Last summer, in the state history museum in Saint Paul MN, I saw a very nice
little exhibit based on a local restaurant with an interesting history that had
since been demolished, but which all the Twin Cities folk obviously remembered
warmly. I thought it was a very nice bit of social history to include in such a
gallery. One can always count on the visitors being interested in food. Next
week, one of our costumed interpreters, dressed as a late 18th century camp
follower, will be baking bannock over an open fire on our courtyard and handing
out samples. Two years ago, while visiting the Duke Plantation in NC, we were
all suffering from the oppressive heat. Coming around a corner, we found a
table where costumed staff were handing out chunks of cold watermelon. What a
hit that was! And only a bit further along, we found an outdoor exhibition of
mid-19th entury cookie baking. They were good, too.

It's obviously easier to do these things outside but, when we open our
discovery room later this year, we hope to do something similar though not with
open fires!

Harry Needham
Canadian War Museum