In May of 1754, war broke out between Great Britain and France. The earliest hostilities in what would ultimately become a global conflict were in North American and included colonist from each country as well as several tribes of Native Americans. While major battles of this war, often called the French and Indian War in …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
Historical Tidbits — New York Stock Exchange
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. May 17, 1792 – Goods, loans and future livestock began to be traded under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in New York City. This daily meeting would eventually …
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URGENT REQUEST! I need APPRENTICE BREWERS for the event at Pennypacker Mills — May 18-19! Join the Regimental Brewmeister!
I have two brewing events in May (Morgan Log House on May 4 & Pennypacker Mills on May 18-19) and I desperately need assistant brewers. This program is growing and we have a solid following. If you are interested in learning the brewing process as it was practiced in 1777, if you enjoy teaching the …
Truth or Dare Gone Terribly Wrong!
The Game of High Jinks Today when we talk of “high jinks” (or more commonly high jinx), we typically mean horseplay but in the 17th century, “high jinks” was a boisterous drinking game characterized by the antics and boisterous or rambunctious carryings-on that this game originally produced. The name is derived from the Scottish word …
Brewing Up History with Regimental Brewmeister
May 18 & 1910 AM – 6 PMPennypacker Mills5 Haldeman RoadSchwenksville, PA 19473 Perhaps you are an accomplished homebrewer and you want to appreciate the challenges faced by brewers in the 18th Century who brewed good beer without all the instrumentation and modern equipment we rely on, perhaps you are a history buff and want …
Continue reading “Brewing Up History with Regimental Brewmeister“
URGENT REQUEST! I need APPRENTICE BREWERS for the event at Pennypacker Mills — May 18-19! Join the Regimental Brewmeister!
I have two brewing events in May (Morgan Log House on May 4 & Pennypacker Mills on May 18-19) and I desperately need assistant brewers. This program is growing and we have a solid following. If you are interested in learning the brewing process as it was practiced in 1777, if you enjoy teaching the …
John Adam’s Preamble to the Lee Resolution
On May 15, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution authored by John Adams that was tantamount to a declaration of independence. With Richard Henry Lee, he put forth a resolution recommending that the individual colonies assume all powers of government — to secure ‘the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and …
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How Cartridge Paper almost killed King George
In order to facilitate rapid loading during battle, 18th Century musket cartridges were made from rolled brownish-white paper. This paper tube held both the powder and the ball was its own self contained wadding. For training, reviews and firing a “feu de joie” or celebratory musket salute, however, blank rounds were needed. Numerous accidents were reported …
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Colonial Hospitality – Spiced Pineapple Mead
They say “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”[i] and this has become my view on mead. Technically, mead should not be part of my portfolio[ii] as it was not particularly popular in colonial America. Keeping bees and processing honey into mead, while a straightforward and simple process, was not nearly as …
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“Beer” Recipe: Massacre at Cherry Valley Lambic
We like to think of the American Revolution as a war fought by high-minded gentlemen and their armies who followed a sort of civilized warfare. These gentlemanly rules of war that allowed for prisoners to be taken and even paroled. Sometimes they were even granted the privilege of marching out with “drums beating and colours …
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Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 