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Pennsylvania Civilians

Click here for pictures of the Civil War ancestors of the 116th PVI reenactors!

(February 2005)

Greetings to the Civilians of Pennsylvania!

My personal belief is that the 116^th is the best reenacting club in the Northwest. I admit to some slight bias in my estimate, but contend that it is a true statement nevertheless.

This page is the beginning of a “handbook” for new 116^th civilian reenactors, or for those of us wanting to improve our impressions. We hope to write a different chapter of it each month during the coming year. Some chapters I thought would be helpful are: Civilian Women’s Clothing, Civilian Men’s Clothing, Nineteenth-Century Etiquette, Campfire Cooking (along with recipes that might have been used in regular household cooking; we must face the fact that by and large, civilians in Pennsylvania in the 1860s did not live in wall tents J ), Children’s Clothing, Education, Behavior, and Amusements, Nineteenth-Century Culture and Mindset, (in many ways as foreign to us twenty-first-century reenactors as Chinese Culture and Mindset would be!), Hairstyles of the Civil War Period, (both for men and for women), Pennsylvania in the Civil War, (which would be handy, since we represent people living in Pennsylvania), Irish Immigrants, (we are attached to the Irish Brigade, and should be justifiably proud of it!), Civilian Trades and Occupations of the Nineteenth Century, and Domestic Accomplishments, (quilting/ sewing/ fancy-work/ &c).

Our goal as civilian reenactors should always be to strive to honor the memory of the men and women we claim to represent – in our case, the men and women of Pennsylvania in 1863 whose husbands, sons, and brothers were fighting a war to save the Union. We should do our best to understand and correctly portray the average Pennsylvanian of the mid-nineteenth-century. I can be reached at c i v i l i a n@116pvi.org. Your two cents is needed! Let me hear from you!

(March 2005)

Civilians of Pennsylvania, Greetings!

In researching what ladies of the 1860s were accustomed to wear, I came upon many excellent articles – so many, in fact, and so excellent, that I have decided it best not to “re-invent the wheel”, but to give you links to the articles themselves. In addition to this, and for the benefit of those few who have no access to the Internet, I am printing out the best of the articles, which will be placed in a notebook along with other articles and notes I have collected since I began reenacting. Any civilian connected with the 116^th Pennsylvania may borrow this notebook, and if any of you have an article you think is outstanding, perhaps I might enjoin you to make a copy of it for inclusion in the notebook.

It used to be that when a civilian lady began reenacting, or had questions regarding attire, she was instructed to borrow or buy a copy of the book, Who Wore What?, by Juanita Leisch. Although that book is still valuable, the Internet now offers a wide range of sites loaded with information for the beginning (and veteran) civilian reenactor. What follows, then, are links to sites I have found most helpful with regard to ladies’ clothing.

First, and of highest import, is a set of pictures representing correct and incorrect dress for the lady reenactor. I believe it would do us good if we could all stare at these two photographs until we have stamped them upon our memory – at least, until we have figured out why there is such a glaring difference between the two. While the creator of the page may have used terms which I might not have chosen, (perhaps “Because It’s Right, Drat-it?), she does well in demonstrating the difference between looking like a reenactor and looking like a lady of the Civil War period: http://members.tripod.com/~CWCiv/# I believe that after looking at her photos, we will all agree that we would like to resemble a B.I.R.D., rather than a B.O.B.
How to become a B.I.R.D. then rises as our most burning question. I direct my readers to a most helpful page, Fanny and Vera’s Helpful Hints and Timely Tips for Civil War Reenactors, http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/ . My suggestion is that after reading the letter of welcome on the home page, you immediately click “Ladies Clothing” to the left, (http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/womenswear.htm ). Fannie and Vera have put together some very interesting – and historically accurate, which is refreshing – articles. I would particularly like to recommend Ladies Gowns & Dresses http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/dresses.htm , and Sharon’s Skirt Construction Guide, http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/dresses.htm#Project which will, if read carefully, save you any need of purchasing an 1860’s skirt pattern. Other articles of interest are those dealing with fashion accessories http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/accessories.htm , project patterns for making a $1.00 petticoat http://69.10.163.110/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/pettiproject.htm, a $1.00 apron, “quick and dandy drawers”, and a period wrapper.

In addition, there is an article on period cosmetics. Of great value in that article is the section on “Bathing and Washing”. Most of us have, unfortunately, heard the gibberish about people of the Civil War period being dirty and loathe to wash. Having read the diary of one of my Civil War lady ancestors, and taken note of the amount of washing she did and the many times she caused her family members to bathe, I never could bring myself to believe any nonsense about Civil War ladies “only doing the laundry once a year” or being careless in their own personal hygiene.

After reading the articles above, a very helpful way to adjust one’s eyes to what is B.I.R.D. is to look carefully at photographs taken of civilians during the Civil War. Looking at photos of reenactors will tell you how reenactors dress, but looking at photos of the Real McCoy will, in the end, prove much more useful. You might start by seeing if you can find any photographs of your own Civil War era ancestors. In the case of a reenactor, there is nothing at all wrong with striving to look like your great-great-grandmother! A website that has many authentic Civil War photographs posted is http://www.geocities.com/myrtleavenueclothiers/OGCivilWarWomen.html . The aforementioned book, Who Wore What?, has many authentic photographs. Antique stores are full of them, as are museums. I am beginning a small collection, which I will include in the 116^th Civilian notebook.
So far as patterns go, the best I have found are from Timeless Stitches. http://www.tstitches.com/index.html?dummy=HOME . (Lynne, who runs Timeless Stitches, also puts out a little quarterly called The Victorian Ladies Book, which we have found enjoyable and helpful.)
Other pattern companies can be accessed by visiting http://www.geocities.com/motozulli/linkpatterns.html .
For the making of authentic period clothes, authentic period fabrics can be obtained from http://www.reproductionfabrics.com/ . If you’re like me, however, and can’t afford $8.00+/yard really-really authentic goods, a careful study of the fabrics on the reproduction fabrics site, along with close observation of fabrics used while studying museum pieces and period photographs, should give one enough familiarity with what was authentic to be able to pick out similar but less-expensive dry goods from WalMart or JoAnne’s. (Another way to become familiar with textiles of the 1860s is to examine books with photographs of quilts made during the Civil War period. These books are popular and may be found in great number in almost any public library, and the advantage to reading them as opposed to books about Civil War ladies per se is that one does not have to wade through nearly as much revisionism and popular, as opposed to historical, world view. Which isn’t to say that these ills don’t lurk in quilting books at all; we have, unfortunately, seen much nonsense printed in books on quilts of the 1860s – but it is less pronounced, since the goal of the quilt book is not usually to sway public opinion on the Civil War.)

I hope the above will, in some measure, prove valuable to the ladies of the 116^th. I propose that we examine gentlemen’s attire next month. As always, I desire the input and assistance of any member willing to provide it.

-Holly Sullivan