----- Original Message -----
From: <JCWisc at aol.com>
> I think this popular interest in history is a good thing. A lot
of folks
> seem to be genuinely interested in how society has evolved, from
> pre-industrial times to the present. They often start from simple
curiosity
> about the material details of life in former times, but then start
asking
> deeper questions. OK, this is how the stonecutters worked, and
these are the
> tools they used, but what was the relationship between the
stonecutter and
> the person for whom the castle was being built? What was it LIKE
to be a
> medieval stonecutter? What were your thoughts and feelings, and
what was it
> like when you went home from your job? How were people in the
13th century
> like us, and how were they different? Those are some of the
questions that I
> think some of the people who visit sites like the one described in
this
> article are trying to understand. I hope most of them come to
understand
> that you'd have to be nuts to want to go back in time...
>
> Jacob Conrad
=================
Unless you can turn it into a commodity like the Renaissance Fairs; "Medieval Barber for a Day" type ridiculousness. Don't get me wrong, exploring the past is healthy, but once Madison Ave. gets a hold of it, there'll be an anti-antiquarian backlash.....
Ian