In 1499 the Spanish sent an expedition to the Caribbean island of Curaçao in an attempt to cultivate Seville oranges. Oranges were vital to naval operations in the region as they were used to fight scurvy. The Seville oranges, however, struggled under the island’s harsh equatorial sun, arid climate, and infertile soil eventually evolving into a small, bitter, …
Category Archives: Ideas
Hire the Regimental Brewmeister in 2024
It’s reached that time of the year where I start planning for 2024 and I am hoping to include you and the organizations you support in my calendar next year. I am emailing you today in the hopes that you will consider inviting either the Regimental Brewmeister or the Colonial Surveyor to one of your …
Chanukah in Colonial America
What religious story most resonates with the spirit of the American Revolution? Yes, there are many stories in many religions that people overcoming atrocities and oppression. But consider for just a moment the story of Judah Maccabee. In the late 6th century BCE, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great let the Jews go home after …
Could one of our Founding Fathers have been a Jew?
While writing the blog on Chanukah in Colonial America, I came across some lectures and articles by Andrew Porwancher, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, who has an interesting hypothesis. It seems that while researching the early life of Alexander Hamilton, Porwancher uncovered some interesting facts. Alexander Hamilton is the son of Rachel Faucette …
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I’m Planning my 2024 Season
I am beginning to set my schedule for next year and wanted to take the time to remind you that if you want to book the Regimental Brewmeister for an event, now is the time to reach out! I offer many programs, though the most popular are brewing, tavern keeping, and surveying. Calendars always fills …
The Scourge of Slavery (#10) — Concessions were made to slave owners in the US Constitution — the 3/5ths Compromise
At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, it is important to remember that none of the delegates called for an actual the end of slavery. While some of them expressed their discomfort with it — George Mason of Virginia called for anti-slave trade laws and Gouverneur Morris of New York called slavery “a nefarious institution – …
Glögg
Hot spiced wine has been offered to messengers and postmen in Norway who travelled on horseback or skis in cold weather since at least the 16th century. Glögg is a common winter drink consisting of sweet wine or grape juice mixed with syrup and some harder spirits like rum, brandy or cognac. Glögg begins by …
The Birth of Urban Planning in America
Despite what you may think today, Philadelphia was America’s first planned city. William Penn had a broad vision for the new settlement and started a revolution in city planning: the open grid plan that became Philadelphia. Having witnessed plague in London in 1665 and the famously calamitous fire of 1666, Penn wanted his Philadelphia to …
The Regimental Brewmeister’s Vanilla Extract
For hundreds of years, the Totonac people, who lived on the east-central coast of Mexico, have grown and harvested the Tlilxochitl vine, an orchid that can only grow in very specific climates. In the mid 1400’s the Aztecs conquered the Totonac people and forced them to provide regular tributes. These tributes included the fruits of …
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George Washington is Actually the 16th President of the United States NOT the First
The Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britian in July 1776 but George Washington was not inaugurated as President until April 30, 1789 (13 years later). During the Revolutionary War (1774 – 1783) the states acted largely as independent nations and the only real role that he Continential Congress had was the prosecution of the …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 