Do we take it too seriously?

[kgwolfe1]

I have only been a member of this site for a relatively short time but have been a lurker in the woods for quite some time now and I have one question, do we as reenactors take ourselves too seriously sometimes? I mean all the talk about FARBY's and campaigners. Can we truly experience what they went through during the war. I was in the Army for 6 years and I know roughing it was completely different now then in the 1860's.

Campaigners seem to want to "live" the way they did but in the end they will only be campaigning for 2-3 days then it's back to the lazy boy and the History channel. They will never experience the joy of having clothing rot off thier bodies while they march, the joys off defecating on themselves because they have "the trots". The endless tedium of camp life or the true terror of combat. Face we are all Farby, some worse than others but Farby nonetheless.

I'm not down playing or ridiculing anyones impression, **** I applaude and respect anyone who spends thier hard earned money and time to bring history alive and put it before the public. I just think some individuals are really disrespecting the sacrifices that were made by our ancestors by thinking they are better portrayers than others. After all in the end we are just a bunch of amatuer actors.

[hanktrent]

After all in the end we are just a bunch of amatuer actors.

Sigh.

It's not news that reenactors can't actually experience the real 1860s. It's not news that most people really wouldn't want to.

The difference is what comes after that realization.

Conclusion #1: We can never really experience the 1860s, so whatever we do, we'll always be inaccurate. Might as well not worry about trying so hard, since we'll always fail.

Conclusion #2: We can never really experience the 1860s, but if we try to get closer, we can gain more appreciation, insight, knowledge--whatever we're looking for. Even if we can't be perfect, we can still improve by trying.

Some reenactors lean toward #1, some toward #2. Totally different attitudes, equally valid, but they're often mutually exclusive if attempted at the same time and place.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[PMB1861]

I'm piling on, sorry...

I'm with Hank and Conclusion #2. The attempt and what's learned from it is the jewel myself and many others are grasping for.

I've come to a point where I abhorr the "We're all Farbs because we can't do XXXXXX" attitude. All that is is a poor excuse to accept mediocrity and give in to immediate comfort or lower standards.

It is correct in the grand majority of cases 93% of events last a weekend and then the magic is over due to our real lives we lead outside of 19th century clothing. There are a few events out there that aim to achieve something more. In the past 18 months you had Winter of '64, Sparks of Secession and Into the the Piney Woods as examples of that. In the next year there will be In The Van and Struggles of Secession for those with the time and energy for the challenge. However those events would never happen if dozens of other great 2-3 day immersive events didn't occur across this country for individuals to accept the spark and start the fire that smoulders in a living historian's heart.

Sorry for getting up on the soap box. I know there are different hobbies out there. I like the one I'm in and the great people (like Hank) I've met along that journey that has no end, but many rewards.

[Spinster]

They will never experience the joy of having clothing rot off thier bodies while they march, the joys off defecating on themselves because they have "the trots".
.

Actually it does happen. Even a week long event will do a real number on clothing, as anyone who has looked into my mending basket can attest.

And while I never managed to reanchor a seat in the nasty things after we got them clean, The Unfortunate Drawers that came to my basket during the Winter of 64 provided a unique testimony as well.

My hands work on the rub board. My needle goes in and out. My fingers ache in the cold and I put a small stick of wood in the ashy stove. I remember the countless women who stood in this place. I look at my washing machine and my sewing machine and my gas furnace and I am grateful for what they did

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

"I just think some individuals are really disrespecting the sacrifices that were made by our ancestors by thinking they are better portrayers than others."

IMHO and heresies...

Herr Hank has well summed "it" up.

On the Sliding Scale of Imperfection of what works for us and our pards on the Sliding Scale of Imperection...

IMHO still...

"...disrespecting the sacrifices that were made by our ancestors by thinking they are better portrayers than others." When it comes to history, and the Mental Picture choice to strive to be "more like" the life and times of those ancestors- it could be argued that the more theatrical, farcical, yahoo, wahoo, and historically "incorrect" we are in terms of understanding, appreciating, and simulating and emulating the material culture, thinking, beliefs, (some) of shared similar experiences, etc., the more "disrespectful" we actually are?

But then, on the Sliding Scale of Imperfection, we rightfully choose to be in different hobbies together, based upon What Works For Us.

And...

Others' mileage will vary...

CHS
Heretic

[Pvt Schnapps]

If reenacting wasn't all one hobby none of us would be embarassed or frightened by the other participants.

That said, whether we take it too seriously or not seems mostly a matter of perception. We all want to take firearms safety very seriously, I hope. I would hope we would take field craft seriously, too, but that seems to get less attention.

People who know more than I do about something always seem to me to take that something too seriously. But then I learn a little more and they don't seem quite so much like nazis.

My thing is period bureaucracy; I guess you could call me a nib-nazi, but I try not to let it show. Too much.

I agree that we should never confuse our own challenges at a reenactment with what people actually went through at the time. Some of the rhetoric on the authenticist side can take on an unseemly air of self-congratulation from time to time -- an air that overlooks the fact that surviving a weekend, or even a week, is a pretty small thing compared to a campaign.

But I think the offenders on that score tend to be the more recent converts or those who live in areas where they're vastly outnumbered by the "camping with a civil war theme" crowd. So you can't really blame them -- or I can't, anyway.

We're all still working through the problem of proper online communications etiquette, but FWIW, I think we're getting better and, in time, the appearance of factionalism will fade away. IMHO, all of us in the hobby -- young and old, fat and thin, jeancloth and workboots, &c. &c. -- have more in common with each other than with those who can't go a weekend without AC and a heavy dose of consumer electronics.

[Spinster]

Hanks also right about the 'often mutually exclusive' thing.

Some events I go to have us rely on gathered deadfall hacked up with a hatchet for firewood. Others have great piles of chainsawed wood of varying quality and greeness. Either way, I choose to think of firewood in an 1860 manner-as a scarce resource, one that I must use carefully, one that is nearly beyound my strength to replenish, and the men of my household are gone.

Fires are carefully considered, carefully made, carefully banked. Sometimes I'm cold. And that's my choice in staying in the moment inside my head.

It gets pretty funny though if the folks one tent over are trying to emulate the fires of Hades by piling and burning a cord at a time. I can get a sunburn from the backwash.

[flattop32355]

Yep, we all fall far short of the originals. The closest any can come, IMHO, is the real modern military doing a similar job over an extended period of time.

We can't duplicalte either, and really don't want to have to.

For me, the proverbial "line in the sand" is how one deals with the above revelation: One can try to do a better effort to get the better taste of "reality" possible, maybe only a piece at a time, or one can chuck it all and turn it into grand time of powder burning, partying, etc.

The former shows some effort to attempt things in the spirit of the history. The latter does not. Granted, there's a wide expanse between the extremes, but I'd rather work towards the one end of the spectrum than the other.

As for the disrespect issue between reenacting styles, I'm more concerned about not showing disrespect to the originals in how I go about my impression. Mr. Lincoln summed up our inability to add to their memory by what we do. However, the back of my mind keeps telling me, rightly or wrongly, that there are ways we can detract from them by certain behaviors. I'm not willing to do that, for this particular period or any other.

As a modern analogy: I bowl. I enjoy it. When I bowl, I like to see how well I can do. I'm trying to achieve the best scores I can while enjoying the actual experience of bowling. (As in reenacting, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I'm deficient.)

Some people go bowling to mess around, drink beer, eat pizza and be loud; the actual bowling is secondary to the "good time" they are having. I intensely dislike being on a lane next to or near those who are partying under the guise of bowling, particularly when they ignore lane etiquette; just rambling up, grabbing a ball and throwing it regardless of who is next to them ready to make their approach.

The same holds true to a degree for reenacting. While I don't hold anyone to my standard of impression, I do have my limits on what I consider reasonable behavior in camps and the field. I'd guess that holds true for most anyone who considers him/her self a progressive minded reenactor.

[LibertyHallVols]

I hear you. For me, its like this:
I take the hobby seriously. Myself... not so much.

As good as my clothing, gear, drill, or first person might be or become, it really isn't a noteworthy accomplishment when compared to:
1) The "Old Fellows".
2) Veterans of more recent conflicts.
3) New insights and discoveries by REAL historians.
4) ... lots of other stuff...

I think, as Curt has rightly explained in numerous posts, its is all about expectations. Having realistic expectations going into a given event and having expectations met (or not). If an event is advertised as an authentic event, it needs to have upheld standards. However, it makes no sense to go to the circus, then complain because you saw clowns.

[Blair]

The really bad part is when the Clowns complain.
Both the funny Clowns, and the Clowns that aren't so funny, because they couldn't make everyone happy.