On Saturday, the PA RR museum had a special event commemorating World War II. They had costumed re-enactors all over the place, tons of artifacts, and even a complete 1940's era apartment (in a semi trailer) to tour. It was marvelous.
I don't know if the kids enjoyed it quite as much as I did, but it was just so cool to be able to show them a slice of history. Iceboxes, ration coupons, skate keys, a rotary phone - things that I either grew up with or was familiar with from my parents and grandparents.
My favorite was the knitting table. Yes, they had a whole display dedicated to WWII knitting - "Knit Your Bit." Did you know that knitting in church was allowed because it was patriotic? "Remember Pearl Harbor - Purl Harder."
They had a whole collection of WWII knitting patterns, including a balaclava one of the women had made for her husband when he was a helicopter gunner in Kosovo. Seems you can't have synthetics on the choppers - if there's a fire, it melts to your face. So she used an old pattern to knit him a wool one, complete with slits for your headphones. Apparently all the guys on his chopper wanted one! And the Red Cross has some of the patterns up on their website - no balaclava though, I checked.
http://www.redcross.org/museum/exhibits/knits.asp
We talked socks and knitting needles and it was just so much fun. This knitting thing is like entering a secret society - you just never know who else is going to turn out to be a knitter. I love the paper crafting, but knitting, well, it's everywhere, and it's portable.
It was really an enjoyable weekend. But now we have to clean and winterize the trailer - and I just keep putting it off. Can't we go just one more time?
1 comment:
Sounds like a great time! I remember having those days off when I was a kid in NJ. I don't think my family ever bothered to take a vacation, though, (that I recall.) It's great that you have a chance to have a last camping weekend before the holidays hit you with full force!
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