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#living history
rockyp77mk3 · 1 month
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latinalivinghistory · 6 months
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I have a lot of opinions on this but I would love to know what other people think.
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clove-pinks · 2 months
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Local sachem of the Weckquaesgeek and an English merchant in 1657 Massachusetts cannot BELIEVE this man is stealing their wi-fi without even asking!!!
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flowersedative · 7 months
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13th century tablet woven belt
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idohistorysometimes · 6 months
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Heh, museum work.
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victoriansecret · 7 months
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How did you get into living history as a profession?
In eighth grade, on my big school field trip, we visited my current museum. At the time I didn't think about it as a job, I just wanted to live here. Which I now literally do: I live in one of the reconstructed buildings inside the historic town. The same year, my history teacher was very good, and structured his class in ways that worked for me very well. For one thing, he'd tell the anecdotal, often amusing parts of history, not just pure dates and names. And more importantly, he had couches in the back of the classroom arranged in a circle, where after reading the chapter we were on the whole class would go back there and talk about it. I am a very auditory person, so this helped me tremendously. It also, not so coincidentally, is very similar to how this field works. The term for the work I do, internally, is called "historic interpretation". I try not to use that term with guests unless I can explain it, but basically, if you can imagine what a language interpreter does - that is, turning a foreign language into something a person can understand - that's what we do with history. Help people better understand it, who may not otherwise know much about it. There's a lot more to it, and for anyone interested in the field, I highly recommend the seminal work on interpretation (not just historic, but also nature, science etc.): Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage. He had been contracted by the National Parks service for decades to observe how park service guides interacted with guests, and from that develop an understanding of what works and what doesn't, and did a lot of training for the parks. This book was the culmination of all that, where he breaks interpretation down to his six primary principles, to each of which he devotes a chapter explaining them in depth. There are updated works which expand on it, but part of why his work still stands up (and is, in my opinion, still far better than any of the others) despite being published in the 1950s is that he really gets down to the basic core of what interpretation is and can be. I am not ashamed to say I literally cried the first time I read it, because it exemplifies why I care so deeply about the work that I do. To quote what is, in my opinion, the most important and core of his principles, he writes that: "Interpretation is not information, but provocation." That is to say, all interpretation is based on information, but the goal is not to come away with every guest interaction having shared so many facts, but rather to have inspired them to be interesting in the subject more deeply and want to learn more. This is what happened to me, all those years ago. Between that class and that field trip, it made me realize I loved history. In hindsight I now realize I already did - I loved Jane Austen film adaptations, for example, and was already beginning my obsession with servants - I just didn't like or connect with the way it had been taught to me up until that point. And again, interpretation as an idea in and of itself, beyond just the things being shared, also became something I was enamoured with.
About 12 years later, I was working at a restaurant which was destroying my mental and physical health, and I knew I needed a change. I also desperately needed to get away from my home town. I thought about the things I liked (history), was good at (talking to people), and wanted to do (wear period clothing -- and again, get away), so I thought maybe I could work at a historic museum. Long story short, I began applying to various places, including my current museum. Eventually, I ended up working at a seasonal site in Michigan, where I spent four 'summers' (for the last three, I was there from beginning of May until end of October), and with that experience was able to get my first full time job at my current place. Which I eventually left to go to another museum, only to come back about a year and a half later. ..... as an aside, and I like to tell this story especially for anyone aspiring to get into this field, or really in general, my first boss once told me why she gave me an interview. My restaurant job was my only job ever, and while by that point I had my GED, I was a highschool dropout and have never been to college. I've worked with hundreds of colleagues since, and not counting people still in school, I think I can count on one hand the people that do interpretation specifically who are not college graduates (not to mention many with Masters and PHDs etc), let alone have never gone at all like me. In my cover letter for that first job, I made an analogy. My job at the restaurant was running the salad bar, and because it was in the middle of the dining room, I said something along the lines that it meant I was "always on display", so that would help me in being in such a visible job in period clothing etc. and always having to be 'on' for guests. Because analogies, and connecting to things people understand to help them better grasp the information being shared, are such a huge part of the job, she, in her own words, "knew she needed to give me an interview." And because I am, in fact, good at talking, I knocked it out of the park. ..... which is not to say I didn't have a lot to learn when I started, it was truly a struggle at first on a lot of levels, but these days I think I am an excellent interpreter. And considering I have very low self-esteem overall, it's one of the only things about myself that I'll say that about.
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trowelsanddirt · 7 months
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Some tablet weaving I've done recently!
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etymology-findings · 8 months
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Adventures in Plant Dyeing: Part 3 - Madder
I recently bought 100g of chopped madder root and a small amount of ferrous sulphate to use as a dye modifier and so I decided to give it a go.
Madder is a plant whose roots contains a wonderful red pigment. It grows wild in England but is native to the Eastern Mediterranean. Ferrous sulphate is a modifier that can be used after dyeing to change the colour of the yarn. It tends to darken the colour and make it duller.
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First I mordanted 3 50g skeins of white yarn using alum. Then I prepared the madder dye bath by soaking the madder roots in cold water for an hour before gradually heating it up to about 75°C. Apparently you mustn't let the madder boil because then it will only produce browns. Then I strained it and added 2 of my skeins to the dye bath. I was pleased to discover that the madder had quite a pleasant earthy, nutty smell, which was definitely better than boiling grass.
The so-called 'first dip' in the dye bath produces vibrant reds, which would have gone to the more high-status members of society. However after the first dip more fibre would be added and this would turn out a paler colour which would have been used for the poor. This would have continued until the dye bath was completely exhausted. I wanted to test this out and so kept back 1 skein to add later.
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After an hour and a half, I removed the wool from the madder and rinsed it, then I added the final skein and continued to simmer it. Next I prepared the iron modifier for 1 of the skeins. I added a pinch of the ferrous sulphate (wearing gloves) to a saucepan of water and heated it until it dissolved. Then I added the yarn and left it for about half an hour, at which point I removed both the modified yarn and the second dip yarn in the madder. The modified yarn had turned an amazing dark purple, whilst the second dip yarn was a pale orange. I rinsed both out, whilst wearing gloves, and left them to dry.
Here are the results: From left to right, madder with iron modifier, 1st dip madder, 2nd dip madder.
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I was very surprised by how vibrant the red turned out, and how deep the iron turned the yarn just using a small pinch of iron.
I plan to dye with dried homegrown coreopsis flowers next.
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lizzy-bonnet · 7 months
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Baby's first embroidery, with the help of DMC Magic Paper because I can't freehand draw for shit. This is on a triangle collar which I have gifted to the curator of the living history museum where I volunteer/make costumes for. Done on cotton voile.
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rederiswrites · 2 years
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Finally got around to taking a class on "Viking" wire weaving, a technique used during the Viking Age to make long flexible braids of wire, which they used as adornment. Basically it's like using a knitting noddy, only backwards and with wire. The final effect is achieved by drawing it through successively smaller holes in a wooden draw plate, which compacts and elongates the braid.
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Excited at the prospect of incorporating this into my jewelry and product line.
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peashooter85 · 11 months
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Indigenous Weapons and Tactics of King Philip's War
from Atun-Shei Films
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corvidaedream · 10 months
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this is your semi-regular reminder, especially now that people are going on vacation and may find themselves somewhere like disney or a living history site or any sort of attraction where you may encounter an employee in a costume:
If You Wouldn't Touch Someone You Just Met In A Certain Way, Don't Touch An Employee In A Costume That Way Either
i don't mind when im offered a handshake or a little kid hugs me at the end of a tour. hell, i don't even mind if your bachelorette party asks if i want to join a group hug for a photo.
but im a person! the tinkerbell you see at disney is a person! the milliner at colonial williamsburg is a person! my coworker portraying an enslaved woman is a person! the clothes we are wearing are our work outfits, our bodies are our bodies. you do not get to treat us differently because of the photo op you want, or because you caught a glimpse of historical undergarments that intrigues you, or because you think that we, as workers, cannot say no to you without getting in trouble.
Treat Everyone You Encounter As A Person, And Don't Touch My Fucking Stomach
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memories-of-ancients · 9 months
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Viking Food and Cooking : Apple Fritter Rings (Æbleskiver)
from Ravens of History
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clove-pinks · 10 days
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Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry historical re-enactment group at a Battle of Crysler's Farm event.
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flowersedative · 7 months
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And to that, I hold. I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.
(Original photo from medieval festival in Belgrade, Serbia - ig: @sarcasmaddict_ @_witch_king_of_angmar )
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idohistorysometimes · 7 months
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Behind every great museum is a disheveled historian who can't sustain a normal conversation for more than 5 minutes eating pizza at their computer desk at 2 in the morning blasting Nightcore remixes in their headphones because they have too many projects and all of them are nearing their deadline for completion
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