the Wax Seal Society

Oh, wouldn't it be a delight to write to people just as they did in the 18th century?

I recently discovered a group on Facebook called The Wax Seal Society. It focuses upon being a Pen Pal network for historical enthusiasts to write to one another using 18th century writing items - laid paper or parchment, quill pens or other period writing utensils, and ink, with perhaps the personal touch of a seal in hardened wax.

The group also has conversations about penmanship of period style writing or calligraphy, as well as suggested or recommended places to buy period-style writing items, even showing off exchanged letters, and just some general fun related to period writing! This really is a great way for 18th century enthusiasts to converse with other like-minded people and produce their handiwork for public display at historical events or simply private enjoyment in a person's home upon receiving the letter. This sort of pen pal service is great for people to read or write at living history events and reenactments, and perhaps add one more item to their list of 'to do' while at an event, when one finds the time between drills, battles, and shopping. What better to engage the spectator than for them to see you reading and writing to someone who shares the same interests and activities.

This Facebook group began in March of 2019 and has been steadily growing with new enthusiasts joining the group to connect with some pen pals.
Even though the focus of the pen pal group is 18th century, it also branches out into much of the 17th century as well as the early 19th century.

I have received a fantastic letter already even though I just joined and have written letters to a few people, too. Truly, this is a great way to put your self in as your persona and to fine tune your penmanship, too.

The addition to this unique pen pal service is some have asked for letters to be written with something specific in mind, such as to be a personal letter or business letter written to those serving aboard a ship, or of military correspondence for a particular reenactment event. This also fine tunes the abilities of everyone involved and makes the reenactment experience more realistic and personal and detailed rather than general with a lot not being filled in.

If you are on Facebook, love the 18th century, and would love to write to other people using a quill pen, ink, and laid paper, then join here: The Wax Seal Society

There will be questions to answer as you join, simply for the Admins to make certain that you are indeed human and your intent is for 18th c pen pal communication and nothing else.

I do hope to see you on the roster of The Wax Seal Society.

Hooked! Binge watching the Townsends YouTube Channel

Ever since I became a reenactor, I have always liked the business that sells 18th and early 19th century goods, called Jas. Townsends & Son, and I've ordered numerous products from them; anything from linen thread to a bell back tent. Of course I knew about the Townsends YouTube Channel for a few years, but only recently had I decided to take the time to watch a video. Mind you, I wanted to watch just one video. Well, one video turned into a dozen videos, and soon... I was binge watching nearly every episode on the Townsends YouTube Channel!

Every new video that comes out I immediately rush to go watch it! Alas, I haven't been able to enjoy a live webcast and toss out some questions, but I've joined a couple of Facebook groups that are devoted to Townsends and being a fan of Townsends YouTube Channel, as well as their blogs, and still visit the store's website. I've not yet had the delightful opportunity to visit the store in Indiana. Frankly, I fear that if I do go to the 'brick and mortar' store in Indiana, I will want to buy nearly everything and spend money I don't even have! It's as dangerous as going to Colonial Williamsburg!

So which videos have captured my interest the most? Oh, goodness! Heavens, dear reader! There's are SO many to choose from! Truly, there are some incredibly informative videos from recipes to starting out in Living History. I can't really pick one particular favorite! I really can't because there is a good number of the the videos I really like - the Historic Locust Grove videos with writing and some recipes, the Mount Vernon videos and recipes, the ones on how to get involved in Living History, even the conversations with Living Historians and their personas or impressions, and so much more, not to mention the recipes! Really, every video is a gem of information. What I have enjoyed about the Townsend videos is each video focuses primarily upon history. No matter the variation of accurate to less accurate, the historical aspect has been most enlightening and pure joy to watch.

Have I tried any of the recipes? Alas, no, I have not. Not yet, at least. Do I want to? Most certainly, yes! I think a part of me would love to use these recipes at living history events, whether at Pirate Fests or Revolutionary War reenactments. Or, maybe, just maybe, at some 18th century style Ball or Party where the recipes are showcased, products are used, and perhaps music played as guests/participants dance to merry 18th century measures. 

So where can you view all these videos I - and many others - are so excited about? Well, right here: Townsends YouTube Channel

Enjoy their videos and don't forget to subscribe to them, too. Then prepare to savor the sounds and tastes of history.

Don't forget to join the Facebook groups for fans of Townsends:
Townsends Tavern Talk  and  The Nutmeg Gallery - Fans of Townsends 

Hook, Line, and Sinker! How I got into the living history hobby

After all this time (several years, in fact), I am reviving this blog!

My blog revival entry is about how I got into the reenacting and living history hobby. It's no surprise that I watched a movie and that rekindled my adoration of the time period. I say rekindled because I have always fancied the American Revolution. What followed was nothing short of a stroke of luck! I found a small online group of people who fancied "The Patriot" (yes, THAT movie all reenactors hate) and soon enough, found one person who informed me about Revolutionary War reenacting. Reenacting? What is that, I asked. As he proceeded to tell me about reenacting - and it didn't take long to convince me that I wanted to participate in this hobby - , I was encouraged to find a group near me. Well, there was nothing near me but I found a Midwestern Revolutionary War organization called the Northwest Territory Alliance and thus began the best years of my life!

I found a forum or chat list for the NWTA that branched off of their site and then I inquired about joining the organization and hobby. Soon thereafter I was paired with a regiment to guest with them for a weekend. That regiment was the 42nd Highlanders, aka the Black Watch, and what a splendid host unit they were, too!

While I sought a Host unit to guest with that weekend, I had gone and procured a basic outfit for myself that MIGHT pass for something worn during the time period. As I look back at the photos of that event, I cringe quite visibly and ask myself "what a hideous outfit! What the hell was I thinking?". In all reality, and I eventually learned this: DO NOT buy anything before you go to your first reenactment because 9 times out of 10, what you get before the event is wrong! Granted, nowadays, there's better information and goods on what's acceptable at living history events, but I daresay that newcomers are as oblivious to a specific time period no matter if a person has been involved in other eras or are completely new to the hobby. Plus, you will improve in your impression appearance over time. Every reenactor starts out utterly incorrect, but we do progress towards a more period correct look as we research and make adjustments to be better presenters of history. 

All it took was simply a fancy of the time period and finding a group who was doing the era I was interested in. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and the distance to events did not bother me in the slightest. However those were different times and little did I know how much everything would change!

My first reenactment was unforgettable and quite somber, because that was the weekend after 9/11. Every person was still in shock about what happened just days before, but the event was not cancelled. It was obvious we all needed that event to heal. For the most part, we all needed that event to heal each other. However, that weekend healed me in unique ways as I fell in love with the hobby, connected with people, learned about myself, and the importance of history that weekend. As I gazed up, whether it was day or night, and saw absolutely no plane or helicopter in the sky! Not a single one. The sky was unadulterated and I began to feel like I was truly back in time during the American Revolution witnessing the great rebellious change that created a new nation.

For the greater part, it was easy to get involved in living history and reenacting. It took nothing more than someone else who does reenacting to tell me about it and encourage me on my search for some group to join. Yup! It's truly as simple as that. All that happened in a matter of a weeks, too!! Sure, reenacting is expensive in the long run, but the greatest thing about living history and attending the events is the memorable fun you will have that lasts for the rest of your life!

Encounters with de Kalb: prelude and the first encounter

For some who know me, you already know that I have a deep interest in Johann de Kalb, Major-General of the Continental Army who died from his wounds at Camden, South Carolina in 1780. For nigh a decade I have been encountering some rather interesting and mysterious moments. Some of them were profound enough to strike me so deep to the soul yet left me utterly baffled. I wondered endlessly what it all meant, and why I was feeling intense moments and emotions in regards to de Kalb.

The more I dove into this nearly forgotten hero of the American Revolution, the more he intrigued me to no end. And... the more I felt a deeper, mysterious bond with this long dead man.

I shall indeed be discussing more about how I became interested in the good Baron. For it was he who captured my interest first and has held me enthralled since I learned of him. I knew nothing about Johann de Kalb before my second venture to South Carolina. But most assuredly, after the first encounters with de Kalb, I soon learned about him and instantly became mesmerized by this fascinating foreigner.

To this day I still have encounters and sensations related to him. I dare say, I now definitely believe in Past Lives. I never did before and thought reincarnation to be pure rubbish. But now, there is no doubt at all that I have lived before and the good General was most likely at the center of my past life.

The painting here is one of the two paintings he had commissioned by Charles Wilson Peale just before he was sent to the south by General Washington. This painting was sent back to France as a gift to his family. To my understanding (as of November 2011), the painting currently resides at the the van Robais estate, Chateau de Bagatelle near Abbeville in France.

For now, let's start with how the good General de Kalb captured my interest.

In April 2002, I attended a symposium in Camden, South Carolina about Banastre Tarleton, commanding Officer of the infamous British Legion. I was incredibly excited to return to South Carolina as well as meet people whom I had only conversed with online via a couple chat lists about Tarleton. I knew this symposium would be exciting but little did I know that something amazing, and profound, was about to happen.

The day before the symposium, I arrived in Camden a little after noon and checked into a hotel. After a short nap, I explored Camden and also explored north of town. I arrived at the battlefield location which, at that time, was no more than a very small roadside spot less than an acre. Curious about this little location, and knew absolutely nothing about it, I walked about in absolute wonder and completely oblivious about what had taken place there. That is... until I stepped into a spot just a few paces to the south of the great granite marker that stated the location where de Kalb was mortally wounded. I froze in that spot completely in a trance as everything seemed to fog up around my sight as if not seeing a thing. However, I certainly felt something! The sensations of breathlessness as my legs were so weak. I felt as if I was going to collapse and faint. I felt pinches and dull aches throughout my body at the same time with a mixture of liquid heat, yet the threat of chills setting in. Add to that head pressure, trembling and shaking. Yet the one sensation I did NOT feel, as if I was not allowed to feel or spared from... was the pain. I never felt any pain.

I don't know how long I was locked in that trance, but it certainly felt as if hours had passed yet only seconds; either way, it seemed timeless. Eventually I stumbled out of the trance quite dazed for a while. It took me a moment to gather my bearings and realize that I had experienced something profoundly unusual. Never had I felt something like that ever in my life but it was indeed mighty powerful. It was then that I truly took notice of the name on the granite marker:  DE KALB.