Our
ladies & gentlemen at Juniper Village in Meadville were captivated by some
original articles of clothing and other adornments dating back as far as 1861
brought in by civil war re-enactor, Jan Lauer. She shared a lot of history about
the many items she brought like the well-known favorite of the southern
belle’s, the hoop skirt. As she dressed up our connections assistant, Sue
Ellen, she shared how they normally dressed in several layers of clothes, as
many as 7! She also dressed Sue Ellen up in a practical dress of that time
period and explained that it was not an original as they are very scarce due to
the ladies wearing them out and having to discard them. She also shared that
ladies kept up with fashions primarily through “Godey’s” magazine and how they
always wore gloves and a bonnet when outside because to have color on any part
of your skin was a sign that you were a peasant.
Jan
is also a part of Pennsylvania’s 150th Volunteers, better known
as the Bucktails. They do reenactments in Gettysburg, Ohio, New York,
Meadville, Pennsylvania, and you can be sure we plan to be in Diamond Park to
see them. The reenactment that is the most special to Jan is in Washington D.C.
in September at Lincoln’s “Cottage”. It is by invitation only and the Bucktails
are the only re-enactors invited to this beautiful Victorian house that
President Lincoln once spent summers at and is currently an Armed Forces
Retirement Home. The Meadville Bucktails were Lincoln’s personal guards so
they are rightfully invited to the one day living history event where they have
an encampment, do a firing demo, and fashion show. There are many other
festivities as well, such as Civil War Era music, picnics and tours of the
cottage.
When
asked why she became a Bucktail Jan said “Because 600,000 of our own
country men died and I want people to remember that freedom does not come
free”. Well said Jan!
