The Merry Month of May: Fun With History

My house festively decorated
for my birthday!

There've been some pretty interesting and fun activities happening in my life of late,  some involving reenacting/living history,  and some just involving history in a more unique way.  So for today's posting I put together a mish-mosh of a few different activities I did,  all occurring in this Merry Month of May.

As a result,  and while we a-wait the upcoming reenactments  (which will  actually be taking place this year after the hiatus of covid 2020),  let's catch up with some recent history-related...um...occurrences:

Since last autumn,  a few of us have had the opportunity to bring the past to life in a very real and unassuming way.  In the fall we threshed wheat with a flail,  chopped down a tree with an axe,  and  "hunted"  with muskets.
This past winter we processed flax and spun it into linen thread.

And,  very recently  (early May),  we planted flax the way it was done in the 18th century.

Oh!  We also prepared meals and cooked them in the hearth.

All in a rural cabin most suitable as a representative of one from the 1700s.

But,  even though my previous posting is all about our spring planting in much greater detail,  I'd like to show a few more photos from that day in early May - none that I've published yet - followed by a picture taken two weeks later,  enabling you to see the outcome  (so far)  of our hard work:

Here you see Larissa & I preparing the tilled ground and planting the flax.
The type of flax we planted was the same that they use at the Daggett House in
Greenfield Village.

Jackie had her turn to plant the seed as well.

As did Charlotte.
In fact,  we all played a part in the flax planting process.

Those buckets were filled with water.
This was my first time carrying such a load in this manner,  and though the yoke
made it easier,  heavy is heavy,  and those water buckets were heavy!

Watering our freshly planted flax seed with the same type of watering jug as seen at the Daggett farm as well as on the Tales From the Green Valley historical documentary from England.

And then two weeks from planting day I was sent this photograph with the following note attached:

"Ken,  this is what your flax looks like today  (May 22),
watered it mid week and growing well."

This made my day - having never planted flax,  especially in the manner in which we did it - I was ecstatic and shared it with my co-living historians.

I recently hit a pretty big milestone in the age category:  60.

No,  I'm not freaking out about how old I've  "suddenly"  become;  I just would like to see time go a little bit slower.

So anyhow,  along with time,  I've not slowed down much either.  In fact,  I've had more than one person tell me very recently that I am the youngest 60 year old they know---that I don't act anywhere near my age.

Thank you.  I do appreciate that.

I was very honored to receive so many accolades for my birthday this year.  My Facebook page seemingly exploded into overload with all of the well-wishes I received,  and I am so honored.  Though they were all special - I read each and every comment - one post really stood out for multiple reasons.

I run the Friends of Greenfield Village Facebook page and,  as the members number continued to grow,  I found I needed a co-administrator.  I could think of no one better to help me than Loretta Tester,  photographer extraordinaire and all around wonderful lady.  Well,  she announced my  "big day"  on the page with five photographs that she took of me.  What stands out for me in these photos is that in each picture,  not only am I wearing different sets of clothing,  but a different hat as well!

Probably one of my all-time favorite photos.
I feel Loretta truly  captured the colonial period in which I am
attempting to emulate.
Note the brown cocked  (tricorn)  hat.

I here a shot of me during the Civil War Remembrance
reenactment wearing my 1860s fancy clothes.
My top hat is one of my favorites.

This is what I call my cooler weather farm clothes,  perfect for early
spring planting or late fall harvest.
The hat is a wide-brimmed farmer's hat.

No,  I am not a carpet bagger.  That term was very derogatory and was 
meant for the men who traveled south after the Civil War had ended to
take advantage of the destitute southerners.  Since for me the War is still
on at the reenactments,  "carpet bagger"  was not terminology yet used.
By the way,  it was pretty common for a man to carry a carpet bag in
the mid-19th century. 
My hat here was also a very common style for the early 1860s. 

And another farming outfit.
I have a strong affiliation for farming;  my 18th century ancestors
were farmers and so I now present myself often as a farmer
at reenactments.
Oh!  And there's my black cocked  (tricorn)  hat!
Yes,  farmers would have worn the wide-brimmed hat you saw earlier
or the cocked hat.

So...how does a living historian live at his home in the 21st century?
Well...one way is by incorporating bits of the past into his present.

I've finally got my...um...colonial home...

...but only...it's a sort of a period tome' rather than a full-fledged colonial home.
To see what I mean,  click HERE

Another way is by teaching his own grandkids about the past in a hands-on manner.

That's how!

Now,  in the picture above you will see my flax break.  Curiosity got the best of my eldest grandson and he finally asked me what it was and what was it for.  I replied that rather than tell him I would rather show him

Of course my other two grandkids were also quite interested in it so I told them that we needed to all wear our colonial hats to look right,  which they willingly wore.

Ben found it tougher than he thought,  but he didn't do bad at all.

At four years of old age,  Liam is the baby of the family,  so it was even tougher for him, 
but he gave it the old patriot try!

It was more fun to play with his Hot Wheels.
He liked his hat,  though!

Now it was my granddaughter's turn to break flax.
She did a wonderful job and stuck with it the longest.

I was very proud of each of my grandkids!  And my granddaughter loved how soft the
flax became---knowing she helped to soften it,  too!
I do hope they will pick up on at least a few of history's crafts.
I think they will...their father - my son - has.  And,  to a small extent,  so has their mother.
Plus their grandmother,  my dear wife,  spins on a spinning wheel. 

My granddaughter helped me in cleaning up the tow.

My grandson,  who is in school now,  was also curious about writing with a feather.

So,  naturally,  I gave him that experience as well.
I taught him how to dip...

...and how not to press too hard onto the paper.
I did put extra paper beneath the sheet he was writing on
for protection.

My smart little kindergartener grandson!
So proud!

By the way,  the day after this blog was posted,  I received a note from my daughter-in-law about something her son - my eldest grandson - had said.

As I wrote on my Facebook page on May 29:

This made my day  (written by my daughter-in-law about my grandson):

"I'll have you guys know,  Ben just started describing the flax break to me and asked if I had seen it.  He said it was stuff that looked like hay but wasn't hay.  I asked,  was that at Papa's house?  He said,  "yes!"  and kept demonstrating how it breaks.  I asked,  "Was it the flax break?"  He said,  "Yes!  The flax break."

Yep---two weeks ago...and he remembers!

I'm a very happy Papa!

Now I'd like to show you a little project I've been working on at the high school where I work:  a historical time-line on the back wall of our classroom.  I am a classroom paraprofessional - a sort of teacher's aid - and one of our subjects this year was Michigan History.  But we took that subject and expanded it to include American History as well.  In other words,  though we concentrate on our state's past,  we are being somewhat inclusive by also including what was going on in the U.S.  as well and how Michigan's past was effected by what occurred back east.  And we are actually being even more inclusive than that by including not only the great well-known men of history,  but women,  native Americans,  and African Americans as well,  all mixed into time as the occurrences happened,  which helps to give a more well-rounded look and feel of history.  

It's nothing fancy,  but if you look closely,  you can see the variety of people and events
that is Michigan and American history entwined.  Michigan history is American history.

You see,  we believe separating creates separation  (simple idea, huh?),  so we would rather be inclusive and include a little of everything in our teaching.

The time-line begins with early Michigan natives and the colonies becoming a country,  and ends with Michigan's future history makers - our students.

We cannot forget the horror of 9-11 but,  instead, 
look to a brighter future from the kids of today. 

Here is a wide-angle photograph of the back wall.

There are approximately 65 historical time-line sheets posted on the back wall.  I can easily fill in the gaps with hundreds more of these sheeted facts and information,  filling up the entire room.  If this were strictly a history classroom,  I probably would.  But since we also teach math and social studies,  we need to have some sort of a cut off.  So I included most of the well-known along with some of the lesser known history,  including:

~the early French traders with the local Indian tribes

~the Boston Massacre

~Jack Sisson,  the enslaved African American who sided with the Patriots and served in the First Rhode Island Regiment during the American Revolutionary War

~Michigan's involvement in the War of 1812

~the Erie Canal

~the Civil War

~inventors

~women's suffrage

~WWI and WWII

~The Beatles and Berry Gordy Jr

and just so much more;  the above list has but 12 facts out of the 65,  so there is quite a lot of history at a glance,  including the good and the not so good.  I am thankful that the teacher I work with allowed me to work on this project,  and,  to be honest,  I am pretty proud of it.  I have hopes that I might expand it a little more next school year...but even if that doesn't happen,  it's still fairly extensive.  And if it will help the kids to learn about our past - their  past - maybe,  just maybe,  we can help to build a little patriotism.

 . . . . . .

All of this in the merry,  merry month of May 2021.

I like to think I am helping future generations learn and appreciate history,  for it is so much more than …well,  it is simply  so much more.  

History doesn't have to be boring.

History is not only about dead people.

History is not just the memorization of names and dates.

It is not the droning lecture given by a scholar.

It is not a long monotoned recitation given by a college professor.

History is not all lecture and text reading. 

History is,  instead,  alive - it is where we came from...it shows how we came to be who we are today.  And it can show the direction in which we are headed.

I believe it’s imperative to show students the bigger picture and how it permeates into our daily lives today.

Until next time,  see you in time.

To read about our springtime excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our wintertime excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our autumn excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about flax and other textiles,  please click HERE

To read about how I try to emulate a colonial feel in my own home,  please click HERE
To learn more about a colonial spring on the farm,  please click HERE

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