Importance of Beer in the 1700’s Colonial America

Today we think of beer as a luxury item, something to enjoy during our leisure times and beverage known and imbibed for its intoxicating properties. This was not always true. In fact, beer was once considered the most healthy drink to give to children and vital to survival.  To understand this, you must first understand …

Basic Colonial Brewing #1 — The Importance of Beer in the 1700’s Colonial America

Today we think of beer as a luxury item, something to enjoy during our leisure times and beverage known and imbibed for its intoxicating properties. This was not always true. In fact, beer was once considered the most healthy drink to give to children and vital to survival.  To understand this, you must first understand …

There’s been a Murder at Fort Mifflin — THE CURIOUS CASE OF LIEUTENANT BODDY

Saturday, February 5, 2022 Lieutenant Boddy, a generally disrespectable and disrespected, bad bargain of an officer was found shot dead on the Parade Ground, presumably on his way back after carousing in town. While no one, except perhaps his tavern keeper, will mourn the loss of Lt. Boddy we cannot allow vigilante justice within our …

Are you a Yankee Doodle Dandy?

We all know the song … “Yankee Doodle went to town.” They teach it to our children. Well, thankfully not! The British sang Yankee Doodle to berate the Americans during the Revolutionary War. It not the nice little dittle we all sang as kids, when you get to the later verses, it quite profane. A …

“Beer” Recipe: Battle of the Bees Mead

Bees played a small role in the Revolutionary War on two notable occasions. The first is “The Battle of the Bees” that occurred Oct. 3, 1780 at McIntyre’s Farm, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  Loyalists, led by Capt. John Doyle, were traveling down Beattie’s Ford Road with 60 wagons. Their mission: to plunder area farms …

Why is the First Amendment now Optional?

Amendment #1:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”   AND YET we allow other governments agencies, like …

Becoming a Colonial Brewer

In 1994, I became interested in the someone rebellious and definitely an anachronistic hobby of home-brewing.  Brewing beer at home became legal (again) in 1979 so by the time I got involved it was a weird mix of semi-commercial home-brew supply stores that sold malt, yeast, and hops in various forms plus a hodgepodge of …

How to Survey Land with 18th Century Tools — Using the Gunter’s Rule

Using the Gunter’s Rule So how was multiplication done in the 18th Century.  Sure, you could and people did do long-hand multiplication just like you were taught in elementary school.  For example, we can multiply 384×56. The number with more digits is usually selected as the multiplicand: The long multiplication algorithm starts with multiplying the …

Historical Tidbits

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. January 1, 1781                 Revolt of Pennsylvania Line On January 1, 1781, the Pennsylvania Line held a raucous New Year’s Day celebration. That evening, soldiers from several regiments armed themselves …