Public houses and taverns played an integral role in the commercial life of the American Colonies. They weren’t simply places to drink. They were a place to meet like-minded individuals, meeting places at which to conduct business, and clearinghouses for news about both local and global events. The local tavern quite likely was the test …
Continue reading “A Tavern for the Frost Faire at Pottsgrove Manor on December 12, 2020”
John Adams described the vice presidency as “the most insignificant office that ever the Invention of man contrived or his Imagination conceived.” Its a thankless job. The Constitution gives the vice president the role of presiding over the Senate , and voting in the Senate if there is a tie. The vice president’s only other …
“To drink at a table without drinking to the health of someone special, should be considered drinking on the sly, and as an act of incivility.” Throughout history, toasting began after a meal and could last for hours. Toasts would solidify the bonds of groups, not only through the competitive element of drinking, but by …
In the summer of 1775, George Washington and the fledgling Continental Army was unable to effectively lay siege to British-occupied Boston because the Royal Navy had a firm command of the sea-lanes and the harbor. All George Washington could do was observe the flow of enemy supplies into Boston harbor and wondered if intercepting a …
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. October 4, 1777 – BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN: General Sir William Howe having outmaneuvered Washington, and seizing Philadelphia moved the bulk of his force to Germantown, an outlying community to …
When it comes to arcane historical terms for spirits and other alcohol, proof is one of the frustrating ones. In our modern vernacular, with the blessing of modern analytical chemistry as support, we simply think of “proof” as two times the alcohol by volume (ABV). But why is this measure even a thing? After all, …
Okay, I know Donald Trump may have said some significant points the other night but as I watch his contorted orange face, I keep being reminded of a common question poised to those of us who reenact the 18th Century — “Is it true that they never bathed?” spite that persistent “ring around the collar” …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 