Where does THIS END of the hobby need to improve MOST?

[Busterbuttonboy]

Brushing up on recent, and quality, quantitative and social histories of the war.

[flattop32355]

Caveat: I'm a Fence Jumper. I move from side to side of the Mainstream/CPH fence at will and as desired.

Two items:

1) Every single reenactor at this level should know the bugle calls: Infantry should know theirs, cavalry and artillery should know theirs, and we should all have a working knowledge of at least "that ain't our call". Knowing the calls is so basic, it shouldn't even need to be me mentioned. It does.

2) Every single reenactor is an "expert" in some matter of the period that interests him/her. We may not know every iota of information about the subject, but we know a comparatively good amount about it, often more than the average person, even at "this end" of the hobby. So share the wealth. Post a two paragraph (or more) thread about it for all to see. None of it is original, so who cares if someone else wrote about it five years ago? Their take on it may well be a bit different, so it still adds to the overall knowledge of the whole. While, for example, not everyone cares about the details of all the possible pen nibs available at the time (sorry, Schnapps) or how and why to shoe a horse, it's still interesting to read about it and see how it applies to and affects my own impression. We complain about no new research....become a contributor.

[Pvt Schnapps]

While, for example, not everyone cares about the details of all the possible pen nibs available at the time (sorry, Schnapps) or how and why to shoe a horse, it's still interesting to read about it and see how it applies to and affects my own impression. We complain about no new research....become a contributor.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...l-of-the-Clerk

I have a lot more information to post, but I tend to reserve it for people who appear to care.

[Hardtack Herring]

This end of the Hobby needs to....

1.Stop camping way back in the sticks out of site of the public.

2. Create a new shorter public demonstration that is brief and to the point (One that does not drag on with great detail on uniforms and other things that only we find interesting). A demonstration that holds the attention of the public for 100% of the time.

3. Attend more mainstream events if not to participate in the battles but to make a strong public presence. Conduct several public demonstrations at set times. Camp up in the front where the public is bound to see us.

4. Unity among like minded organizations in the East and the West.

5. Tolerance and patience towards the mainstream side of the hobby.

[OldState]

I second all of Mr Herring's sentiments. I also fail to see how things like EFUBU do much to promote and grow this end of the hobby. I always felt the primary object of my participation in this hobby should be the education of the public and helping the hobby grow. What better way to honor the men who fought then to give the public the absolute most accurate depiction of what CW soldiers looked like and how they lived. I think the living histories are some of the best opportunities to recruit new people and participating in "main-stream" events is the best way to convert people to the authentic side.

[BenjaminLDavis]

Sing.
Simply that.
Before there was the internet, before television, even before radio, people sang together. And they all knew the words.
I aim that last barb at myself. Learn the words.
Singing round the campfire ~ sometimes forgotten. But an essential part of who they were.

[Dale Beasley]

Stop being Elitist, My Unit does events to help raise money for preservation. Yes it could be labeled "Ham and Yam", "Mainstream", etc, but we have raised over 100,000 dollars in the last 8 years. Bet not many Units can say that. We also enjoy doing Campaigner Events, but we are not so wrapped up in ourselves, to rule out the preservation type of events.

[OldKingCrow]

We complain about no new research....become a contributor.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...l-of-the-Clerk

I have a lot more information to post, but I tend to reserve it for people who appear to care.

I have typed and posted byte after byte of primary material here and elsewhere, from a variety of perspectives and sources. For the longest time I wouldn't even post my own words and posted almost exclusively in primary quotes. I know from personal responses in the field and the times I was able to put up support where it lacked, many appreciated the effort.

After being harangued about it by mods, I won't post another primary reference in an open thread ever again.


CJ Rideout
Tampa, Florida

[GrumpyDave]

Camping skills. Folks need to learn to work together in the field so they can survive rain and cooler temperatures. For 6 years it rained at every event I attended. Yes, it did and I AM NOT DEAD.(I hear it's some sort of record. I have also been asked to go to African Nations to solve their drought problems.) Have we become so homophobic, we can't get with other folks so we can pick a campsite that's sheltered as it can be for the circumstances, erect proper shelter, help each other stay dry or dry out, and spoon so we can stay warm on a night where the temperatures go below 40 degrees? It's not fun reading things like the wholde Confederate side melted away at Fredericksburg or, most of the men needed pick up truck rides to get where ever. The boys of 186x, weather they came from the city or the country, ended up in a situation where they spent so much time together; and new each other very very well, you can read inumerable accounts of how they worked together to get through this or that situation. If you know something tht helps, teach it to someone else. Before you attend an event, get in shape, get your health as well as you can and stay until the event is over. YOU owe that to the organizers for all of the hard work they put in to trying to give you an authentic experience. Show up, stay for 36 hours and deal with it, you won't die.

Common sense. At times applying simple common sense to a situation, "There's no historical documentation for ..." is your best bet. If it's comfortable and it makes your life easier in the field, the boys of 186x surely thought of it first.

Sometimes, from the things I read on internet boards it would seem common sense is dead, units NCO's are all dead, or, unit leadership and NCO's are so unapproachable with simple questions from their memebership, unit members have to ask easily answered questions on internet boards. the only folks who can fix that is the afformentioned folks.

There's nothing worse at an event than an NCO or an Officer that doesn't know his job. Enough said.


Retired cat herder, currently residing at the old soldiers home,

[Hank Trent]

I second all of Mr Herring's sentiments. I also fail to see how things like EFUBU do much to promote and grow this end of the hobby. I always felt the primary object of my participation in this hobby should be the education of the public and helping the hobby grow.

Got to say I disagree. I'd hate to see this end of the hobby become the reenacting equivalent of a multi-level marketing scheme, where the goal is not to create real value, but to recruit more members.

If there were no EBUFU events, what would we tell mainstreamers or the public, who asked what they'd get to do if they joined our hobby? If the answer would be, attend events just like this to recruit more reenactors and educate more people like you, then there'd be no more "this end" of the hobby. That would also mean no higher level for the public who wanted more education (which is how I got into reenacting originally).

The public would get the 10-minute sound bite, but if they wanted to spend the money and the time to get the clothes and the knowledge, so they could learn more through living history than they saw at mainstream events, the answer would have to be well, sorry, "we're not for people like you," as a museum docent once told me when I was too interested in the history he was telling about. This end of the hobby should be for people like that, because if we don't do it, who will?

High-quality EBUFU events are what this end of the hobby is all about. If "we" can only get a dozen or so military reenactors to attend what promises to be one of the most educational and logistically challenging EBUFU events in recent memory, "we" don't need to be encouraging "us" to waste effort attending more mainstream events. If we want our end of the hobby to remain, "we" need to fill up the schedule supporting each other first, then support mainstream events in the extra time when nothing else is happening.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com