Shifting interests

[dkloos]

Have any of you ever experienced a shift of interests from one time period to another? I've been reading an enormous amount of information on the Civil War era lately, and am becoming more and more fascinated with it. I'm almost at the point of feeling guilty because I am a revwar reenactor :haha: . As you may know, I am looking to become a CW reenactor as well. SO, do any of you reenact two time periods? Is it difficult to balance the time and money put into both? Thanks!

 

[jim gray]

Hangfeyer,

While I am not a re-enactor, I would have liked to give it a try and still wish that I had. However, I do understand the change of the area of interest that you are describing. I became interested in military history at an early age. From the time I was about 11 until I joined the Army I read as much as possible about World War II, then my interests switched to the Civil War and for several years everything I read of an historical nature centered around that conflict. Now I find that I am fascinated by the French and Indian War, and although I still enjoy reading about the Civil War I recently read Francis Parkman's Montalm and Wolf, and am currently reading Fred Anderson's Crucible of War as well as the personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and Under a Northern Sky by Steven E. Woodworth.

So I guess you could say that I have experienced the shift of interests that you described.

Jim

 

[2172]

I had a buddy who went from civil war to rev war reenacting..when he started acquiring Roger's Rangers stuff, his wife said, 'for Pete's sake, pick a war that you like and stick with it.." an interesting turn of phrase...so, interest shifts do happen..Hank

 

Experience all you can before ya kick the bucket. New experiences are not a waste of time, IMHO.

 

[jbg]

Well said! :hatsoff:

 

[rebel727]

I got really interested in the C.W. when I was young and found an entry in the old family bible where one of my relatives was killed in battle. Started doing a lot of research on it. Fairly recently I found out my family was wealthy at one time and was active in the Revolution so I'm getting interested in that also. We once owned Varina plantation in Virginia. How cool is that?

 

[Gary]

I bounce around between the Civil War, French & Indian & American Revolution and when I really sin, it's tanks, aeroplanes and ships.

 

[capnwilliam]

I'm involved with different historical periods and places: but am really not a military type of reenactor.

My wife and I met while doing medieval / Renaissance reenacting: me being older and cruder, I was 14th century; she being younger and classier, was portraying late 16th. :grin:

Then we switched to Laffite's cannon crew for the Battle of New Orleans (1815). Some of us on the crew are also branching out into the great age of piracy (1720's). And I'm preparing an impression of a Civil War Confederate privateer, Capt. Lewis Mitchell Coxetter.

The problem with reenacting is not only the time spent doing it, but the necessary investment in research time and material, gear and garb, to make a good impression.

My recommendation (and yes, I need to heed my own advice) is to stick with one, or at most two, reenacting impressions at a time. But since the same interest can re-surface, hang onto your old stuff!

Capt. William