed from the site. The exceptions are, well, exceptions that simply lessen the event, with no upside trade-off like getting to use an original fort. Hank Trent hanktrent@gmail.com

Hank,

A while back, I attended an "authentic" event where the rations arrived late. We got issued our rations pretty much right out of the modern wrapping. From this private's point of view, I was just happy to have my ration and time to cook it. The modern wrapping bothered me not one bit. After the event, there were some heated discussions concerning the ration issue. Some folks would have liked to have the ration issue held up, until it could have been done in a more authentic manner. Again, it all comes down to the individual's mental image of exactly what is important, and everybody's mileage varies.  

BTW, I remember trying to dump the "Piss Buckets" at W-64. Sort of interesting when they developed an ice slick.    

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Bill wrote :   A while back, I attended an "authentic" event where the rations arrived late. We got issued our rations pretty much right out of the modern wrapping. From this private's point of view, I was just happy to have my ration and time to cook it. The modern wrapping bothered me not one bit. After the event, there were some heated discussions concerning the ration issue. Some folks would have liked to have the ration issue held up, until it could have been done in a more authentic manner.

Charles vs Don at one of the Recons, wasn't it? But that reasoning at least fits a little closer to the I-600 example, in that there was a trade-off, and if there had been more time, the bread would have been unwrapped. That's different than proposing that bread must be distributed from its plastic wrap at every event regardless whether there's time and manpower to unwrap it beforehand.

However, I'd argue that the trade-off still wasn't the same as an I-600 style trade-off, where the overall accuracy was increased by making a compromise. In other words, at I-600 the choice was to use modern restrooms and get a unique period setting, or give up both. In the bread situation, there was no increase in accuracy to serve rations on time; plenty of rations were delivered late in the 1860s.

At W64, we were lucky that we could have both period-style buildings and bathroom facilities. Yet I was surprised that one of the W64 participants told me afterwards that he always walked over to the modern restrooms at W64, even though he had access to the officers' sinks. So clearly, offering period things isn't of interest or value to everyone, not even those who attend cph events.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

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hanktrent wrote :   So clearly, offering period things isn't of interest or value to everyone, not even those who attend cph events. Hank Trent hanktrent@gmail.com

Hank,

Again, I think it depends on an individual's own mental picture of what's of interest or value. To use your example, it's obvious the Gentleman in question found no value in using the period sinks. Of course, I would hope he had the good sense not to rub the other participant's noses in his farbisity.

In a way, I fall into the same category. I smoke cigarettes, but go out of my way to insure my smoking doesn't interfere with other's enjoyment of the event. If I can't get out of the sight of the other participants, I don't smoke.    

This is one of those rare internet discussions that has real value. Enjoyed reading it. Has my mind working in over drive now. Bill Birney