Civil War

Civil War Reenactors and enthusiasts might enjoys these deals from Amazon:

The Civil War – A Film by Ken Burns
Amazon has Ken Burns’ The Civil War for $50.99.  Normally it’s $99.99. This is a great film that I would daresay redefined the documentary style of film-making.

Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition)
If you were holding out for a great deal on 1993′s “reenactor classic” Gettysburg is available for on $5.49 and in Widescreen!

World War II

The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Another great Ken Burns film is The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Amazon also has it for $50.99.  It’s regular price is $129.99, so this is an even better deal!

Sergeant York (Two-Disc Special Edition)
The 1941 Gary Cooper classic is on sale for a mere $8.99. Normally it is $26.

Empire of the Sun (Snap Case)
One of my personal favorite movies, Empire of the Sun, featuring a very young Christian Bale is on sale for half-price at $6.99.

The Wild West

Deadwood: The Complete Series
If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Al Swearengen swearin’ up  a storm, you definitely need to snap up this great deal on the complete Deadwood series. It’s $97.49 where it’ll normally set you c**ks**kers back $179.00.

Blu-Ray Movies

If you have a Blu-Ray player, there are also some really great deals.  Here is a link to the Blu-Ray discs that might be of interest to reenactors: Amazon.com Blu-Ray Cyber Monday Deals

I noticed they had The Searchers [$7.99] (which probably looks AMAZING in Blu-Ray), Valkyrie [$14.99], The Last Samurai [$10.99], Alexander, Revisited – The Final Cut [$7.99], Wyatt Earp [$7.99], 10,000 B.C. [$14.99], Gettysburg: The Battle and the Address [$6.49], How the West Was Won (Blu-ray Book) [$20.49], Lonesome Dove (2-Disc Collector’s Edition) [$11.99]

These are only deals I found for Cyber Monday, but I am sure there are lots of other great gift ideas for reenactors.  What do you want for Christmas?

My daughter, Rosalia, at her current age of 8, has been involved in living history since she was 3. She doesn’t remember not reenacting. And she realizes that reenacting is when we pretend to be living in the old days, without electricity, cars, or TV’s. This she knew well.

Anyhow, it was at the Jackson, Michigan event, Michigan’s largest Civil War event, when Rosalia was 5 years old, and she and her little friend, Elizabeth, were watching the contra dancing at the ball. In fact, as young as they were, they even gave it a try themselves. They were lucky enough to dance a bit with none other than President Lincoln himself, of which my daughter later told me, “President Lincoln told me and Elizabeth that we were the prettiest girls at the ball!”

That made her night!

Mr. Lincoln was present at numerous other events that we participated in before the end of that year’s season, so my daughter was able to visit with him a few more times before winter hit.

Jump ahead a couple months and she was now in school – half day kindergarten. She went to school in the morning and was home with me in the afternoon (I didn’t begin work until 2:30, and that gave she and I wonderful daddy-daughter time).

So here we were, doing what any father and daughter would be doing….watching the History Channel, and it just so happened that a show about President Lincoln was on. Well, it showed how Booth sneaked up behind the 16th President and changed history.

As we were watching this, I glanced at Rosalia and noticed a tear running down her cheek. I asked her what was wrong, and in her tiny 5 year old voice, she cried, “I didn’t know Mr. Lincoln died!” And burst into tears!

And then it hit me – she never differentiated the reenactor Lincoln, portrayed by our very dear friend Fred Priebe, with the real president Lincoln! To her, they were one and the same!

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