Clothing - period clothing - is the first thing anyone sees and takes notice of at a reenactment. I mean, that's pretty much how one can tell they are at a reenactment, correct? And if the reenactment is not really of a true historical nature, such as a Renaissance Fair with its fairies, Shrek, talking trees and all, it's still the clothing that will give an impression of the past - even if much of it is "pseudo."
And for the most part, I would say the majority of us who make the effort to practice authentic living history do a pretty good job in the period clothing department. Oh, there are those few who don't really give a care (and it shows), and there may be a few disagreements from others in the "who wore what" department, as well as some of the unnecessary nit-pickiness that even our ancestors would scoff at, but generally, I would say many of us could be placed in the past and pass as a local (until we begin to speak--lol---then our cover would be blown).
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| "The flax to linen process was a popular demonstration at this event. Lac Ste. Claire Voyageurs Encampment at Lake St. Clair Metropark in Michigan." ~Photographer Kerry Dennis |
However, living historians cannot live on clothing alone - - the past will still be dead without the proper additions (and historical knowledge!) to help bring it to life no matter how good you look.
To me it is the historical accessories - items that can be presented or used to help show the past - that make the garments, and, thus, you, fit into the world of another time, helping to paint a larger picture of an era long gone.
And there always seems to be a story when one reenacts with the Lac Ste. Claire Voyageurs, for it seems each of the members tend to show to a great extent the world of the Great Lakes past like few others do.
I've tried to do my part over the years, and I did this year again as well: for instance, day one - Saturday - was the day I brought along my flax processing tools to teach the public about turning the flax plant into linen.
Day two - Sunday - I brought my colonial lighting apparatus, where I had a sort of show-n-tell about the different means of lighting an 18th century home.
Oh, but the days there were HOT and humid, and, on Sunday, it became very windy as well. So windy, in fact, I had concerns about my tent (the wind coming off of Lake St. Clair actually lifted it up and some of my wood poles fell).
But, even with that, it was a great weekend----any time I can be in period clothing with friends is fine indeed.
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| What I think I like most about the Voyageurs encampment is the involvement and participation of the reenactors. Such as building a small fort right in the middle of the line of tents. |
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| It's the sort of thing that separates this reenactment from most others. I see the banner (flag) of the Kingdom of France a-flying there. |
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| Richard is a long-time historic reenactor of multiple time periods, including not only colonial/Rev War, but Civil War and WWII. |
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| I always, always love it when natives come to teach their history. |
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| Doc Bloodsworth was kept busy speaking about his cures for what ails people. |
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| McSpillin, a traditional folk music group who specializes in Celtic and Gaelic music, was set up next to us. It was wonderful to hear their fine and fun music throughout the day. Their style centered strongly in mainly British Isles tradition & roots - a true joy to listen to. |
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| And there were other musicians throughout the camping area playing traditional period music as well. |
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| Also traditional dancing. |
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The Belletre Detroit were there - it's always good to see Detroit's French roots! Based out of the Detroit/Southeast Michigan area, Belletre is a French & Indian War reenacting society dedicated to the preservation and education of the mid-18th Century military and civilian life.  |
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| If you know anything about Voyageurs you know that they were fur traders. Marko had a fine set up for speaking to the public about this part of our local history. |
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| Jeff gave an awesome presentation on life in Detroit during the 18th century. What?? You didn't know Detroit was around at that time? Ha! This city of my birth has a long history... |
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| Joey, here, not only represents a Voyageur, but a blacksmith as well, and can often be seen cooking at his camp when he's not clanging his hammer. On this day he made pheasant stew. |
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| Aside from the French flags that were flown, there were numerous other historic flags, including the "Betsy Ross" from 1776, The Taunton from 1774, and the Grand Union from 1775. |
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| Over at the gun camp we see the Bennington Flag (Spirit of '76). Some say the flag was from as early as 1777 from the Battle of Benningon (though this is questionable) or from early 19th century - possibly 1826, to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Below the Bennington we have the Gadsden flag from 1775. |
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| Numerous guns, axes, hatchets, knives and other tools of the 18th century were laid out for the curious visiting public to eye and learn about at the gun tent. |
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| The hawk throw. If you look closely, you can see the tomahawk flying in mid-air. |
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| Mark takes his turn. Both Dale and Mark did great. |
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| Ken fires his musket. |
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| The guys at the gun camp fire their muskets. |
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| The gunsmith was set up... |
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| ...and, yes, he did make the musketry he had on the racks. |
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| Wot? Another flag! This time the British Union Jack, from 1801. |
The flag of Great Britain, commonly known as King's Colours, the Union Jack, or the British flag, was initially used at sea beginning in 1606, and then more generally throughout England from 1707 to 1801, and is slightly different from the one seen here (no diagonal red), which is the Union Jack of 1801 til present day.
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| And here we have a weaver weaving on a table loom. |
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| For the first time since I've been participating with this Voyageur encampment there was a chocolateer making chocolate in the same way as was done in the 18th century. |
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| It was this gentleman's first time ever presenting, much less showing how chocolate was made. |
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| And, though I did not capture an image to show it, he garnered a rather decently large crowd of interested onlookers. I really enjoy when reenactors, especially new ones, take the step beyond just being a camp-sitter. |
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| My Saturday camp, with the flax, the break, the scutching board, and the hackle. These items were a draw for interested spectators. |
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| Here is some of the raw flax I brought along to process. |
The knee-breeches I was wearing and most of the clothing the ladies with me had on were made of linen, so I began my presentation by telling the audience we were wearing flax for clothing - most did not know linen was made from the flax plant.
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| After speaking on planting and harvesting our flax, I then began to show the process of plant to linen, beginning with the flax break. |
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| It was seeing the flax break that drew the people to my camp, for when they saw this contraption, curiosity got the best of them and they simply had to come over and see what it was. You can also see the scutching board in this photo. |
I agreed!
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| I was pleased that this old-time craft attracted such decent-sized crowds. The interest in the past is alive and well, thank God. |
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| Hackling the flax. The audiences were wonderfully fascinated and asked many questions. |
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| While Larissa and I were doing our farm presentation, Charlotte and Jackie took over the camp and, much to my happiness, spoke to interested spectators about the flax process. |
However, the next day...
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| For my Sunday presentation I chose to bring a variety of replicated 18th century lighting devices...and to show the number of dips it takes to form a candle. |
Strolling along the banks of Lake St. Clair...
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| My three living history companions: Jackie, Charlotte, and Larissa. |
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| I am going to take a moment here to speak about these three ladies: they have been my constant living history partners/companions for over a year now. They have taken part in our living history excursions at not only reenactments, but at the frontier cabin. The knowledge shared by each is astounding. |
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| When you get the best, the experience is the best. Thank you, my good friends. |
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| Your host~ I hope you enjoyed our jaunt through the Lac Ste. Claire Voyageur encampment. Even though I represent one from the New England colonies, I am still accepted among the French of Fort Detroit. |
Reenacting with the Voyageurs is a wonderful experience, for their history is a sort of timeline on its own; they go back to the 1600s up through the mid-1800s - a good 200 years. With so many doing a variety of different period crafts, the visitors really get "their money's worth." It's great to be able to step up to any camp site and see & learn something new.
In case you haven't noticed, I've been very busy in my time-travel adventures of late; from May 29 through the last weekend of August - roughly the three main months of summer - I was in period clothing seemingly nearly as much as I was in my modern t-shirts & jeans. In fact, I did 15 different events within that three month period, most of which were documented here in Passion for the Past. And the few that were not - I did a school event and a period fashion show - will be in an upcoming post.
Yeah, I was quite the busy time-traveling man, making up for the lost reenacting year of 2020.
There will be a bit of a break in the hobby for me this month of September. However, come October and November...let's just say there will be more to come.
Oh, and I can't wait!
Until next time, see you in time.
Here are each of the events I participated in this summer:
Time Line at Port Sanilac
Time Line at Port Sanilac
Period Fashion Show
Civil War School Presentation
Voyageurs Metro-Beach Encampment
A special thank you to Kerry Dennis, Barb Baldinger, and Richard Reaume for allowing me to mix a few of their photographs with my own.
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