Happy 4th!

Well okay, now its the 5th, but Happy Extended Celebration of American Independence! I worked in the Chandlery yesterday, and it was really interesting seeing how another museum celebrated the day. Mystic Seaport's roleplayers are set in 1876 (one year after Walnut Hill at Living History Farms). While the Farms is 3rd person, not 1st person, it is still fun to get pretty into the day. There is always a parade, in which two years running I got to be a suffragist, a medicine show, a speech, lots of decorations everywhere and of course good food. In Tangen last year we had fried chicken, German style potato salad and a sour cherry pie I made myself. All cooked on a wood stove, of course.

Yesterday at Mystic followed some of the same themes. There was a grand parade, where squad dressed in costumes like Neptune and the Grim Reaper, the actors lugged the giant fire engine around, a band played, some "vets" marched, and though I couldn't see their flag, a group of finely dressed ladies strolled in a dignified manner. My guess is either temperance or suffrage. There was also, of course, the mandatory parade of adorable children, led down the route by my roommate Ginger. I love kids, and I love watching how excited they are to be able to participate in something like a parade. All of this came right by my stoop at the Chandlery, but unfortunately we are very much stationary during the day so I didn't really get the chance to wander around and see what else was happening. According to the schedule my first visitor of the day "borrowed" (isn't that always the way!), there were Civil War reenactors,  a game of croquet on the village green, a picnic, and ice cream making, along with the normally scheduled squad demonstrations. Normally I will try to find a way to interpret the holiday within whatever site I am stationed at, but yesterday was mostly answering questions about the blast gun, baggywrinkle, and oakum. It was a good day, not as busy as the first weekend but not slow either.

One thing I have on my list of big life goals is to visit the other big living history/open air museums and see how they portray the 4th of July. Do we make it one big party with a red white and blue theme, or do we still work to reach out and teach our visitors what that day meant to a particular group in a particular time? I know the roleplayers at Mystic talk all year long about the Centennial celebration in Philadelphia, and what the nation's 100th anniversary meant to them and their neighbors. I would really love to see even more of that incorporated into all of the lh/oa museums, and not just for the roleplayers. But, in the meantime, there is nothing wrong with cherry pie and a good game of hoop and stick!