Whenever the word "authenticity" comes up, there seems to be an inevitable question right behind. That is "But why does it matter, since the people watching don't know the difference anyhow?" Obviously a few observers will know the difference, but that begs the question, and it is a reasonable question. Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

There are many reasons why people reenact, but most of us have several in common. For one thing, it is fun. This is important to remember, because when it quits being fun, people will quit doing it. Most of us feel that we are honoring the original participants when we reenact (often personal ancestors) and we often say that we are educating the public. Let's consider authenticity with regards each of these reasons.

Fun: totally a personal issue. One man might be perfectly happy in a solid red zoot suit, while another wouldn't show his face in public without a handsewn jacket with the exact thread count, etc. The problem is that both of these could be spoiling the fun of others. The first might be visually offensive, while the second might be verbally offensive as he explained the superiority of his outfit to all and sundry.

Honoring dead: another personal issue. I suspect that most of the original participants would feel honored just to know that they are remembered and that we try to keep their memories alive. They might have a laugh at the zoot suit, but I suspect that most of them couldn't have told how many stitches to the inch were in their jackets either.

Education: the real sticker. It is true that most of the onlookers won't know whether most of what we do is authentic, but that is why they came. Take a simple example: the only hay bales in the 1860's were mammoth 250 lb. affairs. When the crowds see us sitting around the camp on modern hay bales, they assume (even if only subconsciously) that period soldiers sat on hay bales. Now I am sure that they would have if bales had been available, but they weren't. Simple solution: tear the bales apart and sit on the ground or on a log or a chair, etc.

The bottom line is this: the crowds come to learn, and they assume that we know what is correct. They watch what we do and go home thinking that it was done then. If they catch us eating a Big Mac or drinking a Coke, they know it is out of place... it is the small things that they won't recognize, and about which we must be careful if we want to do a good job of education.