Bill Cross
Treasurer, The Rowdy Pards
'In the end, it's the history, stupid. If you can't document it, forget about it. And no amount of tomfoolery can explain away anything that makes history (and living historians) look stupid and wrong."
Oh, they bite, alright, they just don't chew and then swallow.
But then, I've seen the same thing from the "other" sides of the hobby, too.
Bernard Biederman
30th OVI
Co. B
Ross Lamoreaux
Moderator and Sewer of Historical Clothing and Tall Tales
"But our opportunity to learn and grow, to communicate the richness of the lives that have gone before us, that does not change. We do not outgrow it. It does not tatter and fall apart in our hands..." -Mrs. Terre Lawson, 2010
You're right, Ross, there's no point, we're neither kind nor gentle.
I actually count the number of stitches per inch: I have a period stitch counter in gutta percha that I got from Duke that I bring to all events where I have a leadership role....Everyone knows we all eat our young and bring tape measures to measure topstitching on jackets....
Then there's the button acidity tape that I rub on brass to see if enough piss has been applied to dull the sheen....
And there's the Pop Tart Detector I got from Ajax Electronics. It's electric, so we use it at registration, much like the airport security people, and waive it over haversacks and knapsacks to check for non-period food....
And the dye dip kit: we snip a postage-stamp size piece of wool from any suspect jackets or britches, pour some special chemicals over it in a test tube, then determine if it's a period-correct dye....
And did I mention the Taser we use on anyone who fails these tests?
You get the idea.
And we never say we're sorry because we ain't.
Bill Cross
Treasurer, The Rowdy Pards
'In the end, it's the history, stupid. If you can't document it, forget about it. And no amount of tomfoolery can explain away anything that makes history (and living historians) look stupid and wrong."
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