My husband and I like to play dress up.
In case that sounds suggestive, let me hurry to clarify. We
enjoy making and wearing clothes of the nineteenth century and
creating
”
Living History
”
for the public.
My husband and I like to play dress up.
In case that sounds suggestive, let me hurry to clarify. We enjoy making and wearing clothes of the nineteenth century and creating “Living History” for the public.
We got started before we actually moved here. On one of our visits to the area to check out the possibility of living here, we went over to San Juan Bautista and its State Historical Park to kill some time. There we discovered former ranger Nedra Martinez who told us about the park and its living history program.
Then we wandered over to the blacksmith shop in the park. My husband’s eyes lit up and the die was cast.
My husband had done some blacksmithing in the past and he immediately saw the fun of becoming one of the historically-accurate smiths that show folks how utilitarian items – not just horsehoes but farm implements, hinges, hooks, tongs and other tools – were made in our grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ days.
Next thing I knew, I owned a corset and was living in a tent.
We attend Living History events that usually illustrate either the 1840s or the Civil War era. He portrays a blacksmith of the period and I either portray the blacksmith’s wife or a more urban, sophisticated Victorian lady.
Our tent is a walled canvas affair with a fly that keeps out most rain and some of the sun’s heat. We cover the ground with modern tarps and hide them with a historically-correct worn patterned carpet. Most of our belongings are either in wooden boxes or canvas bags. Anything modern is hidden under the bed or otherwise out of sight during the hours when the public is around.
While my husband plies his trade, explaining the craft to visitors, I maintain our little homestead. Luckily, this involves a lot of sitting around maintaining the fire so that it’s ready to heat water for dishwashing, or to cook a meal. I manage not to over-exert myself.
I wear a wide-brimmed bonnet that either keeps my head warm or shields me from the hot sun. Maneuvering in a long full skirt took some getting used to at first, but now I only trip myself about once a weekend.
This coming weekend we will be at the Dana Adobe near San Luis Obispo. The Dana adobe and its history are new to me; of course there are links to San Juan Bautista since in the California of the 1840s and 50s, non-Native American settlements were few and far between. For example, Captain John Fremont (for whom Fremont Peak is named) and his men dined there in March 1847 on their way back north from Los Angeles.
It promises to be quite an event. The latest list of attendees includes several Californios and vaqueros, as well as an emigrant couple and their wagon from back East. A couple of mountain men, a couple of miners and their wives and a trapper plus tradespeople such as a soap maker, a rope maker, a lace maker, a correspondent (since few people in those days were literate enough to write their own letters) and several washerwomen will round out the settlement.
After spending the weekend in the 1850s, we’ll all pack up our costumes and head back to our day jobs.
