A Civil War Fashion Show

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 150^th 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!