 |
| Writing letters by oil lamp at my first "Christmas at the Fort" in 2009. |
I was informed earlier this year that since the City of Detroit Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees the Fort Wayne site, has struck a deal with National Parks Service to allow for development while providing guarantees to "maintain the fort’s historic integrity," our decades-long stretch of reenactments held there may be no more, and that includes the wonderful Christmas at the Fort.
I've been participating in Christmas at the Fort since 2009, and in that time - from 2009 until 2021 - there have only been two years this event had not taken place: 2010 and in 2020.
So here is my tribute to one of the most realistically authentic Christmas Past experiences I've ever had the pleasure in participating in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As soon as you start to think of the past as happening (as opposed to it having happened), a new way of conceiving history becomes possible.
This is true in every sense, as I have learned.
"He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten," wrote Charles Dickens' in "A Christmas Carol" describing the scene where Scrooge first enters the past. These words are true for me in a number of my own time-travel excursions...and I would feel comfortable in stating that these words are true for all of us who participated in Christmas at the Fort for these 11 years..
Nostalgia, as defined by Mr. Webster's dictionary, is described as, in part, "a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time."
And Memory is defined as being "the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience...by recall and recognition."
That would mean nostalgia and memory is a very personal experience then, does it not? Can it be possible, then, to feel a nostalgic sentimental attachment to a time period one did not personally live through?
And, in the same vein, would memories differ or be similar under the same circumstances?
Another question I asked a number of years ago: is nostalgia and memory portable?
I believe it to be possible for those of us who reenact the past as we experience these same nostalgic emotions and recalling those participations as a sort of immersive memory. I mean, it's pretty obvious that I was not around during the horse-and-carriage days, and yet I still have a sort of nostalgic feeling for those times.
And lots of memories!
I ask and mention all of this for I feel there are a few of us who have a pretty good idea what it was like to celebrate Christmas in the 1860s. And, as living historian civilians, I really am not sure if we can call what we've done at Christmas at the Fort 'reenacting.' I believe it might be more accurate to say we are actually celebrating an 1860s Christmas rather than 'pretending' to do so.
 |
That's our 1860s home - the white one. |
What would you call it when we are in a period-correct home and have created a family setting with consistent participants to spend our time immersed in such holiday pastimes as decorating a small table-top Christmas tree, singing ancient carols, visiting neighbors, spending the daytime hours in natural daylight, then spending the waning late afternoon and early evening hours in candle light & oil lamp light, and gathering together in the dining room as our domestic servant serves us a fine repast of meat, vegetables, stuffing/dressing, breads, pies, and other Christmas dinner delights for our Christmas Eve meal?
In fact, the only hint of 21st century life is when the tour groups come through, and even then most of us are unaware of these ghosts of Christmas future, for only one from our group will step out to speak with them as to not disrupt our historical holiday celebration.
My first Christmas at the Fort venture was in 2009, as you see in the top picture in this post, and I was there at one of the houses as a "family friend." No, not the white house you see in the photo directly above and below, but in a different house, and I brought along my writing desk and spent much of my time penning letters by oil lamp and taking my turn speaking to the touring public, who went house-to-house to get a history lesson at each stop.
It was my first time "working" with my friend and presentation partner, Larissa, who, though we were friends at the time, our reenacting partnership was not even a thought yet. I knew her from her job as a historic presenter at Greenfield Village, and she knew me because I frequented the open-air museum often.
So this first time out went fairly well.
The following year - 2010 - saw the fort quiet for Christmas, but it came back with a vengeance in 2011, thankfully.
It was that year when I devised a plan very different from anything we had done before: we formed a living history group and we were stationed inside the very elegant commander's home, though our scenario wasn't about the commander who lived there in the 19th century; it was to show how a well-to-do northern family would have celebrated Christmas Eve.
 |
| 2016: Home! |
The house was as ornate and elegant as any, shall we say, upscale Victorian home I have seen, and we got to call it "home"!
 |
| 2011: Our first "family" group in what would eventually become "my" home. Servants in the back! |
The hint of what was to come, however, was there: we did have a fine time as living historians bringing Christmas past to life. First off were our roles; we didn't want to just be a bunch of reenactors sitting there "pretending" as is seen so often. We each had a role - but not scripted acting, mind you! For example, Larissa became my wife, changing her name to Elizabeth, for her actual name was not a name in the 1860s. We've had various younger girls portray our daughters at one time or another, and some more often than others (we only had daughters - no sons). Larissa's mother joined us as well and, thus, became my mother-in-law. I also had various sisters (Sandy, Carolyn, and Jackie). At one point I also had a brother-in-law there.
Jackie has portrayed my sister most often, and Carolyn and Sandy intermittently. But Larissa has portrayed my wife the entire time sans one year (2014) when, in her real 21st century life, she was great with child at the time of this event and thought it unsafe to take part, but for the other 10 years she was my wife (my real wife Patty prefers not to do immersion, so she gave me her approval to have a 'reenacting wife' for certain events, including Christmas at the Fort, and Larissa / "Elizabeth" has been a kind and willing participant in this. She, too, has an awesome husband in her real 21st century life, as well as two children of her own).
And because we've done this in this manner for so long, we easily make it look like we really are a married couple.
 |
| 2015: Larissa & I. We're like a country song: Married but not to each other...lol...though we kinda are in the 1860s! |
We didn't do as much strict 1st person as we have done in other years, for it was when I began to really think about our conversations and mannerisms that occurred throughout the day. I mean, what is 1st person? In the living history world it is an attempt to act and speak as closely as possible as those who actually lived in the time being represented.
And I believe, for the most part, at Christmas at the Fort we did very well. You see, 1st person is much more than only speaking the way they spoke in the old days. I have seen 1st person in such a way that presents the past as a bunch of stiff, cardboard cut outs straight out of a Hollywood movie such as Gone With the Wind.
That makes me cringe----!
I did not want us to be that way.
I feel we, in our little historical group, have become regular normal people of the 1860s, and we usually spoke in a natural manner, attempting to lose the Hollywood tripe and strict etiquette that many tend to follow.
Oh, we did follow the etiquette of the time, but not in such a way that made us 'characters,' you know? Not once did I hear of anyone speak of 21st century subjects: no modern politics, no talk of movies, TV, or modern entertainment, no "remember at the last reenactments when we..." - - nothing of the sort.
We also didn't use, in the modern sense, words such as 'cool' or 'awesome' or any other of a number of slang used in the 21st century.
So, for the time we were there, yes, we were a family of the 1860s.
And, after about eight or so hours, the day is done, and we retired for the night (in other words, we all went to our own respective homes).
And every year we took an annual "family photo" - just as I do in my modern life.
 |
| The 2017 version of my 1860s family. |
 |
| The 2021 version of my 1860s family. And there were many more than just these two. |
But it's Christmas time, and throughout the daytime hours, and into the darkness of the evening, we took turns reading from the various material we had on hand including Dickens "A Christmas Carol," the latest issue of Harper's Weekly (from December 1861), from a book of Christmas poetry, short stories, and other period correct verses. We sang Christmas Carols to a pump organ, and played parlor games. And some of the ladies crochet and knitted Christmas gifts for their loved ones off fighting the rebellion.
Oh! There was so much to do!! First off there was cleaning to be done!
As any wealthy family would have employed, we had a domestic servant there, cleaning, sweeping, dusting, and generally keeping house for us. We made sure to include her in our scenario...our lives: in 2012 it sort of took another step toward 1860s reality when, while we had a group of visiting touring public inside, our servant, while dusting the hall tree or banister, would sometimes stop what she was doing and take a peak inside the parlor to view the family celebration. I, of course, as head of the house, would chastise her and send her back to her duties of which I pay her for. The tour group initially thought of me as a sort of Ebenezer Scrooge; how could I snap at my servant girl on Christmas Eve when all she wanted to do was to spend a moment eyeing festivities she was not allowed to partake in? I then explained that I was not paying her to join in the celebrations but to work. We had family coming and the house must be in good order. The modern tour group learned a good historical lesson with this little scenario.
On a side note, as we gathered all of our participants together for the 2011 group photo (scroll up a bit), one of our elegantly dressed female participants told the domestic, "Servants in the back!"
The young lady obliged.
Yes, we do take our fun seriously.
 |
| 2012: a photo from the very night I had to "scold" her. |
 |
| 2012: Agnes serving her mistress. Yes, we called her Agnes even though her name is Carrie, for Agnes is easier for us to remember. Renaming your help was a common practice at the time. If they wanted to keep their job they pretty much didn't have much of a choice. |
 |
| In 2016 we hired a second domestic, Candace. |
 |
| 2015: Agnes preparing our meal in the kitchen. |
Oh! There were Christmas carols to be sung!
 |
| 2018: Larissa's mother played the pump organ beautifully, and had a wonderful singing voice as well. She would sit at the keyboard and pick out the old carols from days of old and all would join in. |
 |
| 2016: Such carols as "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and, of course, "Silent Night," among others. |
There was food to be eaten~
In 2013 something special happened: for the first time in over 30 years we got to eat in the dining room...and we got to eat by oil lamp and candle light! In our planning of our presentation for that holiday season it was brought up how could we expand our impression to make it more real than in previous years, and when the idea came up of eating a Christmas meal in the dining room, I didn't expect the coalition to agree to it.
But we have proven to them over the years that we are historical professionals in all we do, and because of that we got the thumbs up.
Wow!
 |
| 2013: our first Christmas dining experience as an 1860s family. |
And, as you can see, our servant(s) were at hand to serve us.
 |
| 2015: Agnes prepares our table. Let's put it this way - she (and Candace) were so good at their domestic servant duties that we had no idea they were setting the table. They just let us know when our supper was ready and called us into the dining room with everything all set for us. |
 |
| 2015: As if we had our likenesses taken by an actual tin-type photographer. |
From that point on, our Christmas meal became as much of a tradition and staple as any other for us. It all made us feel like a real family...and, more than that, it made us feel as an actual 1860s family.
 |
| 2019: A very festive Christmas setting! |
 |
| 2018: Larissa took this shot of me adjusting the oil lamp. It's one of my all-time favorite photos. |
Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, breads, cheese, sausage, preserves, and vegetables. Yes, we really had all of this as part of our Christmas Eve dinner here, though sometimes it varied year to year. And that's not even counting the desserts of pies and cakes!
 |
| 2019: Shortly before our Christmas Eve meal was served. |
 |
| 2017: Even the servants had time to enjoy a fine festive holiday meal (albeit in the kitchen)! |
 |
| 2016: Shortly after our 2016 meal my "wife" gave each of us a small Christmas token. Big extravagant gifts were just not a thing yet. |
I must say, having our Christmas meal like this became a magical experience, beyond expectations. Imagine the opportunity of eating a Christmas meal with only oil lamps and candles for light inside of an actual dining room of the time. As one who wants to experience history, I believe eating such a meal in the manner we've done for years gives me the same memories as those who actually lived in this past day and age.
And that's what we strive for.
 |
| 2021: I'm not sure, but this just may have been our last meal in this manner. I hope not! This was pure magic for us. It is our hope that Christmas at the Fort does return. |
Gifts were not quite the same as we know them to be today:
 |
| 2015: The ladies crochet, knitted, and sewed garments, whether mittens, socks, scarves, or hats, for the men in blue off fighting the Confederates. |
It was in 2012 when we began our tradition of having a Christmas Tree.
Initially we used a feather tree.
 |
| 2017 |
Yes, it is actually true that the feather tree was considered the first artificial Christmas tree and they were originally made in Germany as early as 1845. Like many inventions, the tabletop feather tree came about out of necessity. By the mid-to-late 19th century, decorated Christmas trees were more popular than ever; however, in Germany deforestation was widespread, especially during the Christmas holiday season.
It had become the fashion to chop off the tip off a large fir tree to use as a Christmas tree; however, this practice prevented the tree from growing taller and thus made it useless as a timber tree. Statutes were enacted to limit people from having more than one tree, hence protecting the forests. With the introduction of the "goosefeather" feather tree, this problem was resolved. Goose feathers were plentiful and these feather trees began to be produced as a cottage industry as the alternative to cutting a live tree. The goose feather tree became the first artificial Victorian Christmas tree. Metal wire or sticks were covered with goose, turkey, ostrich or swan feathers. The feather sticks were drilled into a larger one to resemble the branches on a tree; the feathers were often dyed green to imitate pine needles. The trees were made to resemble the locally growing white pines of the German forestland, so they had wide spaces between their branches, short "needles," and composition "berries" on the end of every branch tip.
Here's a video taken on this 1860s Christmas Eve in 2017:
However, I learned through my own research that though these trees were around in America during the time of the Civil War, they were not in wide use at all, and would not be popular in this country until closer to the turn of the century. So, in 2018, we opted for a real live table-top tree.
Trying to keep it authentic, you know.
 |
| 2018: Our first real table-top tree. We even included a wooden Noah's Ark set underneath - another common child's toy for the season! |
 |
| 2019: The whole family joined in the merry time of Christmas Tree decorating, while Larissa's mother once again played carols on the pump organ. |
 |
| 2019: Truly a beautiful tree, don't you think? |
 |
| 2021: Our last year there and Carrie had her young daughter with her for a while, which was fine for we treated her as if she were our granddaughter. |
 |
| 2017: But we didn't just decorate the Christmas Tree~ |
One of the most magical moments of all occurred in 2021 when the highlight of the evening...of the entire day...came about when we lit the candles on the Christmas Tree. You see, I positioned the candles on the tree in safe lighting positions, for I have been lighting candles on our Christmas Tree at my modern home for 37 years now.
I was very much hoping to experience my first all-period lighting.
I asked the person in charge if he trusted me to do such a Victorian thing. He was, understandably, apprehensive, but then, with a look of concern but trust in me, gave his approval.
The thing was, we had the final tour group of the evening there and he wanted to give them a send off they would never forget.
So...
 | ||
| 2021: Look what we did~ The moment caught in these photos was when the tour group and us "ghosts of Christmas past" all sang "Silent Night" while watching the tree all aglow - no other light in the room or anywhere else in the house. A true immersion you-are-there feeling overwhelmed us. A true immersion you-are-there experience if there ever was one. From what I understand, this is all the people talked about for the rest of their tour.
|
~Magical~
I would harbor to bet that our time in the past celebrating Christmas is pretty close to the way the people we represent who actually lived "back then" also celebrated.
And this allows me to answer my own question from the top of the post: I do not believe what we've done here is reenacting...for we are actually celebrating the Christmas holiday, just as we have together for over a decade. And those couple of times when we could not, due to the pandemic or another reason, more than one from our group stated that it would not be Christmas for them without participating in Christmas at the Fort.
Now that's special.
So, with that being said, yes, I believe it can be possible, then, to feel a nostalgic sentimental attachment to a time period one did not personally live through.
Not personally live through?
Then what would you call it when we are in a period-correct home and have created a family setting to spend the day and into the evening participating in such holiday pastimes as decorating a small table-top Christmas tree, singing ancient carols, visiting neighbors, spending the daytime hours in natural daylight, then spending the waning late afternoon and early evening hours in candle light & oil lamp light, and gathering together in the dining room as our domestic servants serve us a fine repast of Christmas dinner delights for our Christmas Eve meal?
What about lighting our table top Christmas Tree as the Victorians once did?
In other words, even knowing the fact that we are not a real family of the 1860s, the way we respond and present ourselves to each other and to visitors very strongly gives off the intended impression that we are - or were - an 1860s family.
 |
| 2021: off to visit neighbors. |
We were there...Christmas 1861, '62, '63, '64...
At this time it is hard to say whether or not Christmas at the Fort will be returning. I have high hopes that it will but it is very uncertain. If it does return, we will be ready to resume our roles.
If it doesn't, then we have these photographs and our own memories...
Either way, no matter where or when you may be, have the Merriest of Christmas's.
Until next time, see you in time.
My 1st time at Christmas at the Fort (2009), click HERE
Creating our 1st family scenario (2011), click HERE
2012 - our first year with a Christmas Tree, click HERE
And it was in 2013 that we ate a Christmas meal in the dining room for the first time - click HERE
A slight changeup occurred in 2014 - for this one year I had a different wife - click HERE
Larissa was back in 2015 and all was right with the time-space continuum - click HERE
In 2016 we pushed ourselves into a more staunch realism - click HERE
2017 - with each passing year we continued to push ourselves in authenticity. This year, since I suppose I just felt kind of odd giving everyone my surname, we all agreed on having our own surname for this family: the Logan family works perfect - click HERE
In 2018 we got a real table-top tree, and continued on with this tradition - click HERE
2019 found us with a toddler granddaughter. This was also, sadly, the last event we would have Larissa's mother join us, for the pandemic shut the fort down in 2020 and cancer took Violet in 2021 - click HERE
2021 found us in what was the most magical of our 1860s Christmas celebrations, for we not only had our Christmas dinner, but when darkness came we lit the candles on the tree - click HERE
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
No comments:
Post a Comment