Weekend Wanderings: Do you Rendezvous?

Most people - on the East Coast at least - have heard of Civil War Reenactors. Those are the guys who dress in Civil War uniforms and go out and reenact battles from the Civil War. Well I grew up doing something similar, yet different. My family's period was a little further back - to the time of the Revolutionary (1770s-1780s) or even as far back as the French and Indian War (1750s to 1760s). I even did a stint as as historical interpretor at a local refuge fort (Prickett's Fort) when I was in graduate school.

My father has a love of history and this really caught his attention when I was a kid - the fact that we celebrated the Centennial of the U.S. in 1976 might have had something to do with his fascination. We often dressed in period clothing and went to Rendezvous. A Rendezvous is a gathering of people who dress in period clothing and camp in "primitive" encampments - i.e., nothing "modern" should be seen in or around your camp. Sticklers would even fault you if you used a sewing machine to make your clothes rather than sewing them by hand!

My father would compete in various tests of skill. Competitions usually included knife throwing, tomahawk throwing and accuracy firing of a muzzle loader (the gun used in that period). Daddy is a state champion knife and tomahawk throwing champion, which somewhat threw off my husband when we first me. But he got over it.

Some Rendezvous had vendors who sell various 18th Century accoutrements. Usually there was fantastic period music (often of the Irish variety). They were usually held in historic locations such as a reconstructed fort. And they are still held today!

We had the opportunity to visit Ft. Frederick's Market Fair this Spring and re-live some of our shared history. This particular Market Fair had a huge number of vendors to explore. You could find stock wood used to make a muzzle loader or just buy a finished piece.

You could find handles for a tomahawk, a throwing hawk without decoration or a hawk with silver inlay and carvings that also doubles as a peace pipe. There was clothing galore for men, women and children including footwear. Want to make your own clothing? There were buckles and buttons and fabric by the yard. Then there were the "housewares" such as glass bottles, lanterns, furniture and even tents if you needed one.

The interesting thing about this particular Rendezvous was how the sentiments about government control they were "reenacting" are so similar to many of the same sentiments today. I saw more than one "Unite or Die" flag and literally walked into more than one discussion of excessive taxation that could have been appropriate in either century, which I find hysterical. I guess the more we change, the more we stay the same as a nation!

If you ever get a chance to Rendezvous, you should. Take your kids. Teach them about our history in a hands-on environment. Most reenactors are happy to talk about the period and have a body of knowledge on the social history and customs of our forefathers. And usually, they love to talk!