New User from the Corn Desert

[Blueotter50]

Bonjour!

No, I am not French, but I've portrayed a French women at French & Indian War reenactments in the US. I have also attended American Revolutionary War events, American Civil War, and WWI as a British Red Cross nurse; I'm afraid I was the only such nurse at the time, though I tried to recruit some of the women from the Civil War group, the 9th PA Reserves, Coy. A; they wanted to finish their WWII kits, so said that maybe they'd join me later, but I moved back to Illinois before I could get things rolling.

I have been a reenactor since the mid 1990s, but had to step back from it for about 14 years due to surgeries and finances. I attended my first reenactment since then on Labor Day Weekend, 2022 at the Fair at New Boston in Springfield, OH (1780s - 1810). I was also able to attend my beloved French & Indian War event at Fort Niagara this past July, though the trip was pretty long for me. It's supposed to be a little over 10 hours from East Central Illinois (aka the Corn Desert), but I stayed overnight the first night at the historical Simon Kenton Inn (just down the road from the Fair at New Boston's location, George Rogers Clark Park), and I stayed at a regular hotel on the way back. A very long weekend!

So, the last time I attended the WWI event in eastern Pennsylvania, I acquired an original helmet for $20. It still had all the trappings inside, including a name written on the leather strap, but I don't know if it was the name of the man who wore it - I hope so! It has 2-3 small holes on either side, and I was told by one of the other participants that this was to hold a mesh "curtain" across the front so that ashes and sparks wouldn't fly in the eyes of the tank drivers. I don't know if that's true, but back then I looked online for some information and found nothing. The reason I've joined this forum is because a very recent search turned up information about tank helmets on this forum. They were made of leather, but one person had a metal helmet with the same kind of holes as mine, and I wanted to see what else I could find. Unfortunately, the helmet is packed away in my storage unit, so isn't available to photograph right now.

Meanwhile, I would love to visit different threads and learn some new things. My great-grandfather was in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, so I'm very interested in learning more about relics from that war. My dad used to have his rifle, but he "lent" it to a cousin's husband, and we never saw it again. The cousin was in my father's generation, and also a direct descendant of my great-grandfather, too, but it had been presented to my father by his uncle (son of the veteran), and has been sorely missed. Nobody in my family wanted to approach said cousin's husband to ask for it back, so here we are, rifle-less.

I always thought that one day I would purchase another firearm like the one my great-grandfather was issued, but it was considered "rare" (I can't remember what it was, exactly), so I doubt I could afford one now.

Meanwhile, this forum looks like a lot of fun, and full of a lot of information, so I look forward to visiting whenever I can.

Cheers,

Carol Rose Parker
Savoy, Illinois

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[Rakkasan187]

Welcome to the forum Carol,

You have an interesting family history as well as re-enacting interests.. Thank you for your passion for history.

We look forward to seeing some of your pictures and other items.

We can also discuss the types of Armor Helmets/headgear that was worn/used/prototypes..

If there is a deep desire to learn more about US Helmets there are some very good books by a gentleman Chris Armold. he is a US Air Force Veteran who wrote some excellent reference books on US Helmets, "Steel Pots" and "Painted Steel, Steel Pots II".

Best regards

Smitty

[Willmore]

Hello Carol.

Welcome to the forum.

Really interesting introduction post.

Kind regards,

Will.