September 30, 2006
Video - The Middle Ages
Over the years, I have been involved in medieval living history programs, and this was originally designed as a marketing piece to pitch our services to schools and museums. It is actually of a program we did something like ten years ago, but like bugs preserved in amber, we haven't changed that much (a little grayer and heavier perhaps).
The groups involved, the Red Company, the Yeoman Archers and Danzando, don't really exist any more, but most of the individuals are still involved in some capacity.
The Middle Ages is, in some ways, my first love. I majored in Medieval History in college and would do a lot more of it if Southern California were a more congenial environment for tights and pointy shoes. But, since our "white people" history is pretty much limited to the 19th and 20th Centuries, I have to make do.
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Posted by Walter at 08:23 AM
September 25, 2006
Flim Review - Flyboys
As observed in a previous review, a note at the beginnning of a film that it is "Inspired by True Events" generally means it will be followed by some very creative "history". Flyboys is no exception.
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Posted by Walter at 02:31 PM | Comments (9)
September 19, 2006
AOL Subscribers Aren't Worth The Trouble
As mentioned in a previous post, the AOL's idoitic and ham-handed spam blocker has completely shut down subscriber access to numerous legitimate email lists--including the ones I manage for the Social Daunce Irregulars and the Lively Arts History Association. While this should be serious problem for us as event organizers, it seems to be more of a problem for AOL subscribers.
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Posted by Walter at 07:39 AM | Comments (2)
September 15, 2006
The Merry Gamester Online
Back in the early '90s, I looked with dismay on my fellow Renaissance Faire participants and Civil War re-enactors inventing card and dice games because they lacked the energy or research skills to find the rules to actual, historical games. To address this, I wrote and self-published "The Merry Gamester: A Practical Guide to the English Speaking World's Most Popular Card Games, Dice Games and Divers Amusements from Ancient TImes to 1900".
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Posted by Walter at 08:38 AM | Comments (4)
September 10, 2006
1920s Etiquette - What a Gentleman Never Does
This fourth installment in the Art Deco Etiquette series highlights the ideal gentleman of the 1920s. I particularly like the very cogent observation by Miss Singleton, that gentlemen aren't necessarily good people, but they do behave well in public. This is from the "Conduct and Common Sense" column in Vogue and the Washington Post, and is dated October 21st, 1926.
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Posted by Walter at 07:09 AM | Comments (1)
September 08, 2006
1920s Etiquette - Who Carries Her Cloak?
This third entry in the Art Deco Etiquette series, gives a wonderful summary of what was expected of men when in the company of the new women of the 1920s. It, like the others, is from the "Conduct and Common Sense" column in Vogue and the Washington Post, by Anne Singleton. This article comes from December 9th, 1926.
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Posted by Walter at 06:57 AM
September 07, 2006
1920s Etiquette - Bad Form in Dress
This is the second installment in the "Art Deco Etiquette" series, which takes as its core, the weekly column "Conduct and Common Sense" by Anne Singleton, which was printed in Vogue and the Washington Post. This article is of particular interest, not only because it catches Miss Singleton at her most waspish (and amusing), but also because it gives some idea of 1920s notions of appropriate dress and coiffure. This one comes from September of 1926.
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Posted by Walter at 06:44 AM
September 06, 2006
1920s Etiquette - How Much To Expect of an Escort
Last weekend, I gave a talk on "Art Deco Etiquette" at the Queen Mary Art Deco Festival. The core of this was a series of newspaper articles called "Conduct and Common Sense" by Anne Singleton. These are from the Washington Post archive, but appear to have been originally printed in Vogue. This one comes from December 1926. It is somewhat edited and included to give an idea of the etiquette issues that presented themselves in the 1920s, when women were suddenly "liberated" and people were trying very hard to figure out what the new rules were.
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Posted by Walter at 06:32 AM