Greetings my dear Netizens -
Not sure where to put this, so I 'll start in Longbranch and see what happens
In Another Thread on Del's Food forum , Our Friend Mogorilla was lamenting the lack of what I like to call Magical Jobs:
Hi Prof,
....
I have just discovered a tv show on my cable. It is on a network called RLTV and it is "A Taste of History". Not bad, it focuses mainly on 18th century cooking. The chef is a German guy, but it is primarily done in US during the colonial/revolution period. I have seen an episode in South Africa and Japan though. If you have not seen it, I recommend it. Really makes me angry at my high school guidance councilor, no one told me jobs like this, myth busters, or experimental archaeology were even an option! It was all "No, you are good at science, you need to stick with that. What, do you expect them to open a history factory down the street?" I think my dad got to them early on!
regarding Magical Jobs - I too have a passion for such historical endevours, and well as Myth Busters, experimental historicity & etc.
There are so few paying gigs in these fields - I find that when one delves into the backstory these folks busted their keesters at minimum wage fora long time before they became a proprer paying job.
One well known success story is Mark Baker, the Rev War Era re-enactor, author, & etc. If I recall correctly He started out in a
University teaching capacity, making very little, and over the many lustrum leveraged his passion and hobby into a paying gig via numerous articles, spending ALL his free time at the re-enactment gig, ( it's a wonder he is still married) hitting nearly every rifle frolic , and finally getting some fame as a consultant to LOTM movies & etc.
The famous rifle makers, and knife & leather makers ( such as Chuck Burrows) made it pay, but we never seem to see these astounding craftsmen get rich off it.
fortunately I was steered into my first passion of electronics & etc for acutal paying employment !
And since God looks after Fools and Children, this foolish child was able to "fall into" the early days of computers & etc, paying me a really good living whilst I pursued my other passions on weekends. Even then the Avionics & Defense business went into "staff up and layoff" cycles. Each time I got swept up in the layoff cycle I would devote about 1/3 time to finding a new job , and the rest of the time to trying my other passions.
Furniture building was fun but more time was spent in sales and marketing myself than in building. The only guy I knew of who managed to make a living at it as a one-man shop was making less than $2 an hour when totaled up, back in 1985. The rest ended up ruining a wonderful hobby by turning it into a small furniture factory, and ended up becoming paper pushers instead of craftsmen.
History- related stuff was
über cool - I got into an apprentice blacksmith gig at Historic Fort Snelling, but I only got in because I talked my way in as a "for free" volunteer.
I was issued an 1815 uniform -
Shirt, smock, trousers, shoes, hat, and leather throat stock, and a locker, and they handled laundering the uniforms.
I provided my own underwear & glasses. As a blacksmith I was allowed to leave off the throat stock and smock and roll up my sleeves - simple wire frame glasses and earplugs were allowed for safety.
It was almost like disneyland - you had to attend a history class and learn how to stay in character. Except for the Officers and skilled craftsmen, (the carpenter, blacksmith, wheelwright, & baker) Most of the employees were college kids.
The big rules were
1) be safe with your weapons
2) NEVER let a vistor get ahold of your weapons ( there were special opportunities under Officer's Supervision)
3) to stay in character no matter what
but the only paying gigs were ... minimum wage.
I was extra-ordinarily lucky, since my day job required a ton of computer time that year so I talked them into letting me work
4-midnight and I had the mainframe to myself; which allowed me to work 8-3 as a blacksmith apprentice for nearly 5 months.
I learned a lot from the journeyman smith there, and I leveraged that experience into a part time weekend volunteer gig as the only blacksmith at Historic Gibbs Farm ( ca 1875 ) . I rebuilt the delapidated shop under the barn, & ran that shop on weekends for a couple years, sharing it with goats, horses, a sheep who liked to knock my 300 ppound anvil off the stump, and a goose who kept laying her eggs in my forge.
Again - no paying gigs. The "paid director" was ecstatically happy to have me, and while I was there they went thru 3 directors.
Then I moved cross country, then got married, and haven't had another opportunity, altho every time we visit museums I end up pickingthe brains of the docents & guides on bits I am interested in, and waxing eloquent over exhibits I have specific knowledge of. Several times I ended up with a small audience , who then started asking questions, and finally had to extricate myself and surprised said audience by parting with
" You can find more informatio nabout this at blah blah blah
Oh I don't work here .... "
(and then expound in run-on sentences )what are your experiences ?
your humble babbler
prof marvel