The origins behind April Fool’s Day are a little sketchy but it is generally understood that it started back in 1582. That was the year that France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian but communication was slow and unreliable so, not everyone switched at the same time. As a consequence, many priests didn’t …
Category Archives: Ideas
Beer Recipe: Air and Exercise — Rattleskull
“Air and Exercise” = being whipped with a Cat-o-Nine-Tails. Prior to the arrival of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, American officers often imitated their British peers. In a rather startling example, George Washington once lobbied congress for permission to allow 500 lashes — “Air and Exercise”– as punishment to maintain discipline the Continental soldiers! Congress …
Continue reading “Beer Recipe: Air and Exercise — Rattleskull”
Basic Colonial Brewing #17 — Make an 18th Century Toast
“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 …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #17 — Make an 18th Century Toast”
I Need Your Help!
I need your help with the Moland House. After 15 years of tireless effort and superb leadership, Jo-Anne Mullen has decided to step down from organizing the annual reenactment at Moland House. In order to make sure this event continues uninterrupted, I am taking the reins of organizing the event (sadly this means I will not be …
Rights are rights and they should not be abridged.
Okay, sometimes I use this soapbox to rant but you can tell we are in for a nasty next few years (maybe more depending on who is elected). The HATE MONGERS are rallying their troops. At stake in this election cycle is literally whether the Bill of Rights, that set of amendments to the US …
Continue reading “Rights are rights and they should not be abridged.”
Defending the Empire: Being a Reenactor with the 43rd Rgmt of Foot
If you want to start reenacting or just want to explore the hobby, my advice is to join one of the better Revolutionary War regiments. Whether you choose to be Contential, Militia; or, for the stout of heart, British is more about who you are and what you want to learn. For me it was …
Continue reading “Defending the Empire: Being a Reenactor with the 43rd Rgmt of Foot”
Join the Regimental Brewmeister
People are always welcome to come to my events and if you come in 18th Century kit, you can be part of the program or just hang out in the tent as you see fit. However, if you are truly interested in really learning the process, teaching the public, and being the brewer, you should …
An 18th Century Laptop?
In the 21st Century, I carry a laptop computer everywhere I go. You see, as an educated person, I generally work with my mind and for that to have any meaning whatsoever, I must communicate those thoughts, ideas, analyses, and such to others. While far fewer people were educated in the 18th Century and even …
Does Anybody Know what Day it Really is? 1752 was a really Bizarre Year.
In accordance with a 1750 act of Parliament, England and its colonies changed calendars in 1752. By that time, the discrepancy between a solar year and the Julian Calendar had grown by an additional day, so that the calendar used in England and its colonies was 11 days out-of-sync with the Gregorian Calendar in use in …
Continue reading “Does Anybody Know what Day it Really is? 1752 was a really Bizarre Year.”
Join the Regimental Brewmeister in 2024
People are always welcome to come to my events and if you come in 18th Century kit, you can be part of the program or just hang out in the tent as you see fit. However, if you are truly interested in really learning the process, teaching the public, and being the brewer, you should …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 