SHOWS_IN_DEVELOPMENT

BUILDING ON THE EDUCATIONALLY ACCLAIMED SUCESS OF ANDREW YOUNG'S MEDIEVAL PRESENTATIONS, THE COLONIAL PRESENTATION WILL TRACE AND DESCRIBE THE FASCINATING REASONS AND EVENTS AS TO WHY EUROPEANS AS EARLY AS THE 13TH CENTURY (YES....THE LATE 1200S) BEGAN TO SERIOUSLY THINK OF ESCAPING THEIR BORDERS. 'JOHN SMITH AND CREW ' IN 1607 RELIED ON AN AMAZING HISTORY OF DISCOVERY THAT STRETCHED WELL OVER FOUR HUNDRED YEARS FROM THE VIKING EXPEDITIONS TO MARCO POLO, TO HENRY THE NAVIGATOR AND COLUMBUS. FEW DISCOVERIES GERMINATE FROM THIN AIR !

THE PRESENTATION WILL DELVE INTO THE FASCINATING LIFE AND MATERIAL CULTURE OF EARLY COLONIAL LIFE (ie, THE 'STUFF' OF LIFE) OF THE LATE 15TH , 16TH, AND 17TH CENTURIES, SUCH AS: ST AUGUSTINE (FLORIDA)....JAMESTOWN (VIRGINIA).....PLYMOUTH (MASS).....and ST. MARY'S CITTIE (MARYLAND).

RESENTATIONS FEATURE A CONSTANTLY GROWING ASSEMBLAGE OF ARTIFACTS AND HIGHLY ACCURATE REPRODUCTIONS RANGING FROM CLOTHING, FURNITURE, TOOLS, ARMOUR, JEWLERY, DAILY OBJECTS AND NATIVE AMERICAN PIECES. ONE

OF THE FUN ASPECTS OF MY JOB IS RESEARCHING, BUILDING AND ADDING NEW REPLICAS TO TALK ABOUT EACH YEAR.

........HAVING BEEN INVITED TO SPEAK TO AUDIENCES AT THE 'RIPE AGE' OF 17 (BACK IN 1990), ANDREW YOUNGS

PRESENTATIONS ARE OFTEN SO MEMORABLE, THAT HE IS FREQUENTLY RECOGNIZED BY FORMER AUDIENCE MEMBERS....

MANY NOW COLLEGE GRADUATES! MANY TEACHERS EXPRESS THANKS TO MR YOUNG FOR INSPIRING THEIR STUDENTS.

THEY OFTEN TELL OF STUDENTS, (WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY SHOWED LITTLE INTEREST IN ANY ACADEMIC SUBJECTS), SUDDENLY

WANTING TO GO TO THE LIBRARY TO LEARN MORE AFTER SEEING YOUNG'S PRESENTATION.

THEY NEEDED ARMOR IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES ?!? ---you better believe it!

In 1494 Columbus wrote to the Spanish Crown:

"Inasmuch as yesterday, in inspection which was held, the people

were found to be deficient in arms...it seems that it would be well

that 200 cuirasses (breastplates) and a hundred espingardas and a

hundred crossbows should be ordered to be sent...."

MR YOUNG IS ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED WORLD REKNOWNED MASTER ARMOURER , AND METALSMITH. BELOW, LEFT WE SEE A RARE GLIMPSE OF A THE STEPS BEHIND THE EVOLUTION OF A LATE 16TH CENTURY BREASTPLATE.... BEING FORGED FROM A RATHER CRUDE AND UGLY FLAT SHEET OF IRON WITH HAMMER AND ANVIL. TO THE RIGHT, BELOW, SEVERAL HELMETS USED.

UPDATE 6 / 5/ 08 In addition to the objects seen above (which has also been tripled in size, Mr Young just aquired yet another wonderful collection of 16th and 17th century artifacts....just a few of the dozens and dozens of actual antiques below.

When Mr Young endeavers to research and teach about a period, he tries to delve into many of the crafts of the period. This allows Andrew to better understand how people made and interacted with those artifacts. Although we have come to think that "Gold and God" were the primary objectives for colonists, lumber (wood) was in fact very high on the list; hugely important as Europe had largely depleted its forests by the 17th century. So, Mr Young has been researching colonial woodworking techniques from felling trees to crafting actual objects like furniture and buckets, tankards, and so forth. No power tools are used ! ...its all hand sawed, riven (split), hewn and joined. And blisters are part of the game!

ONE OF SEVERAL FELLED TREES ANDREW HAS CHOPPED DOWN FOR USE IN MAKING AUTHENTIC COLONIAL FURNITURE. NOTE THE HUGE TWO-MAN SAW IMMEDIATELY BELOW.. IT IS OVER 5 FEET LONG AND THESE KINDS OF SAWS DATE TO THE 1500S AND WERE USED IN EARLY COLONIES LIKE JAMESTOWN, PLIMOTH,....

SOME OF THE RELEVANT TOPICS INCLUDE :

--ARTIFACTS FROM EVERYDAY LIFE: CLOTHING, SHOES, JEWELRY, UTENSILS, FURNITURE, TOOLS, MONEY, LANTERNS,.....AND MORE.

--REPRODUCTIONS FROM EVERYDAY LIFE: MR YOUNG MAKES HIGHLY ACCURATE REPRODUCTIONS WHICH CAN BE HANDLED TOO!

--CRAFTS AND CRAFTSFOLK: HOW THINGS WERE MADE AND WHAT THEY WERE USED FOR.

--ARMOUR : YES THEY WORE ARMOUR IN THE 'NEW WORLD' (ARMOUR IS ALWAYS A UNIVERSAL CROWD PLEASER)

--EARLY SLAVERY AND INDENTURED SERVITUDE VS. LATER SLAVERY: WAS THERE A DIFFERENCE ?

--REAL PIRATES ! (HOW ACCURATE IS JACK SPARROW ANYWAY ? )

--NAUTICAL NAVIGATION (HOW IN THE "WORLD" DID SAILORS GET HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE ! )

--HUDSON BAY AND SIMILAR TRADING COMPANIES THAT KEPT MANY COLONIES ALIVE !

--NATIVE AMERICANS (MY OWN ANCESTRY IS FROM THE PENOBSCOT AND ABINAKI PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN CANADA & NEW ENGLAND)

--AFRO - CARIBBEAN COLONIES (COLUMBUS LANDED IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ! )

--SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCES (THE LEGACY OF THE VIKINGS UPON EUROPE AND EXPLORATION WAS NOT LOST ON COLONIAL NAVIGATORS! IN FACT, THE VIKINGS ESTABLISHED THE FIRST EUROPEAN COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICAN, EFFECTIVELY LAYING THE FOUNDATION AND FERTILIZING THE BELIEF THAT LANDS TO THE WEST DID EXIST BEYOND EUROPE.

Here you are seeing the origin of several types of colonial industries: housing, fencing making, furniture creation. Records suggest that a pair of men could cut nearly 100 board feet a day with a two-man saw. However this was extremely hard work and required a suprising degree of skill to create the synchronicity necessary drawing the saw back and forth without it bowing or getting jammed in the tree. In addition, it often required that a deep pit be dug so one man had enough room to draw back the 5-7 foot blade! An alternative was to rive the wood. This process involves splitting the wood apart using wedges that would be driven through the log lengthwise. When the log is riven, it produces very distinct sounds that range between a leather jacket when stretching and a deep groan punctuated by high pitched snaps. It is very similar to what tall trees sound like when the wind blows. Once split, the log is then spit again if needed. The wood is thus "quartered." If cut, this would be called quarter sawn. The major advantage is that the wood is stronger and more stable, less likely to bend or bow.

At this point, felled tree limbs can also be used for creating fences or house walls. The method of "wattle hurdling" involves taking fresh branches (laths) about the size of a thumb (or larger) and removing the smaller sprouted branches. Once the limbs are gathered, they are then divived into general sizes....small, medium, and large. The smaller branches can be woven into garden fences or chicken coups. Larger branches could be used to create the areas in between large timber joined structures. By applying a mixture of lime, mud, and fibrous materials (horse hair, plant fibers, textiles), over the laths (tree branches), the structure becomes very strong and water resistant when dried over time. Thus, wattle and daub wall became the defacto type of housing construction, in one way or another, for literally thousands of years....right up through the mid 19th century.

Talk about Exciting! What you see below are front and side photos of an actual early 16th century chest Mr Young recently acquired. This is the exact type of furniture that would have been brought over to the early colonies by families and/or wealthier colonists. Ironically many of the items such as furniture, armour, and hard items like tableware that were brought over would have been older and out of fashion (who cares if they're damaged, right !?). It isn't until about the 1640's that a modest furniture industry really begins in North America; up to that point, most things were old, reused and recycled.

AS ALWAYS, ANDREW YOUNG'S UNIQUE APPROACH CENTERS AROUND HIS ABILITY TO BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT BY MAKING RELEVANT AGE-BASED ANALOGIES. HE SPEAKS TO ALL AGE GROUPS BY UTILYZING A DYNAMIC HIGH ENERGY METHOD, PLENTY OF AUDIENCE INTERACTION AND THOUGHT PROVOKING IDEAS TO HELP STUDENTS SUSPEND THEIR 21ST CENTURY MINDSET AND TO ENTER THE WORLD OF THE PAST. YET THAT PROCESS HELPS STUDENTS SEE THE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN "THEM" AND "US." WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE AND BELOVED ELEMENTS OF MR YOUNG'S PRESENTATIONS IS HIS HEALTHY SENSE OF HUMOR. PRINCIPALS AND EDUCATORS AND PARENTS HAVE ALL REMARKED HOW EASILY STUDENTS (EVEN THOSE WHO ARENT "HISTORY BUFFS") SEEM TO RELAX AND LEARN IN THE ACADEMIC, YET FUN ATMOSPHERE HE IS ABLE TO CREATE.