Der Vollkommene Deutsche Jäger (The perfect German hunter) describes a game called Fuchsprellen or “fox tossing.” Fox Tossing was a competitive sport mostly practiced by members of the upper classes. The sport was held on a closed patch of land where people threw live foxes and other animals up high using slings, with a person …
Continue reading “There was no SPCA in the 18th Century – Fox Tossing”
Well we’ve reached Pesach and, of course, the dilemma that creates for all Jewish brewers. I could go the route of destroying all my chametz as we are instructed. The problem with that is that beer really doesn’t burn so i would have to have one hell of a party… I had eighteen bottles of whiskey …
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. April 18, 1775 The Midnight Ride of William Dawes and Paul Revere. Thanks to Longfellow, hardly a scholar or school child alive does not know the name of Paul …
If you’ve ever been part of an organization that marches — not just the military but even marching bands and re-enactors (sort of) — you know what it means to march in lockstep. Everyone steps in precision to a standard cadence (usually 120 steps/min, 28 in/step) and one person takes a step with his left …
Continue reading “The danger of always marching in lockstep”
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. April 14, 1775 The Society for the Relief of the Free Negros Unlawfully Held in Bondage first meets in Philadelphia. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully …
During Antiquity and the Middle Ages, sugar was rare and expensive commodity. Beginning in the 15th century, however, sugar cane plantations developed in the West Indies, then South America, particularly in Brazil. Sugar was the top colonial commodity. It was at the root of the ‘triangular trade’, where European shipowners exchanged trinkets for African men, who were then sold as slaves …
Continue reading “Sugar Cones or Loaves and the Making of Rum”
“Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun;But mama, … that’s where the fun is.”[i] What fun? Well on April 8 at 15:23 EDT the sun will disappear from the sky (well in Philly, 80% but that’s amazing!). Mama warns us to never to look directly at the sun because …
6 April 1776 The voyage northward following the raid on New Providence was routine. An hour into the midnight watch on 6 April 1776, however, the situation changed ; two unidentified sails were sighted to the southeast. All hands were called to quarters as the distance closed, and it became clear that one of the …
Continue reading “US Marines in the American Revolution — A Marine Lieutenant Dies”
Wallpaper with Scheel Green In the mid-1700s, Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered a copper derivative that was a particularly vivid green. Scheele’s discovery — known as Scheele’s Green — was used as a pigment for all sorts of artistic works, particularly among the European elite. Wallpaper, in particular, was made using Scheele’s Green to achieve the …
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. April 5, 1764 – SUGAR ACT Sugar Act, also called Molasses Act, the Plantation Act or the Revenue Act, was passed by Parliament in an attempted to curb the …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 