I decided to cut an old-fashioned 1930′s-style wooden jigsaw puzzle for my oldest daughter’s birthday this year, and even took it a step further by creating my first two-sided puzzle.  It definitely required MUCH greater patience during cutting!

I was inspired to do a two-sided puzzle when I found this pair of absolutely adorable 1920′s postcards at auction on eBay… I rarely bid on items from overseas, but these were so cute I had to take the chance!  (They came from the UK.)  They blew up nicely to make a an approximate 11×7-in puzzle.

The little figural pieces I worked into the cut included a bow, a dog, a dog bone, a heart, flowers, and face cut-outs, among others. Very charming!

Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that hard to assemble the puzzle.  At approximately 65 pieces it took her and I about 50 minutes to put it together.

Perfect for an afternoon break!

The 3 Sun Thanksgiving project mission is to create a new movement among Americans that capitalizes on the latent cultural value of the Thanksgiving holiday, and that compliments and honors the new Native American Heritage Day.   Our highest aim is to foster better understanding about our history and relationship with Native Peoples, and to build bridges of respect and unity.  We look to achieve this mission by, a) introducing living history as a holiday hobby alternative for families and communities, by b) making it easy to understand American Indian history and resulting modern issues, and by, c) inviting mainstream Americans to join together in a compassionate alliance to support Native culture preservation, and simultaneously create real economic opportunity for on-reservation Native groups facing overwhelming poverty and suicide rates.

The following recording gives a nice overview of the 3 Sun Thanksgiving project.  Learn who, what, where, when and why in this 10 minute presentation:

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It was back in 2007 that I finally decided to admit it:  I really didn’t like Thanksgiving.  Outside of enjoying family, the holiday seemed nothing more than a glorified day of mess hall duty.

That’s fine, if you actually like to cook.  For me it was more like a mandatory sentence.

Even the overeating was nothing satisfying…  Football is great, but too common; it can’t “make” a holiday… And as far as Thanksgiving being a calendar bookmark for the checkered flag of Christmas, all I can say is, “Leftovers, anyone?”

There just had to be more; the boredom was vacuuming the gentle woman, and the holiday spirit right out of me!

So, that year I decided to unload.  I called for a potluck to free me up a bit, and focused my efforts instead on taking my family time traveling for a day.

Even though it was modest that first year, It turned out to be a great trip!  Culturally rich.  Very imaginative for everyone, and visually thought provoking.

Oh, the food was still yummy, and we managed to eat plenty.  It’s just that the food was no longer the star of the show.  I can’t begin to tell you what a liberating feeling that was!

Will we ever go back to the status quo?

Not so long as I’m the matron in charge

I guess a good way to start this category out is to share how I personally define a hero.  In my book it isn’t necessary for a hero to have accomplished some huge feat against all odds, but rather that they did what they did in a spirit of love for others.

My heart in researching history is to find persons who found it within themselves to buck a dark public flow, and care about fellow human beings when no one else had the courage to do so.  Oh, I find the scoundrels entertaining, too, but I adore those who demonstrated an ability to think past prevailing crowd mentalities of fear and self-preservation.

I like to think that someday the mentality of compassion will rescue humanity at large.

I had to have a catch-all category because there are so many interesting things from history that I know I’ll want to write about, but the subjects won’t fit into my main categories.

Things like:  colorizing black and white photographs, sewing on a treadle machine, visiting museums, or interviews with elders.  I know I’ll have tons of fun with the freedom of this category.

No matter which time period or culture you would like to portray, or what manner of living history group you would like to join, your first task is to explore your options for a persona.

Your persona will be the “character” you choose to portray.  In any time period there were bakers, and barrel makers; cobblers and tailors; undertakers and spiritual leaders.  The possibilities are almost endless, but you’ll want to make a solid decision because you’ll be investing into this persona.  To start without a persona is a sure way to have a lot of fun wasting money!

Consider if there’s a historically authentic craft from your time period that you would enjoy learning.  Maybe there’s a profession you romanticize over?  In many cases you will need to consider if you have a preference for the garments of a certain social class.  What kind of attitude do you want to portray toward life?  Do you want to portray a married person, or single?

There are plenty of fun options.  The last thing you want to do is be like everybody else in a group.  So go for something unique and YOU!

I actually started out a little shakey with my 1621 Thanksgiving persona.  I didn’t even have a name for two seasons!  Course, I didn’t start out as a serious reenactor…  I just wanted to have more fun for Thanksgiving.  Who knew I’d end up spending 2-plus years writing a book, and being so into it!

I love my new Thanksgiving persona name, by the way.  It’s Addilay.  I found it by searching English ship logs from the 16th century.

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  I’m the history nut behind LetsPlayHistory.org (LPH), 3SunThanksgiving.com, and a number of other satellite websites related to history as a hobby.  You’ll hear and see me called Lady Carrie (my Victorian persona), Addilay (my 1621 Thanksgiving persona), and HistoryForFun on Twitter and other places on the net.  My real name is Carrie Franzwa – though that doesn’t stop me from answering to plain old “Hey You!”  You can learn more about me and my LPH mission on this blog’s About page.

This blog is where I journal my ongoing interests, research and discoveries in history.  You can isolate topics by clicking on the desired category at right.

Specifically interested in the 3 Sun Thanksgiving project?  Just click on  “1621 Thanksgiving” for news and happenings.  Need a nutshell explanation?  Here’s a great little audio overview:

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THANKSGIVING  AUDIO  OVERVIEW – 10-MINS

Thanks for dropping in!

Here’s to History as Pastime Fun

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I recently had the opportunity to take my Mom to the LDS Genealogy Library to see if we could find out if our Belgian line has been documented.

It turned out I would have been up Poo-poo Creek without Mom being a member… it isn’t so easy for non-members to access the database, at least not freely.  I would imagine the security is there for a number of reasons.

At any rate, I had a great time.  We found a few more names, but alas, time ran too short.  We’ll be going back in the next couple of weeks.  Mom was told that my (LDS) grandfather did family genealogy work clear back into the 1500′s – Mom and I have our fingers crossed he submitted his research before he passed away.

More to come…

An unexpected surprise… I recently rummaged through a resell shop and got stopped at their wall of $1 VHS movies.  I figured for a buck I could take a chance on just about anything that looked interesting.   I was drawn to the Victorian cover of a movie titled, “Courage to Love, ” starring Venessa Williams.

I watched it this afternoon while I rested a sore back.  It was actually very charming – Venessa looked breathtaking in the pre- Civil War gowns.

The story is about the lives of Creole black women in the French Quarters of Louisiana prior to the war.  It appears to be based on a true story (commentary lead me to believe this, although I didn’t catch any statements to that effect).  Although the storyline was a little predictable, the costumes were period correct (always a plus!), and the acting was engaging and believable.

Fellow lovers of Jane Austen will appreciate this one.  I’m tickled to have it in my collection!

After discovering how expensive it is to get a good historical how-to book for 1940′s hairstyles, I decided to publish an inexpensive digital reproduction of a 1946 beauty book.  Other providers of similar publications are charging $15 on average.  We wanted to make this primary source available to the LPH community for practically free at $1.99.

All the details are available in the LPH Store

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These little hand-cranked nut grinders are so cute, and they’re relatively inexpensive as antiques go.  I found this in a junk shop, but you can get them on eBay for under $10 plus shipping.

When I first found it I had no idea what it was.  The lady at the counter told me.  I was rather disappointed when I brought it home and showed it to my husband… he already knew what it was.  Darn it!  He said his surrogate grandfather had a whole collection of them.

Well, it still makes me smile.  It’s a sweet little vintage display item for the kitchen!

I am working with Daryl Urig of Total Media Source to develop a marketing plan for this upcoming fall season.

The to-do list is heavy as I need to check a few things out before I can solidify plans and promote the project.

I feel this project is absolutely brimming with the potential to be a very sweet ride.  The kindness factor is great, and I just know-that-I-know there are many like me who want to express their care and concern for Native Peoples, but haven’t had a flag to gather to.

I look forward to blogging this American journey!