Along with the land and naval battle reenactments, Stage Fort Park will offer visitors an opportunity to meet and interact with the townspeople of 18th-century Gloucester. On June 20 and 21, historical interpreters will demonstrate everyday life at various stations. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn the role women played in supporting the army, including stations on colonial tape looms and spinning, millinery, tea service, taverns, pregnancy and children, dairy production and more.
At one station, historical interpreters will demonstrate the many ways women supplied and supported the Continental Army. While the men left home to fight, women ran their husbands’ businesses and maintained the household, while going out of their way to support the army. Women often donated household materials for hospitals to use as bandages and sewed clothing for soldiers.
As visitors will see at Stage Fort Park, colonial women also used tape looms to provide critical materials for their households. Tape looms are portable weaving tools used to create narrow woven tape, an essential material in colonial life. Woven tape was the 18th-century equivalent to today’s zippers, elastic and velcro, and was used to tie grain and feed bags shut, as well as to secure women’s clothing and household items.
Spinning wheels were another crucial colonial tool used to spin fibers such as wool or linen into yarn. The yarn was then woven or knitted to make clothing and household textiles, a task that became integral to women’s efforts to support the revolution.
Both tape looms and spinning wheels were major proponents of the Homespun Movement, an effort to boycott imported British textiles by creating textiles at home. Women significantly contributed to the colonies’ non-importation movement, often gathering in communal places for “spinning matches” as a form of protest against the excessive taxation of goods imported from Britain. Women sewed clothing and blankets not only for their families, but supported the revolution by providing these items for soldiers, as well.
Stage Fort Park will also house a station featuring 18th-century millinery, which will explore women’s hats, aprons, handkerchiefs and other accessories. There were numerous styles of hats and caps that women wore during the 1770s. All women wore white caps over their hair, usually made from linen. Colonial women’s hats were worn over their caps and were made of straw,sometimes covered in silk. These hats had a flat, shallow crown and tied at the back of the head using ribbons. Bonnets on the other hand were typically made from silk, but were occasionally made from linen or wool. They had a short, high brim that curved across the face above eye level, with a high rounded caul and various types of trim.
After visitors learn about household items and fashion, they will have the opportunity to discover the culture of food and drinks in the colonies. An 18th-century tea service station will explain the colonial routine of making and drinking tea. A woman in the household prepared and served tea for the entire family, as well as guests. The process was as much of a social gathering as it was a beverage. And of course it could also define your political leanings as well.
Women were tasked with making dairy products for the household, including butter and cheese. Children often helped their mothers, and were routinely given the chore of making butter. Once the butter had been churned, it was preserved with salt to ensure it would keep year-round.
Another station will inform attendees about the significant role that taverns played in American life. These public houses often served as gathering places for colonists to discuss their opposition to British rule. Across the colonies, dissenters met at taverns to share and debate revolutionary ideas. The conversations and gatherings that occurred in these buildings led to many pivotal events in the revolution. It was in the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston that the Sons of Liberty began planning the “dumping of the tea,” later known as the Boston Tea Party. The morning of the Battle of Lexington, Captain Parker and his militia gathered in Buckman Tavern and prepared to face British troops on their common.
Alongside topics such as food and clothing, participants can learn about the lives of mothers and children in 18th-century New England. Pregnancy and childbirth were difficult during the 1700s, with a high risk of birth complications and infant death. Women typically gave birth at home and were assisted by a midwife rather than a doctor.
Visitors can discover these aspects of typical colonial life and many more during the Battle of Gloucester reenactment weekend. The interactive stations will be open to the public at Stage Fort Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 20 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 21.