On anachronism done deliberately.

[sharpiefan]

(OK, this isn't specifically for women in re-enactment, but it is about re-enactment, so...)

I have just acquired a c.1880 hot water fountain/boiler for use in a Napoleonic-period camp to enable us to have hot water 'on tap' for tea/coffee and musket cleaning. We're not the first unit to have one of these - I have seen two other units with something very similar - and I was wondering...

Do you or your group intentionally use something that is anachronistic for your chosen period because it looks 'right' or it makes life at events that much easier? And if you do, has it been pointed out by others as being anachronistic?

Comments

[msmcknittington]

Here we go. A coffee urn, ca. 1815. Here's another one. And here's a hot water urn.

The thing with the spigot in the top middle. I'm not sure what your hot water boiler/fountain looks like, but there are tons more coffee urns online if you Google "regency coffee urn". If you Google "regency samovar", then you get the heating element for coffee urns that are built for being heated.

So, I would say that the principle of having hot water on demand isn't anachronistic, but the style of whatever you're using might be. I think it's allowable to use something that comes from a later date, since it's not as if you're going to 1) find reproduction hot water urns, or 2) use an actual 200-year-old samovar/urn. As long as the one you're using doesn't have Queen Victoria's head engraved on it, knock yourself out and use it.

[sharpiefan]

I have the item shown in this picture:

It's not wildly off what would have been around then, especially in the middle of a soldiers' encampment.