Whist was a very most popular card games in Georgian England, played by the gentry in all the best coffee houses in London. It features prominently in the novels by Jane Austen and is considered fashionable in high society as a challenging strategic card game requiring good memory, sympathetic partnering and psychological acumen. The rules …
Category Archives: Ideas
Justification for Electoral College vs “Mob Rule”
The Electoral College is undoubtedly the least appreciated element of the U.S. Constitution. Unlike most modern Americans, the authors of the Constitution did not want the public to directly elect the President or even the US Senators. Previous experiments in direct elections of state officials reinforced their arguments that pure democracy was just too dangerous. …
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Playing Court Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for scientific play. Derived from the popular 17th Century trick taking game known as “Ruff and Honours,” Whist literally takes its name from the old English word whist meaning …
The New Guy Fawkes — the real legacy of Donald Trump
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the electoral college votes. While still President …
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Historical Tidbits — New York Weekly Journal
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. November 5, 1733 – The New York Weekly Journal became the first newspaper regularly published in North America. One year later, John Peter Zenger, its printer and publisher was …
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America has a new Guy Fawkes
Remember, Remember, on the 5th of November Remember, Remember, on the 5th of NovemberThat some candidates deal in treason and plot.I see no reasonWhy January 6th treasonShould ever be forgot. Donald Trump, the world’s biggest chump, ’twas his intentTo stop the vote and be forever PresidentThat he lost the election he refusedFalse claims of cheating …
The Hawthorne Fence
Early American settlers enjoyed fortifying their drinks. Stone fences mix hard cider and rum, shrubs mix wine with switchel, rattleskulls mix rum with beer, and the coo woo even fortifies brandy with rum. Rum, whiskey, and other spirits were staple goods produced to help farmers ship bulky products like corn and sugar to distant markets. …
American Historical Mythology
If you hang around Fort Mifflin very long you will, no doubt, be regaled with stories of the supernatural and the pseudoscience that supports its existence. These are all good fun but let’s be clear, SOME people actually believe these things and even though the scientifically minded dismiss THESE beliefs, they are quick to then …
The Scourge of Slavery (#5) — John Casor is Declared Slave for Life in America
John Casor was originally an indentured servant. When he became a slave, it was through a contract of indenture, which obligated him to work for its holder for the period it set after which he was to set free. Many of the early colonist in British North America came as indentured servants. This was how …
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Mathew Hopkins — Witchfinder General under King James
In James I’s England, the witch became a powerful symbol of those hated forces that opposed the king. During the English Civil War, the “Witchfinder General,” Matthew Hopkins, was responsible for the hanging more than 300 women between 1644 and 1646. James I, linked religious subversion with political subversion, usurpation, and the attack on monarchical …
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Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 