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

[ironjeff]

We've been known to sneak a caplock or 2 onto the field for a battle demonstration, for those points in the show where the gun must go off.

I also know a few cannoneers who use "shepherd's crook" rammers (especially aboard ship!). Safety First!

I can't recall anyone who's pointed out the 'error of our ways' though.

[msmcknittington]

This might be a bad question, since I'm not into Napoleonic era stuff at all, but is a boiler/hot water reservoir really that anachronistic for a war camp of that period? I'm thinking specifically of the campaign showers that officers sometimes had -- there are tons of pictures of them here, though the one I'm thinking of isn't there. It was taken on campaign during the Napoleonic Wars by some British officer. I will probably never find it again now.

So, if officers were hauling things like that around with them, surely a hot water urn isn't all that much of a stretch?