I promise, a post is coming!

My apologies for being so far-behind in my posting schedule!  Coming-up: the epic of a ball-gown, miniactment planning, and being (quite-randomly) cast in a play!

4:30 a.m. Eastern Time - April 12th, 2011

To the 600,000.  *clink*

(A lovely French Chardonnay imbibed in honor of P.G.T. Beauregard, and a some Sea-Salt chips munched in honor of Major Anderson's gallant defense of his island fort)

Introducing . . .

The Winchester Canon  - postings from the Copeland/Ridenour papers, dated 1860-1865.  :-) Join Adah and I as we travel through time and write as our characters, contemplating the joys and tragedies of ordinary women who lived through exceptional times.


Letters dated late-1860 now posted.

The Winchester Canon

Reenacting has brought many amazing people into my life.  One of them is my partner in hardcore crime, the Sunny Seamstress (who blogs here and here), who's just as crazy as I am when it comes to de-farbing camp, eating period-correct food, and obsessing over tiny details of historical accuracy in our costume choices.  We also find that reenacting in "first-person" really helps inspire our research and adds an extra edge of challenge and fun to events.

One of the brilliant ideas Sunny, or "Adah" as I more-often call her, came up with was that we would write letters back and forth in character, tracing our respective journeys from the election of 1860 'til (God willin' and the creek don't rise...) the end of the war.  Adah insisted that we write them all out in our best Spencerian ("Spencerian?  What, like, swirly-letters?" said I . . .), with pen-and-ink, if possible.  After a few tries, this letter writing has turned into quite a project:

Being the Literature Major/Author that I am, I came up with 2-3 pages of back-story for my character, Margaret-Ellen Hamilton Copeland of Hillsborough, VA (near where I used to live in Purcellville).  Adah came up with about as much, and right now we are writing as long-separated childhood friends from Hillsborough & Alexandria, respectively.  We will both eventually end up in Winchester, VA - just in time for the mid-days of the war and the muster of our unit, the 18th VA Cavalry, in 1863.  We call our character-world "The Winchester Canon," a title which will remain ironic until Spring 1862 or so, when my character will move to Winchester for reasons which will be revealed in the future.

Thus, in order to write my letters, I bring out "Beleaguered Winchester,"  (a book on civilians in Frederick County during the War) for help with character atmosphere, "The Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee" for style reference, "The Civil War Almanac" to keep my timeline straight, and the original 1828 Webster Dictionary for vocab. help.  This in addition to the several web-pages I keep open on my iPhone: 1860s farming research, an 1861 calendar, and an example of Spencerian penmanship.

I told you I was crazy.

I write out everything long-hand in a journal before I commit it to ink-and-paper, so I can craft a good letter w/o having to worry about the handwriting, as well as have a good copy of my letter once the finished product has been mailed.  I've been getting better at the Spencerian (practice makes perfect), and am really enjoying getting to know both of our characters in depth.  

Which is why we've figured that maybe it's time to share the wealth.  Beginning this week (if all goes according to plan), I will begin transcribing our existing letters onto their very own blogspot.  We hope that the rest of you will enjoy reading about the Adventures of Adah and Margaret-Ellen as much as we have enjoyed writing them.  I will post new letters as they become available.  Check-back in a couple days to begin the journey through time.

Some Pictures from Last Year . . .

 . . . Set to music (that's me singing, and the intrepid Lt. Michael on the guitar & drums)

So picturesque, and yet . . .

Having successfully finished a new muslin chemise with pretty-pink trim, I set out this evening to get a good start on a matching set of drawers.  After 4 hours of cutting-out, pinning, and stitching, I had two decent-looking drawer-legs, facings, plackets & all.

2 decent-looking drawers legs - for a left leg.

Ballocks.

We'll start Round 2 tomorrow.  Score so far - The Sewing Gods: 2, Margaret-Ellen: 0.5

The Art of Laundressery

Laundressing?  Laundresship? (Vote for your preferred noun in the comments section).

It wasn’t long into my reenacting “career” (3 or 4 events) before I realized that being a woman in a Living History Encampment can get downright boring.  The men are up and about, for the most part, from first call in the morning ‘til evening gun-cleaning – but the ladies, outside of preparing meals and getting ready for dances, mostly just sit around and sew.  Which is awesome, and a great opportunity for fellowship with one’s fellows - if you’re the “sit around and sew” type. I am not.

I considered the different types of activity-centered living-history-impressions available to the weaker sex: nurse (done a lot – and no longer allowed on the battlefield in our association), cook (no really good cooking equipment available in our unit’s camp), vivandierre (period correct for SOME units, but definitely NOT the Virginia Cavalry), female-soldier-passing-as-a-man (no matter how hard I tried – there’s no way I could conceivably pass for a man, and I’m just stich-nazi enough to care), camp-follower (Now REALLY!?) . . . laundress (ooooh).

The thought brought me back to a thrilling “Adobe Days” reenactment at the Rancho Los Cerritos when I was a wee tyke, during which I (in addition to stomping mud into adobe bricks and learning how to write with a quill pen) got to scrub laundry on a washboard and send it through a hand-wringer.  I begged my mom for days afterward to give me a tub and a board and let me do our laundry in the back-yard (just like in the “Kirsten” books and Little House on the Prairie!!!).  Here was an impression that was involved, informative, and possibly interactive.  I also couldn’t recall the last time I saw a laundress at a Civil War event.

I was lucky to find an affordable, large wooden washtub and an old washboard in working order at the first antique store I tried (there IS a God).  Add a couple buckets, a large tub for rinsing (Yes, yes, galvanized-metals weren’t used until the 1880s.  I won’t tell if you won’t!), a boiler (only to display since we’re not allowed ground-fires in So.Cal), a table, some bottles for “stain-remedies,” a clothes-brush, a ledger, an old iron, and the Laundress was in business!  I bought a booklet from the Kansas Mercantile on creating a believable Military Laundress impression, and studied up.  The following is the “system” I employ at events, but it is always changing, and I would welcome any comments/questions/suggestions for improvement that any of y’all might have!

1.  

1. Boil Water – I start with cold-water washing, but the water takes a long time to boil over an open flame and by the time it’s off-boil I’ll probably be ready for it.  Yummy breakfast optional ;-)

 2. Carry Water for Tubs – Sometimes one can rely on a friendly trooper or two to help with this chore, but not always.  One starts to appreciate the hard work that went into this job right about now.  Also important to remember that the clothes will replace their volume in the water so one needen’t fill the tubs as high as one might think at first.

3.    Soaking – In real life, the clothes would’ve been mended, treated for stains, and left to soak overnight.  I take some “warm” clothes (semi-soiled shirts, etc.) and throw them in a soak-bucket to illustrate these steps without actually displaying them.  As I wash, I’ll throw the next “batch” of clothes in the soak bucket so there’s always something in it.

4.    Plunge and Scrub – I wash wools and delicates first, with a milder soap while the water is still cold and clean.  When I’m done with that, I’ll start adding the hot water from the stove to shavings of lye-soap (people often ask me – “why do you need a knife?” “For my soap and naughty children,” says I . . . Mid-19^th century laundresses didn’t rub the soap directly onto the clothes – though I’ve personally found this removes dirt a little more easily – they dissolved the soap in hot water and then added the mix to the water in the tub) and wash the “warms” – wearable cottons, etc.  This is a great point to get kids involved – they always want to come and help!

5.    The Hot Load – this part is always fun for me because it feels the most realistic of all the steps.  I’ve been saving any really dirty whites for the end, when the water is nice and murky.  I throw out most of the cool water and add the rest of what’s been boiling, then (because it’s too hot to pick up and scrup with your hands) I agitate the wash with a wooden spoon (I need something bigger, but a spoon will do for now).  Then, when the water’s cooled a tad, I scrub until my hands are sore.  I’ve worked out some really tough cast-iron stains with this method before!

   

6.    Rinse & Hang – In real 1860s life, laundry (especially linens and whites) would’ve received 3 rinses and a boil (in addition to starching & ironing – whew!!).  I can only really display one rinse, though I do bring a boiler to show what one would look like.  This part can be fairly back-breaking – it’s always nice to grab a couple of passing kids to help you wring stuff out – ESPECIALLY the woolens!

 

7.    RELAX.  Sit.  Spin. Sew. Cook.  Rest aching back and wonder about washer-woman’s elbow. Hound troopers to pay-up for last-month’s long-johns. And/or Start-Over, depending on if one sees some promising public heading one’s way . . .