Susan Spencer,
Proprietress
2012. It's finally here! We've been preparing for this for years. Just a few more months until it really is 200 years since the declaration of the war that changed innumerable lives and finalized the boundaries of two great nations of North America. Sitting and writing in our store, a mere stone's throw from the site of the Battle of Stoney Creek and even closer to the still-extant gun emplacements from the Battle of Burlington Heights, we feel both excited and humbled to know that we are, quite literally, in the middle of history.
And yes, it is going to be a very busy year -- or three! Actually, we're already booking things right through into 2015. There are SO many wonderful events happening in the next few years -- we truly wish that we could make it to all of them. We're going to do our best to get to as many as we can -- we're now set up to run two road teams on those weekends where there are two not-to-be-missed things happening at the same time, which will definitely help! You can find our current listing of events for 2012, 2013, and 2014 on our "On the Road" page -- but be sure to check back regularly, as we'll be adding to the list and updating it as events are confirmed and as we commit to additional things to do.
We're starting our New Year off with Queen Charlotte's Ball at Fort York in Toronto on January 21. Each year, the Fort chooses a different nation to celebrate at this ball, and this year's pick is Scotland. This event is SO much more than just a ball -- it's a full day's worth of activities. The afternoon will start with a presentation on Georgian Scotland by Kevin McGoogan, author of, "How the Scots Invented Canada" -- this will be followed by a session of dance instruction and demonstrations, and finally a formal Georgian-inspired and Scottish-themed dinner and Regency ball, complete with live musicians. This is a lovely way to chase away the winter blues -- and a wonderful way to spend a snowy Saturday! Contact Fort York for details and tickets, but purchase soon! This event almost always sells out.
Next up for us is Military History Fest, February 3rd to 5th in Chicago. From the traditional wild times of Historical Jeopardy (just like "Jeopardy" on TV, but all about history!) on Friday night, through an entire weekend of great entertainers, fascinating seminars and lectures, and, of course, a Reenactor's Ball , this is a weekend not to be missed!. The Fest, formerly known as Reenactor Fest, has joined forces with Osprey Publishing, W. Britain, and Casemate Publishing to add toy soldier and model dealers, painting workshops and activities, more books, guest authors and some really cool activities like the full-scale diorama contest (yes, that's 1:1 scale!). We'll be presenting on Women in the War of 1812 and Regency Accessories as part of the conference -- and of course there is amazing shopping available for re-enacting and military gear from just about any time period you can imagine! You really should go . . .
We'll be back closer to home on February 14th, when the Friends of Battlefield House are hosting us for our presentation, "Women in the War of 1812" at Battlefield House Museum in Stoney Creek, ON. We hope that you'll join us as we take a look at what life was like for women from a variety of classes, backgrounds, and occupations during this critical time in the formation of the countries of North America.
We're ever so excited to participate in the War of 1812 Bicentennial Symposium, which will be held on February 25th at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. Anyone interested in the 1812 and Regency era will find a tremendous amount of top-quality material on offer at this wonderful event. From the meet and greet Friday evening through the day's seminars and lectures by leading Regency scholars and historians and on to the dinner and ball on Saturday night-- this is an event that you should not miss!
From there, we head back to the Kalamazoo Living History Show, which takes place in Kalamazoo, MI on March 17th and 18th. In addition to fascinating presentations on the show's theme of "1812: The Northwest Territory- Edge of the Abyss" by personnel from River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Fort Meigs State Historic Site, and the Mississinewa Battlefield Society, this event boasts one of the largest and best gatherings of merchants dealing in goods of all kinds dating from prior to 1890. It's a perennial favourite of ours, and this year it's going to be better than ever, as the Kalamazoo County Expo Center has just been renovated and expanded to hold more exhibitors and to allow existing exhibitors more space. We can't wait to see the new setup!
In between travelling to events, we've set up a series of workshops to help you get kitted out from the inside out and from top to toe for the coming bicentennial and all of its activities! On February 11th and 12th, we'll start off with our Corsetry for Regency (Empire) Clothing workshop, in which you'll construct a set of period stays that will give you the correct Regency silhouette -- the perfect underpinning for any Regency fashion that you might care to wear. This is followed up with our Empire (Regency) Dressmaking workshop on March 3rd and 4th, in which you'll construct a Regency-period dress to your own specifications, with guidance on fit, styling, and period finishing to help you throughout the process. Our third workshop is on Empire (Regency) Millinery, on March 31st and April 1st. Starting from a brown paper pattern and working through to a finished bonnet in one of two styles on a buckram form that you've created yourself, you'll discover the delights of millinery -- and you'll come out with a hat that you can wear to all of your events and functions throughout the Bicentennial! Click on the links above for further details and registration information.
We truly have the sense that we're starting off on an enormous new adventure this year! We're excited that the bicentennial is finally upon us, and we're delighted to see just how much interest in the Regency period is cropping up, in part because of that bicentennial. But that's not all that's going on -- we see growing interest in all of the Jane Austen societies, we're hearing from more and more Steampunks from all corners of the globe, and the World War I community is stirring and readying itself for its coming centennial. It's a fascinating time to be alive, especially when one is passionate about history! We can't wait to see what this new year will bring.