Reenactors? So not cool.

I am not wild about reenactors.

I find it espeically cringe when they slip into ye olde spake thee-thou-thoust. When they were little, my sister Kath and I took our nieces Molly and Caroline to Plimouth Plantation, and we were mortified by the reenactors. Other than the indigenous woman off in the native village off to the side. I don't recall anything phoney about her presentation, maybe because she was actually a tribal member, and not someone who couldn't trace their lineage to the Mayflower who'd just been hired to play a Pilgrim.

Years later, my sister Trish and I were at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, NY, which is a recreated early 19th century village. It was getting to be the off-season and there weren't a lot of visitors or employees around. But before we went into any one of the buildings, we'd peek in to make sure there was no costumed person lurking there who might want to engage with us while in character.

I don't mind having experts around in these historic museums who have knowledge to share, who can answer questions. I don't even mind if they're in costume. I just can't stand their pretending to be back in the day. The best guides I ever encountered  in an historic site were at the home of Washington Irving House in Tarryton, NY. I can't remember if they were in early 19th century garb, but they were all great. 

Anyway, why I personally don't go for reenactors, I do get that there are history buffs and/or actors who enjoy the gig.

And some of them are floating around Boston, especially this time of year, giving guided tours while dressed up as historical figures. I don't know whtether these folks do ye-olde speak or not. I see them regularly, but I'm always just passing by.

What does strike me when I see them is how uncomfortable it must be to be in period costume, especially during the summer months. During winter, you can at least throw a cloak on. But in summer, you can't exactly strip down to shorts, flipflops, and a tee. 

This past June, when we were experiencing a brief but rotten heat wave - with real-feel temps well over 100 degrees - the Boston Globe caught up with a some of our local costumed reenactors. sweltering away in their frock coats, their waistcoats, their tri-cornerd hats, their multi-layered and petticoated dresses, their mobcaps. 

While Boston chafes under an oppressive heat wave that is bringing metro-area temperatures to the mid-90s, living history guides are among the many workers who can’t afford to spend the day in air conditioned offices. Their tour groups come from all across the world, and are often booked weeks or months in advance.

Considering their stifling wool-and-cotton outfits, working through the heat becomes even more of an occupational hazard. (Source: Boston Globe)

It makes me hot just looking at them when I'm passing by.

Back in the actual ye olde times, of course, those in their heavy clothing wouldn't have been as overheated as we would be in today's oven weather.

...there is historical evidence to suggest that the colonists around the time of the American Revolution lived through summers that were generally cooler and drier than today’s.

Summers were in the 70's anid low 80's, and, "thanks to fewer greenhouse gases trapping daytime heat," nights were cooler.

When there's a heat emergency in Boston, the reenactor-tour guides don't have to stay in costume. Most do. They believe it's a more enertaining experience for the tourists, especially the kids. (And, I'm guessing, being in historic garb may translate nto higher tips.) Plus one reenactor said that his being hot made his audiences feel less hot. 

While I'm never thought that reenactors were in the least bit cool, I hadn't given much (any?) thought to how so not cool they physically are in their punishing costumes when it's hot out. I have a new found, if grudging, respect for them. And I'd still rather see than be one.