Matty Bottles

Did buttonholes of the GAoP have a standard "buttonhole leftside/button rightside" configuration like they do (in america) today?

I have peeps in VA - my sister and her family live in Arlington. Of course, if I went and didn't spend every moment with them, it would filter through the family network until I wouldn't be able to show my face at a family event, which, I confess, is not always a bad thing.

Seriously, I can't wait until the season starts. I am jonesing for some good times with my awesome pirate buddies. God, it's unbearable. Maybe this wasn't worth it's own thread, but seriously, I'm dying over here for some events. And I just went to TWO events in the last month! I might be hooked, people.

Why not? You don't owe them anything. They owe you.

Mad Dogge should buy his pipes in bulk.

Captain Bo, if you look at the pic Greg posted up above, you'll notice the anchor hole for the buckle is way off to the side, so you can wear it off-center if that is more comfortable for you.

I actually don't think that is out-of-period (although perhaps every reenactor having shoes like that is). If I recall correctly, some of the shoes recovered from the wreck of La Belle had one latchet with the buckle anchored to a short spur along the side. I believe you can view it in Figure 28, on page 256 of thesis Randolph-MA2003. EDIT: Whoops! Too late.

Wait - Croaker was there? I need to start introducing myself to people.

Oh, I think the green fairy cursed me with her kiss - I have the worst cold in recent memory! I hope everybody else feels okay. To help me recover, I think more people should post pictures of me.

Hey... my PANTS!

I, too, was very impressed by this event: by the content; by the social events; by the vendors; by the scope and ambition' and by the company in particular. I would recommend it to anyone, with any degree of involvement in reenactment. A non-reenactor friend of mine attended with his son merely as spectators, and said just the vendor section alone was worth the price of admission. And I can attest the professionalism and value of information sessions and presentations I attended. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to next year.

Although a hundred years late, the book "Two Years Before the Mast" contains excellent detail into the day-to-day condition of working sailors. I'm reading it now, but I confess I didn't pay attention to all those specific details. I'll go back and see what I can find.

I have one of those bottles, and though it looks cool, I suspect it is blown with a mold, since I think there is a seem line running around the bottle. I do not know if they used bottle molds in the GAoP; for some reason I am think they did not. However, I am certainly no expert.

Excellent work, Captain Midnight! I have a question: if you heat up the steel plate to bend it, are you risking the integrity of the steel? I know that welding pieces of a hilt together will weaken the steel around the weld (although the weld itself will be strong) - do you know if there are similar problems with heating and bending, and if so, do you know how to remedy it?

Well, you all have good instincts - according to Border's Away, Vol. 1, page 41, it was used to aid boarding action to 'clamber up by the chains', and it was used to clear wreckage. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have been common outside of that geogrphic location or time. "The toothed boarding axe seems to have been unique to the United States, making it instantly identifiable, for no examples from elsewhere have come to light. Certainly there may have been toothless American boarding axes, but all known specimens marked 'U.S.' yet found have the feature, as do some unmarked examples. Because the distinctive teeth of the late 18th- and early 19th-century American tomahawk boarding axe were its salient features throughout the period of it's use, the idiosyncrasy bears some discussion as to why it existed and why it did not." It looks as though it is closely identified with revwar/1812, and though there are examples not marked 'U.S.' (and thus, theoretically could belong to an earlier time frame), people already associate it with that time frame, and you might get some flack at certain events for a un-PC axe. Then again, you might not. However, maybe you should check out trade axes or trade tomahawks. They would have been all over the colonies, I think, and could have originated in a number of different countries: for the North East, you could have English, French, or Dutch axes; for the south, Spanish, French, or English, for example.

I seem to recall those axes are closely identified with the Rev War/War of 1812, and that few, if any, earlier examples exist. I'll check BA vol. 1 when I get home. I do remember that the book suggests the teeth were for toting or pulling things - coils of rope, downed yards, etc. - and that might indicate a technological shift, rather than a matter of individual taste. I think they were fairly ubiquitous, but I could be wrong.

I tend to cycle through this forum, leacing for a year and coming back for a year. Sometimes I get things all mixed up. But I have learned from you over the year - for example, I'm now starting a blue ticken waist coat and britches inspired by guess who? If you have early evidence for the lock, then I say the weapon is back in the running, even if it looks like a 'morphadite' of two existing firearms. The one thing is that curled around trigger - that's pretty distinctive, and common to both period examples discussed here.

You're welcome. I've learned from you over the years. The thing that bothers me is that they basically have the lock completely wrong. The musket in the book is obviously a doglock, while the loyalist arms lock doesn't have a catch. That's pretty big. Barrel lengths can be modified aboard ship and in the armory, furniture can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the dog lock is pretty indicative of tech levels, and they shouldn't have messed that up.

Well, here's a sneak preview: I have to say that it is certainly a unique firearm, at least along the trigger guard and trigger. I just looked at the Loyalist arms weapon, and it does not match much, I'm afraid to say. It lacks the distinct trigger and trigger guard, as well as the visible (faintly, but still visible) dog lock (described as a back-catch in the text above.) Also, as has been mentioned by those much, much more learned than I, the loyalist arms version has way too much wood in its furniture, the furniture frames the barrel wrong, and the loyalist arms version is the wrong barrel length (38" v. 46") and the wrong caliber (.76 v. .79). Now, I am certainly no expert in these firearms, but this looks more like an ~ 1750's model of firearm. This is based on the examples I have in this book before me, but that is the kicker. Based of this evidence, I would say that it doesn't look right, but there are many, many others with much, much more experience than I, and I would suggest you seek their advice.

I found it and will attempt to scan it tomorrow. I do not have a scanner, and have to scan it at work. If the scanner guy is there tomorrow, I can get you the pics. If not, I might have to wait until Friday. There is a pic of a Queen Anne-era long musket on p 183; does that sound like the weapon in question? Would you like the whole description, or just the pic? I have to confess that it is, like most of the pics in BA, not a high-detail nor nigh-resolution image.

That's just it, Captain. I didn't realize the tavern pulled double duty. Maybe I should try to assemble my gaol by then...

Rats, Matty is here and planning to go - with a few prospects, hopefully. I'll be able to help you lift and whatnot. I wonder if we could possibly set up the tavern, if space allows...

Is it anything like this?

The first time I saw the gallows stunt, and not that long ago, I was very impressed, with both the quality of the performance and the lengths taken to explain how this is accomplished through special effects, and how dangerous it is to wrap or lift by the neck. I'm sure once a highlight video is put together, the care and concern that goes into the performance will be made clear.

He has one. Ask him to post it; it was taken before he left.