Deb Fuller wrote: >I'll disagree that reenactments are primarily for reenactors. While there are >some reenacting events that are closed to the general public and some >reenactors who just like "playing dress up" or "acting", a lot of reenactors, >my groups included, see themselves primarily as educators for the public. I >tend to see us as "living exhibits". We bring an aspect of a historic site or >event that you just can't get with static exhibits and existing structures. > Sorry, I wasn't clear and generalized all reenactment activities. I see some as primarily for the reenactors, and some as primarily for the public, and some falling somewhere in between. Living history and reenactment programs at historical sites are obviously organized towards public education, and there are some reenactment groups that purposely plan an event for public benefit. Doesn't stop the reenactors from getting personal enjoyment and experience at the same time. Others (more common, I think, among Western states fur trade era and modern Mountain Men thinkers) are either intentially closed, or just not very conducive to public attendence (one Ranger group I know has done 20 mile treks through wilderness, in full kit, for fun...the question of the public attending seems never to have been rasied....). In the middle the events that I was thinking about: primarily planned and organized for the benefit of the reenactors, but opened to the public as well. As in "while we are out here doing this, why don't we?" It's also a good recruitment policy. And in this sense, primarily can mean as little as 55% for reenactors and 45% for public. I don't think the participants in this area would strongly consider cancelling the event if public attendence dropped. That's what I meant by "primarily for the reenactors." > >I try to remind the public that we are people too, not mannequins or a hands-on >museum. You wouldn't go up to someone on the street and poke at their clothes, >don't do it to us. We'll gladly explain what we are wearing if asked. I also >have to keep people out of private tents that are tied up. You'd think that >they would look in the one that was actually open for display but no, untying >tent flaps must present a special challenge that some people just can't resist. > Part of my point is that if the reenactment is entirely for the benefit of the public (or the public thinks it is) then everywhere, including inside tents, is part of the display. I don't think the idea that real people are really camping out using this 'museum collection of old stuff' really occurs to them. I know reenactors that really try to keep the modern content down even in their private stuff: they are authentic down to skin and rifling through their chests and parfleches inside the tent is not going to turn up much modern stuff, either. They aren't doing this for public education, but themselves, and this part of their gear is private and off-limits to the public. I recall a couple of archaeological field camps where the crew had very little ability in pioneering and primitive camping skills than the people whose material culture they were researching. If it wasn't Gortex and Coleman, they floundered about helpless. Point being, many modern people look at the 'old stuff' and can't conceive using it, relegating it to museum display status. They look at a reenactment as a static, unpractical display, not a functioning habitat. It probably doesn't occur to some that real people are camping out and _living_ there. The tents and beds (and personal items) are just part of the display, right? >It all goes back to one of my mantras - Never underestimate the stupidity of >the general public. :) > I could be wrong, but I prefer to cling to the notion that it's the 10% of the public doing 90% of the stupid things. We just notice the stupidity more. -- James F. Johnson [log in to unmask] ================================================================ "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).