St. Louis
Practically Family
- Messages
- 618
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
Technically I think this thread belongs in a different part of the forum, but I was hoping to float this question in the ladies' lounge first. Then if there's any interest at all, perhaps the moderators would consider moving it (or it'll fizzle out on its own accord!)
I know a family in Illinois who own a collection of historic log buildings. They've put them together into a little village, complete with a general store, a school house / church, a jail, and a collection of cabins. For years now, a bunch of friends and I have been meeting there once or twice a year to recreate daily life in the 19th century. These events have been a lot of fun and quite educational -- we try to be as authentic as we possibly can, and not to bring in any modern stuff. For me personally, I'm more interested in the 1930s, though, so I was wondering whether it might not be fun to do a depression-era event. I.e., how about recreating a rural village for a few days? I imagine this would include wearing 1930s clothes, cooking 1930s food, and doing 1930s social events & suppers.
I was just speaking with the daughter of the owner, who would very much like to see us use the village more regularly. So I was wondering whether anyone would be interested in a 1930s daily-life event? There's no electricity and no running water inside the village (you fetch potable, city water from an outdoor pump) and the cabins are fairly primitive. It would really be like visiting the 1930s in every way. The cabins are furnished, but you'd have to bring your own bedding and dishes.
The event itself shouldn't be expensive, though the family does ask that we pay the insurance costs and reimburse them for water and firewood. For 20 people, that comes to about $20 per adult person.
Here's a link to the web site: http://www.independencepioneervillage.com/
I should also explain that the village is about an hour south of Champaign / Urbana, and about 45 minutes east of the Indiana border. I think for people outside the Midwest the easiest way to get there would be to fly to Chicago and drive to the village.
According to the family, we could have the village for as long as we wanted (i.e., a week or so) but I imagine for most people a few days would be feasible. So what do you think? Would there be any interest in doing something like this?
I know a family in Illinois who own a collection of historic log buildings. They've put them together into a little village, complete with a general store, a school house / church, a jail, and a collection of cabins. For years now, a bunch of friends and I have been meeting there once or twice a year to recreate daily life in the 19th century. These events have been a lot of fun and quite educational -- we try to be as authentic as we possibly can, and not to bring in any modern stuff. For me personally, I'm more interested in the 1930s, though, so I was wondering whether it might not be fun to do a depression-era event. I.e., how about recreating a rural village for a few days? I imagine this would include wearing 1930s clothes, cooking 1930s food, and doing 1930s social events & suppers.
I was just speaking with the daughter of the owner, who would very much like to see us use the village more regularly. So I was wondering whether anyone would be interested in a 1930s daily-life event? There's no electricity and no running water inside the village (you fetch potable, city water from an outdoor pump) and the cabins are fairly primitive. It would really be like visiting the 1930s in every way. The cabins are furnished, but you'd have to bring your own bedding and dishes.
The event itself shouldn't be expensive, though the family does ask that we pay the insurance costs and reimburse them for water and firewood. For 20 people, that comes to about $20 per adult person.
Here's a link to the web site: http://www.independencepioneervillage.com/
I should also explain that the village is about an hour south of Champaign / Urbana, and about 45 minutes east of the Indiana border. I think for people outside the Midwest the easiest way to get there would be to fly to Chicago and drive to the village.
According to the family, we could have the village for as long as we wanted (i.e., a week or so) but I imagine for most people a few days would be feasible. So what do you think? Would there be any interest in doing something like this?