Drop spindles? Part 2 - Drop the drop! (or 'please stop calling them that!')

In Part 1 and Part 1b of this series, I documented the earliest uses of the term 'drop spindle' and theorised about how the term may have come about. In this, the final part of the series, I discuss why (in my opinion) the term 'drop spindle' is so problematic and should never be used, particularly in a reenactment or historic context.

Even the Met is at it, and they REALLY should know better. Source.

Drop spindles? Part 1b - where does the term come from? looking further back

In Part 1 of this series, I talked about when the term 'drop spindle' was introduced into the English language. I had managed to trace it back to at least 1957, in an academic context in the USA. However, when I shared this post on The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning I got lots of new suggestions for places to look for evidence.

Hence, a Part 1b was required!

Drop spindles? Part 1 - what are they? where does the term come from?

What is a drop spindle? For anyone who's familiar with textile crafts this is an easy question. They're a familiar tool and can be easily purchased online or elsewhere. Generally what people think when you say "drop spindle" looks something like this:

Selection of drop spindles, from the first page of an image search using a well-known search engine.

This is fine when talking about modern spinning. However, when we come to talk about historic spinning, this becomes problematic. (This is a pair of posts about terminology and may involve a fair bit of ranting. You have been warned...)

Are we free? Some thoughts...

Isabella Pitcher at Prior Attire wrote an interesting post on her blog recently, entitled 'Are we free? The struggles of a professional interpreter...'. Whilst I often don't entirely agree with her opinions, on this account she has an excellent point. The issue of artists, musicians, writers and craftspeople being chronically undervalued and frequently requested to work for free or (groan) for 'exposure' is well documented. Heck, there are whole twitter feeds dedicated to it, a Huffington Post article about how to avoid doing it and, of course, lots of comics lambasting it.

This isn't even an issue just with 'professional interpreters'. I participate in a re-enactment group that has a high level of authenticity and research. As a group, we charge for the majority of events to hire us. Yep, even though we are hobbyists. Our group still has costs that need to be covered (petrol and insurance, to name but a few!) and we are still, for the most part, highly skilled and knowledgeable individuals with high-quality costumes and equipment, not just Jo(sephine) Bloggs off the street plonked into a synthetic pretty princess gown from Ebay.

That said, one thing I think Isabella has missed in her (quite justified) rant against being asked to work for free is that there are sometimes reasonable reasons why you might choose to do this. (Note: choose. People assuming you will work for free, particularly when emailing you at your business email, are just obnoxious.)

So here, a handy dandy guide to how not to be an arse when attempting to book historical interpreters (professional or otherwise).

Thoughts on Living History

Katrin Kania recently wrote an interesting blog post about The Rules of Experimental Archaeology. I thought I might write something similar about Living History, though they are not rules per se ... more like advice with a dose of opinion. ;)

Of course, perhaps I should first explain what living history is... Wiki gives a fairly good explanation: 

Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to reenact a specific event in history, living history is similar to, and sometimes incorporates, historical reenactment. Living history is an educational medium used by living history museums, historic sites, heritage interpreters, schools and historical reenactment groups to educate the public in particular areas of history, such as clothing styles, pastimes and handicrafts, or to simply convey a sense of the everyday life of a certain period in history.

Another way to put it is: living history is an obsessive, time-consuming hobby that quickly turns into a way of life. Symptoms include always having a small sewing project in your purse and being able to spot a 100% wool melton at 50 paces...