Merchanting in the SCA

Master Katryne MacIntosh the Strange, OP and Magister Jali Bukha, OL

Kingdom of Gleann Abhann

So, you want to be an SCA merchant. The allure of being able to sit behind a counter, take money from people, and have early access to sites is attractive to you. You envy the ease of which merchants tend to make friends and acquaintances and how people come directly to them to chat. And the idea of being able to quit your day job and SCA full time looks really nice.

If you’re ready to get past the daydreaming, we can help. But beware: the road you are on is bumpy. There are a lot of up front costs to being a merchant. There is physical toil involved. In the end, you might choose to set up an Etsy store instead. 

How to begin:

What do you bring to the table that people want to sell? It has to be something that people want to take with them, sold at a price they consider reasonable, the sale of which covers your costs. It doesn’t have to be a large scale operation, but you have to start somewhere.

Focus.  Choose a genre and focus on products in that range. 

(Kat) When I started in the SCA, I saw how popular merchants were, and I found that many merchants were given free pass to attend events and early access onsite. I was a poor college graduate at the time, with little funds. I learned how to thrift items and primarily sold feast gear back in the 1990s. I also learned how to fingerweave belts from macrame cord. For about five years, I merchanted at about half of the events I attended. However, I was only ever able to make expenses - gas and event costs - and I could only weave so many belts. After a washout experience at Gulf Wars 8, I quit the whole operation.

Find something you are good at making or sourcing, and focus on that idea to begin your business. Jali makes woodcut blocks for block printing. He started out making blocks for friends, and was loudly encouraged to start selling them. For Jali, beginning his merchant journey started with reaching out to his merchant friends and asking to consign. Then we started attending some smaller events with a pop-up tent and a few tables. His reputation grew. When the pandemic struck in 2020, he shifted to focusing on his Etsy site, and sales took off. In 2022 we started renting a tent and selling at both Gulf Wars and Pennsic. Now he’s the world’s largest maker of woodcut stamp blocks for medieval enthusiasts - at least, that’s how we market ourselves!

Having a specific niche sets you up to succeed, if you are merchanting to the right audience. If you make clothing, be aware that many merchants make clothing. Consider specializing for a particular market. For instance - Silvertree Souq makes garb for Ottoman, Turkish, Persian, and other Eastern cultures, while Ancient Attaliers specializes in Roman and Greek attire. Lots of people make armor - but some make armor from leather, others steel, and still others lamelar and plastic. Unique merchants - like Auntie Arwen’s Spices - tend to draw a loyal following with very particular items. 

Before your first merchanting event, build up stock. It’s usually OK to run out of merchandise the first small event, but for larger events you may not be asked back.

I have my merchanting idea ready to go. How do I get started?

First off, are you properly prepared to sell? While smaller local events may offer you a place to set a table up in a hall, larger events require you to bring your own stuff in - that’s tables and table covers, tents, lighting (if you’ll be open after dark), and everything else you need for your business.

A pop-up tent is usually fine to begin with - as long as you have decent weather. If you plan on merchanting for a long time, you’ll want something period-esque, either a proper re-enactment tent or a facsimile. We use a high-grade PVC covered tent at Gulf Wars that’s based on a frame similar to a carport tent. For the few smaller events we do outside, a 12x20 carport is our go-to. And for Pennsic, we rent a 20x40 and live in it throughout the war.

Tables don’t have to be fancy. I know several merchants who use portable, collapsable sawhorses and sheets of plywood covered with a tablecloth. We use standard folding tables and card tables. We ensure every bit of those plastic things are covered with cloth tablecloths before we start setting out stock.

Then there’s business registration. Not every event requires you to be licensed as a vendor; many merchants start out as what we used to call “blanket merchants,” operating like a crafter at a flea market. However, as time has passed, more events and more event sites now require a level of mundane registration and insurance.

Cat Man Do Designs is a licensed vendor in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a State of Arkansas tax license. This allows us to merchant online and to show up at Arkansas events with our set-up and sell blocks. However, Arkansas event vending (not including farmers markets and cottage industries) requires the event managers to take in taxes for each vendor and provide them with an envelope for sending in a check direct to the state. The tax is 7% of all sales.

Gulf Wars has a different system. Mississippi requires the event itself to be registered, and taxes are gathered on-site en masse to send to the state. Merchants here are required to pay their taxes when they close on Saturday of war. The tax is 6% of all sales - and must be paid in cash to the merchant office.

Other states, like Texas and Pennsylvania, require the merchant to register with those states and send taxes in on a schedule. For Pennsylvania, the tax rate is 6% - and you are required to have a license before you vend, always. However, certain items - like tools used for making clothing - are exempt. It is worth your time to go through and determine which taxes you will be obligated to pay.

You can, however, register as a wholesaler in some instances, or get a wholesale vending license so you can obtain materials without paying sales tax. This varies by state. 

You’ll also want to determine how you’ll take payments. Almost all merchants take cash - which means you need to acquire a money box or similar item to hold funds in, and obtain cash for change before you start vending. There’s also Point of Sale systems that you can operate through your phone, like Square, that can be set up to keep track of inventory, automatically deposit funds, and allow you to send customers electronic receipts. Options like Apple Pay, CashApp, and Venmo can also be considered - more folks seem to be trending towards these phone-based apps as the way they pay. Being able to take payments in multiple fashions is helpful and might score you a sale when other vendors can’t come through.

And then there is event insurance. Many events require you to carry it. It’s usually a $1,000,000 policy that will run you around $100 - or if you merchant a lot, you can get a year-round policy.

I’m ready! Now what?

Contact the autocrat or merchant coordinator at any event you plan to vend at. Ensure that merchants are welcome. Find out whether it’s OK for you to set up inside or outside. See what the tax plan is for your operation. Register for the event.

Our first event as full-scale block merchants was Gulf Wars 2022. We borrowed a large tent, hobbled together enough tables and tablecloths, and brought every block Jali could make. When it rained, our entire floor became a sandpit. When it stormed, tables flipped. The merchantcrat made Jali cry. One of our stoves combusted while we were trying to get dinner done in the back. It was stressful!  But a couple of months later, we went to Steppes Warlord packed tight in a Honda CRV, put out four tables, and came back with less than half our stock - and convinced we should try Pennsic on our own. 

Make sure you plan well in advance how you will get to site, where you will stay, and - this is very important - who will be able to help you set up. Jali and I usually plan to do all of our own set-up at smaller events - including setting up tent and tables and pulling out the blocks. For something smaller like Kris Kinder (a one day shopping event), we plan to arrive around 6:30 in the morning. We bring a dolly for moving tables and boxes of blocks into the space and usually have the blocks arranged by culture so we can pull them out quickly. Doors open at 9am. We have to close at 3pm and take down the shop and remove it by 6pm. It’s a busy event, so we make sure we don’t give ourselves more work than we can accomplish in that time.

At Pennsic, we rent our tent, drive our trailer under it, and begin set-up. It takes us two to three days to get our personal quarters and the front of the shop set up. There is no waiting to set up either - once we begin merchanting, that’s our full-time job.

At Gulf Wars, you may have noticed merchants asking for help getting set up online. Gulf Wars merchants, for the most part, are allowed on-site about 24 hours before the site opens to everyone else. Merchanting opens at 3 pm on Saturday. It’s a very quick turnaround. Securing your help in advance is key - merchants are allowed a limited amount of early-on help, and every one of those individuals has to be registered well in advance of the event.

Be prepared, and do not expect help from other folks. Merchants are often expected to pack down while court is going on, or to clear a hall before the feast is set out. Making sure you can pack down and out and not cause an inconvenience to the event or its staff ensures you get an invite back.

The costs:

Your stock and inventory - whatever it costs to produce your items

Your event registration (and merchant fee, if applicable)

Your infrastructure (tent and tables)

Your transportation costs (gas and hotel)

Your taxes

The price of Pennsic, for a merchant (2024 numbers):

Our booth at Pennsic is a necessity. It is our biggest show of the year for Cat Man Do Designs. It's a minimum of eight hours a day, for 12 days, with one employee. We tried doing it just the two of us the first year and that about killed us. It's not just sitting back and waiting for people to purchase stuff. There's also the set-up, which can take a full work day, and take-down, which thanks to not having to actually pack down our tent means we can be off-site eight hours after we close, once everything is properly balanced inside the trailer and our site is gone over to make sure we have left it cleaner than when we arrived.

To be considered to be a merchant at Pennsic, the largest Society for Creative Anachronism in the world, you have to send photos of what you sell and a diagram of your set-up. Once you are vetted in (which, if you're a first timer may take a couple of years to get a spot), you have to apply each year. That application fee, space fee, electric fee (if you want electrical - there are some folks still using gas or battery-operated lanterns for light), and site book advertising (yes, you do want that), can rack up. Our merchant fee came to $579 this year.

Registration for Pennsic is completely separate. For our team, that was $540 - because the help we brought was under 18. We had to be registered for Pennsic before we could secure merchant space.

We have a couple of choices on tents - because you have to have a tent. We decided a while back to rent a tent for Pennsic because the extra weight of carrying one meant we wouldn't be able to have as much merchandise to sell. Our tent, a 20x40 tent that houses us all, is $1050 for the 16 day span. Considering we're not having to put it up, it's a bargain. And it's insured in case something terrible happens with the weather.

Oh, and then there's insurance, which every Pennsic merchant is required to have. We're fortunate to have found an event insurance company that covers Pennsic and only charges $150 a year.

To get there, we take two days, with an overnight a little more than halfway between here and there. That's a night or two at a hotel for about $100. And gas? Ho boy. That all depends on what the gas is running in each of the six states we're traveling through. The variations can be up to a dollar a gallon. Towing a trailer that contains all our gear to live outdoors, all the tables for stock, the stock itself, and everything including the kitchen sink (yes, we have one of those) means gas mileage is terrible - think, less than 15 mpg for the towing vehicle. We take a route that's flatter than the most direct route, and Google says it's 978 miles. It comes out to right at 1000 once you count in diversions, road construction, and the distance off road for gas stops. Gas runs about $200-250 per vehicle, and we take two, because three people in the cab of a standard old school pickup for two days is... a LOT.

And you have to eat, so however you prep for that, you do. You can eat on site - average meal is around $10, which is pretty good for a festival, and Penn Market has ingredients. Three people for 16 days.

Put all that together, and we spend around $3000 for Pennsic before we ever open the tent and sell the first block.

Some merchants come from further away, some are closer to site. There are merchants with a bigger footprint and larger crews, and there are smaller merchants with a smaller footprint who are merchanting by themselves. In all cases, it's a financial commitment that means we spend a lot of money even before we get to site. That doesn't include the thousands of dollars in production cost and labor - from Grav and I drawing blocks, to him lasering and cutting them out and gluing and sanding and finishing them.  And there's the time I have to take off from my job, which between travel time, event time and recovery is at least three weeks where I'm not on the road or writing. Getting my work done at Pennsic really isn't an option, considering the hours we put in there. And he can't make stock while we're at Pennsic - we can't haul a laser with us, and there's a no power tool rule. And trust me, you don't want him hand-carving blocks. It takes months for each one and he tends to bleed on them.

We're fortunate that most of our clientele has been understanding about our prices. But from time to time, someone will make a statement about our prices being too high. We don't pass along a lot of the extra cost to customers - we charge the same whether it's through Etsy or if we're at the event - and we're conservative on our price structure.  We suspect the same of our fellow merchants. We're all just trying to survive, ,marketing needed goods to our fellow SCA friends.

If that hasn’t scared you off, here are simple suggestions for merchanting:

1. Make friends with fellow merchants and seek out their advice.

2. Pay your taxes.

3. Communicate with event sites and stewards.

4. Make sure you have plenty of stock.

5. Take physical and mental care of yourself.

Thrifting Your Own SCA Couture

Creating garb from what you have

Master Katryne MacIntosh the Strange, OP

So, you’re interested in the SCA? Congratulations! You’re now on your way to enjoying a very time-intensive, resource-expensive hobby!

What’s that you say? You have a budget? Or, you have no budget but you’d really like to play anyway? The audacity!

Honestly, though, most people who begin attending SCA events start from a baseline point before jumping full into the land of high-end period couture. It’s OK - we’ve all been there, and there are still individuals who stick with the tried and true everyman version of SCA clothing.

The Society for Creative Anachronism’s Organizational Handbook, including what we call Corpora (our governing documents), requires little to participate at SCA events.

B. Requirements for Participants at Society Events  Anyone may attend Society events provided they wear an attempt at pre-17th century clothing, conform to the rules of Society, and comply with any other requirements (including but not limited to site fees or waivers) which may be imposed. At business meetings and informal classes, the requirement to wear pre-17th century dress may be waived. All participants are expected to behave in an appropriate and respectful manner. 

So what does that entail? Pay the site fee (if any), sign the waiver, and wear things that could plausibly be worn before the year 1600. 

For those who are new to our area, we have loaner gear and garb (garb being the informal word we use for clothing) available for people to borrow. We also have events such as Newbie Collegium, where many of us use the opportunity to pass along garb that doesn’t fit us, whether our current persona or our size, and to divest ourselves of items that could be used by others, that are instrumental in helping some get ready for events.

Away from these resources, I have ideas for you to help get you on your way to a lifetime of SCA events and participation.

The basic T-Tunic. For many of us who started our SCA careers decades ago, this has been and always will be the base for SCA participation. Unlike a T-shirt, which tends to be stretchy and conforms to modern couture, this is a base constructed item that almost anyone with any level of sewing experience can create. You will need at least enough fabric to cover your top portion - something at least 30 inches wide for most people for short sleeves, and at least 45 inches wide for longer sleeves, that is at least twice the length of the distance of the top of your shoulder to below your waistline. For femme-presenting individuals, the T-Tunic can even be a T-gown, with the same width of fabric needed and the length being approximately twice a person’s height.

To make - fold the fabric lengthwise once, and crosswise once. Take a T-shirt that fits you, and fold it in half. Lay it so the neckline of the T-shirt (the rounded bit) lies flat with the top seam of the shoulder along the shorter edge of fabric and the middle seam of the shirt along the longer edge.

Measure out approximately four inches from the armpit of the T-shirt, diagonally from the corner of the fabric. Mark this point. Draw a line, either straight out to the edge, or at an angle of up to 30 degrees, to the edge of the fabric from that mark.  Then draw a line from that armpit mark up to 30 degrees or, if it’s easier, from that mark to the far corner of the fabric. Now cut the triangle you just drew, away. Cut along the line of the neck of your T-shirt (the fabric, not the shirt) to create a neckhole. Remove your T-shirt. Cut a two inch slit down one layer of the folded side of the fabric, right at the fold. Unfold the fabric, put your head through the hole, and try it out. Congratulations, you have the basis for your first T-Tunic.

To finish it out, you can use bias tape to trim the neckline (easier done before you sew the whole thing together) or you can face the neckline in a fancier way. You can even just do a simple stitch to turn the edge of the fabric inwards so the raw edge of the fabric does not show. Turn the T-Tunic so the side you don’t want on the outside is on the outside, sew up the long triangle sides, turn it inside out and sew the bottom edge. Congratulations - this is a basic, finished T-Tunic!

But wait - you don’t have the patience to sew? Head to your local Goodwill or thrift shop. Go looking in the section set aside for scrubs - the clothes folks in the medical field wear. Look for tunic tops. Get a size larger than what you wear. You’re set for your first event!

Pants. Sweatpants are often the first pants many SCA folks wear. They’re usually loose, and most of the pants can be covered by shoes, socks, and the bottom hem of whatever’s on top. Look for neutral tones like black or brown, or solid colors like yellow, blue, or red, without logos or stripes. These can be purchased new for under $10.

For more advanced wear, look for linen pants. Women’s pants from fancier stores often fit this - they tend to be somewhat formless and flowing and they were popular a few years back. Eschew the $80 new versions and look in thrift store racks. Read labels and search for products that are mostly linen based. If linen is the first material listed, you’re probably OK.

Avoid modern patterns and unlikely medieval colors (day-glo green and yellow are modernly obtrusive) and look for clothing a little larger than your body size.

To make your pants look even more medieval, cut out ankle elastic and add bias tape straps. Or cover it all up with long, single-color socks.

Shoes. There has long been a joke around these parts that “anything is period below the knee.” Shoes tend to be more expensive than other items. In a perfect world, we’d all be able to wear period shoes, but we all have different feet.

The easiest way, when you start, is to get cheap but decently soled sandals. Leather or simulated leather in black or brown tones will work well. They will provide protection against rough surfaces like gravel. Ballet shoes or flats work okay, especially if you are indoors, but may lack the soles to protect your feet. And believe me, protecting your feet is essential.

If you need to wear modern shoes for any reason, choose black, brown, or gray in solids. Long dress hems cover well. Don’t sweat it.

The cape. A simple cape or cloak can elevate your appearance drastically - and it’s incredibly easy to create - even if you have no sewing skill whatsoever!

The basic cloak or cape comes from a single piece of fabric. The width of a piece of fabric is your length - the wider, the longer. It needs to be at least twice the length as the width. 

Fold your fabric in half. Now, fold it again, but this time fold it from corner to corner, joining the folded edge corner to the long edge. Now, cut a curve across from one corner to the other through all four layers. Unfold - you have a half-circle of fabric! If you’d like this to be an early period cloak, wrap it around you and secure it with a pin at the neck. Later period? Cut a half-circle where your neck goes. This simple cloak is the easiest!

Except - it’s not! Want an even easier cloak? Get a round tablecloth with a width of at least 45 inches. Fold it into quarters. Make a mark at the center. Now cut a straight line through one of the layers of fabric from that mark to the edge. Unfold. Behold - a cape or cloak, ready to be worn or trimmed!

Draped fabric. Throughout history, fabric draping is a common element in clothing. The Greeks and Romans had togas and chitons as their primary and sometimes only clothes. Hindi folk still drape with saris and dhotis. Shoulder capes, outerwear - showing off extra fabric gives the impression of being rich. 

Wearing a pair of shorts and possibly a sports bra or sleeveless T-shirt as a base layer is a good idea when you’re starting out making one of these.  Find cording, belts, pins, and other items for accessorizing.

To make a chiton - take a piece of fabric that can wrap all the way around you at least twice. That’s your width. It should ideally be as long as you are tall. You will need two pins or brooches and a cord or belt. 

Lay the fabric out with the width from side to side. Fold a portion of the width over along the entire length, equally - a quarter to a third is ideal. Now fold the width in half so the folded-over bit is inside.  Find the center of the lengthwise edge, measure out about four inches from that point either way, and pin it. Turn it inside out and pull over your head between where the pins are. Now you can add brooches to the top side of where the pins are, and belt it. Congrats, that’s a chiton!

A toga is even easier. Take a plain bedsheet. Tie together the two corners on one of the two short ends. Pull over your head and put one of your arms through. Now, grab the two corners on the other short end, pull them up to the waist on the same side the knot is on your shoulder, and tie them together tightly, using the short end as your waistband. Boom - you’ve created a quick toga.

Want to look fancier? Choose fancier fabric. Saris are good for this - they look flashy and can be organized in many different ways. 

Be sure to have pins available to keep bits together so your bits don’t show.

Moving on up to hats. The best way to show you’re serious about your garb is to top it off with a hat. Hats don’t have to be hard - you can wear a simple straw hat or felt hat and you’re going to be good. 

A simple fabric hat can be made by cutting four circles of fabric at least 12 inches in diameter. Take three of those circles, fold them into quarters, and cut out a circle with the radius of the circumference of your head. Don’t math? Take a piece of string, wrap it around your head, then fold it into three. Use that to cut a circle from the center of your fabric rounds. Sew one of the cut circles together to the uncut circle on the outside edge. Sew the other two cut circles together the same way. Now turn both of those circles inside out and sew the inside edges on two sides together. Put your head in on the side that has the opening. Boom - a flat cap!

You can also cover your head with loose fabric by fashioning a turban. While emperors and high-ranking officials were depicted with huge turbans, yours doesn’t need to be. Simply find a large scarf or loose piece of fabric large enough to reach from one fingertip on one hand to the other on the other side, over your head, when you have your arms outstretched. Twist the end of one side of your fabric from where you can gather it on one side of your head, and roll it up. Take this portion and wrap it around the front to the back of your head, slipping the end of the fabric under the twisted bit by your ear. Now roll up the other end of the fabric, repeat, tuck - you’re done! 

Belting. Belts allow you to hold your clothes together, on your body, and carry things. Pockets were, in most cultures, things worn on the outside - pouches and such dangling from your bet. Choose leather-looking belts or long pieces of fabric that looks like sashes to make things that wrap around the waist. Alternately, you can use these over the shoulder to suspend your bags of holding.

Conceal! It is AOK to wear your glasses! But items such as wallets, car keys, beverages in things that don’t look like they belong in the middle ages, and other items should be concealed beneath layers of clothing or within pouches. 

Remember - As you spend time in the SCA, you’ll be able to see what other people are wearing, and be able to adapt your clothing to a couture you want. You can do all sorts of things with the materials provided. Creativity is what puts the C in the SCA!

If you have questions about a type of garb, ask someone. Most SCAdian folk love to talk about what they wear and how it was made or obtained. You may be surprised how much you learn!

Above all, remember, it’s the attempt that’s the important part. We want you to enjoy your time here. Learn as you go along - there are plenty of us who are happy and willing to help you obtain the look you want.

Feasting, Feeding, and Food in the SCA

A quick guide to dining in these current Middle Ages

Master Katryne MacIntosh the Strange, OP

The Society for Creative Anachronism offers so many different paths into learning about the time period before 1600 - so many cultures, so many places to search, so many ideas. There are a lot of differences between these different places and times, but one thing that connects them all - everyone ate.

When we encounter food in the SCA, it usually comes to us in one of three ways - provided by the event (feasts and other meals), provided by ourselves (picnics), and provided by individuals in the SCA (sideboards). How you create and enjoy your feast kit and dining experiences is up to you - but you can make it more enjoyable by being prepared for what’s to come.

Feasts

A feast is, in general, a lunchtime or evening meal where event attendees sit down and enjoy a meal together. While there are sometimes feasts where the serviceware and dinnerware are provided, this is generally rare, and the people who come to dine are expected to bring their own feast kits. 

The hope for these kits is to not only alleviate additional event cost of renting or purchasing dishes upon which to dine, but to also increase the ambiance of an event for all involved. These are some of the items you may wish to carry in your feast kit:

Silverware (fork, knife, spoon, etc)

Plate or platter

Bowl

Cup or chalice

Spices of choice (salt and pepper, etc.)

Candles and candleholders

Serviceware (large spoons, tongs, etc.)

Napkins 

Tablecloth

At the bare minimum, a plate or platter is a starting point for those who wish to dine, as you must have something to eat from.  Some people in persona may choose to forgo some items - for instance, a person with a southern Indian persona may choose to bring a banana leaf, and to eat with the fingers of their right hand from piles of food placed on the leaf. What you choose to include will depend on how much you want to emulate a person in your chosen timeframe and culture, and how comfortable you want to be while dining.

The items you choose reflect these ideals, if you wish them to. The standard set I suggest for people is to select a bowl and a platter of wood, bamboo, pewter or brass, or materials that look to be of this nature, along with mundane metal fork-knife-spoon sets or chopsticks and ceramic spoons. I also suggest a simple drinking vessel. Tankards are popular, as are metal or wooden chalices, but glass was also a period material, and sometimes just having an unmarked coffee cup will do. A scrap of fabric or a folded decorative paper towel or napkin will do just fine for a start. The other items can be filled in by the folks you are dining with, usually.

Think about what you would use at the table. Soups and pottages are common, so having a bowl is essential. Some folks bring an extra bowl to place out their bones or the food they don’t eat from a course so it can be discarded later. Do you know how to use chopsticks? They may make it easier to pick up items that are saucy or messy. Make sure you have what you need to feel comfortable eating in a family setting.

Most feasts in Gleann Abhann are served family-style, where either the person nearest the platter delivered to the table takes plates from others and puts the portion on, or the platter is passed from person to person. Some peer households choose to serve individuals at their table by order of precedence, though this has become less common here. In my household, we make sure guests and those who have less precedence are fed before our peers eat.

You’ll want a vessel to keep your dining gear in. Some choose wooden boxes, which can be heavy but which tend to be sturdier over time. Baskets are possible - but when choosing a basket, consider how much weight will be held in that basket. Many commercial picnic baskets are made just to hold the original lightweight contents and aren’t prepared to carry ceramic or metal dishes, and Easter baskets tend to have very flimsy handles. I’ve also seen fabric bags constructed for the purpose, and as long as you’re making allowances to protect anything ceramic or glass within, they tend to be pretty handy.

Other items you might want to consider bringing with you to feast:

Extra napkins or paper towels for cleanup

Ziptop bags or aluminum foil to take leftovers home (leftover food from platters must be discarded and not reused for future meals once they have been taken to a table, per health code)

Plastic bags to take your feast gear home in, especially if there is no place to clean them

Any sauces or spices that will make your personal feast experience better

Picnicking in the SCA

Sometimes, you may attend an event that doesn’t have a scheduled meal. Fighter practices, arts and science days and other daytrip events may be times when you need to have food on hand for yourself and your household. While yes, you can just bring a cooler and your canned beverages and plastic wrappers, upping your game with medieval-inspired foods helps encourage the keeping of atmosphere.

When planning these picnics, it’s important to consider a few key things.

Safe temperatures. If you are bringing dishes that cannot be kept out for long, you should consider some sort of cooler or accommodation. I like to keep the atmosphere by utilizing frozen cooler-intended blocks around any items in my basket that might need refrigeration - particularly anything involving eggs, cream, or meat. These can be concealed under a tablecloth over the top if you are concerned about appearances.

Dining themes. Bringing your cheeseburgers and candy bars isn’t quite what most medieval folks would have considered to be normal, though, as has been said many times, “you do you.” But there are plenty of ways to dine that evoke the atmosphere of the past without breaking the atmosphere.

The Ploughman’s Share. Popular in pubs in Western Europe and the U.K., this is just a hunk of some sort of bread, a chunk of meat of some sort, and a portion of cheese. You can achieve this for the kids with a slim sausage, a cheese stick, and a bread stick in a pouch and they will usually relish this idea. For adults, having a cutting board with a selected cheese, a sausage or chunk of roast beef, and a French loaf does quite nicely. Remember any condiments, such as mustard or butter, to make this more pleasant, and consider adding some more cheese.

The Italian. While tomatoes are an extremely late-period item, there are plenty of ways you can enjoy cold dining in the Italian fashion. Today, you can even pick up pre-made charcuterie boards that will get you a good portion of the way there. A selection of Italian cheese such as provolone or mozzarella, slices of prosciutto and pastrami, a handful of olives and pickled peppers, some focaccia or Italian bread, and a bottle of grape juice or wine, and you’re definitely a grade above peasant class. Grapes and lemons make an excellent addition in this theme.

The Northern European. Germanic culture has changed over time, but has long featured sausages! Select a couple of your favorite German sausages and some hard cheeses for slicing, brown breads and crackers to go with them, mustards and ale (or root beer for dry sites) and you have the beginnings of a great German-inspired meal. 

These are just a few examples. You might consider going French and offering French loaves with butter, sliced radishes, mushroom handpies, and a roasted chicken from the local deli alongside apples and soft cheeses. Or dive into a platter of Ottoman-inspired fare with olives, dates, apricots, flatbreads, hummus, and nuts. With a little preplanning, you can even make the cheapest of dishes into a personal feast - for instance, a thermos of boiling hot water in the morning will still be enough to use for ramen at lunchtime, which can be served alongside onigiri (Japanese-style sushi predecessor where bonito flakes or another filling are wrapped inside sushi vinegar-soaked rice and seaweed), a couple of boiled eggs soaked in soy sauce, and cold wonton-wrapped spring rolls. 

You’ll want to make sure you have anything you’ll need to serve on or with - plates, a cutting board and knife for cheeses or meats, vessels to drink from - but you can truly make yourself a great meal to enjoy without breaking the ambiance of an event.

Sideboarding

From time to time, you might attend an event where it’ll look like everyone is snacking, and that truly is the case. Particularly at Crown Lists and sometimes just at any event, there will be people who will create a sideboard of dishes that will be available over the course of a morning, afternoon, or even all day. These can also be sighted at vigils for soon-to-be-peers, a small, light buffet of hospitality for those who have come to speak with the vigilante. There are some protocols to this, but whether you’re the one setting one up or one enjoying the setout, sideboards are just a cool thing.

A sideboard by necessity is generally a selection of dishes that can be grazed upon. Shelf-stable items such as breads, fruit, cuts of easy to eat vegetables, and easy to use condiments are standard. These items should be safe to eat at the temperature of the day - if indoors, room temperature is fine, but for days when the temperatures exceed 80F outside, attention should be paid attention to how long these items are out.

Simple finger fare is not all that can be considered here. For instance, roasts of beef or entire roasted chickens can be showstoppers on the sideboard, showing the extravagance of the household that has set one up. Cheese plates, liquid refreshments, and even desserts are common.  For these occasions, disposable gear is usually available, but you should always bring your own cup.

I recently worked with my partner to set up a sideboard at a small local event, to share with the populace a taste of what our household was offering that day. In addition to the individually sliced cheeses, sliced breads, cream cheese, grapes, crackers, and small cakes, we featured items he smoked on our grill, particularly two large capon and two acorn squash. We found that people were not as accustomed to the protocol of coming to ask about the spread, and individually invited people to come taste what he had smoked and what we were glad to provide in a spread for all to sample throughout the afternoon.

A good rule of thumb with any sideboard is to ask first. In most cases, you’ll find the generous nature of the SCA in full evidence and be invited to dine. But in a few cases, there may be reasons this particular buffet is limited. Asking first ensures no faux pas has happened.

If you choose to create a sideboard yourself, be sure to ask before you set up. Sometimes halls can be crowded or tables limited. Working with the event staff can ensure you manage to create something that enhances your experience and the experience of others in the SCA.

***

If you have any questions about feasting, being fed or feeding others in the SCA, please feel free to reach out to me at tiedyetravels@gmail.com.

How to Feed a Prince on a Pauper's Pittance.

 (This is a class handout for a lesson I have taught in the past. I believe this is the 2010 version. Note the prices are a bit different now for what to expect for feasts. ~ K)

How To Feed A Prince on a Pauper’s Pittance 

Feast Research, Planning and Preparation in the SCA

An SCA feast can be many things.  It can be a chance to sit down and talk with friend. It can be a spectacle. It can be just dinner. It can be a buffet or table service or even individual service. It can feature food of any of dozens of time periods, cultures and regions.

But above all, it must be edible, ample, and served on time.

If you’ve thought about putting your name in the hat for an SCA feast or want to up your game, there are a lot of things you should consider.  After all, what we do when we feed people here might look like a simple catering gig or barbecue from the outside, but oftentimes it is far more complex.  Why?

The dreaded budget.

While you may pay $20 for a feast in another kingdom, or $15-20 a head for a meal in a restaurant, the average Gleann Abhannite pays $5-9 each for the chance to sit down to what might be a sumptuous course of dishes.  I wish I were kidding about that. 

How can you recreate a splendid feast, or even attempt one, on a small budget?  Thankfully, a lot of what we pay for when we sit down to a restaurant meal is labor. In the SCA, labor is usually free (there’s a catch to that) and with careful and smart planning, you can indeed create a memorable meal that captures that magic moment.

Step 1: Research

There are many that would argue that feast cooking is a service. I fall into that camp. The planning and execution of a feast can take dozens, even hundreds, of hours over several months. 

Many feast cooks are asked to provide a menu when an event is bid; unless that bid has been considered a very long time, this is a pretty high expectation.  Most feast cooks can at least give an idea of what they want to cook or tackle (ie, 14th Century French, or a broad Mediterranean feast covering many cultures), but you shouldn’t be expected to know just how much paprika you’re going to use.

Yes, you can just throw some food out there (this is common for fighting events where barbecuing might come into play). But there’s something incongruous about sitting around in finely researched and hand-sewn garb, chewing on a taco or a plate of ribs.

This is where research comes in.  Before you know what you’re going to cook, it pays to research what you want to cook.  The SCA has come a long way since Take A Thousand Eggs or More, but it is a good start if you are interested in cooking a basic SCA-style feast.  These days, there are so many other options.  You don’t have to redact (that’s taking a medieval recipe and figuring out its modern equivalency) but you can find recipes that have already been redacted.  Hooray, Internet!

It’s important to keep in mind the theme for an event.  It’s one thing to have a non-themed fighter’s collegium or Kingdom Arts & Science event where there’s no specific time period stated – in these cases, your canvas is broad, and you can do anything within reason (and budget).  But if you happen to have an autocrat who’s decided they want a specific time period (say, the reign of Henry VIII, or a Venetian salon, or a late period Japanese gathering), it’d do well for you to figure out what people ate at those times.

So do your reading and research before you get into planning your menu. 

Step 2:  Plan your attack

When deciding what you’re going to cook, you also need to think about how much to cook.  The average person can consume 20 ounces in a big meal.  However, those 20 ounces will be different from person to person.  Some will want more meat and some will want more starch. 

Variety is important in most feasts. With our ever-changing list of people who are allergic to different items, have dietary concerns such as diabetes, or who practice vegan or gluten-free lifestyles, it can be difficult to please everyone.  Most are satisfied with knowing what’s going to be served so they can plan accordingly, so be sure to publicize your finalized menu at least two weeks before the event.

Research doesn’t just mean cracking the books. Research also means getting out into the stores. Not just your Kroger store, my friends, but to each of your local stores. Check out discount goods. Search out ethnic groceries. Scan circulars. Compare online prices. Become familiar with the resources available to you.

See if you can find an ethnic equivalent to help you out.  Anything Mediterranean or Asian will have a correlating store in a bigger city.  Not only will these options afford you a greater selection of items that might not be in your regular store, some items may be cheaper (such as noodles at an Asian store, or spices at an Indian store).

Keep an eye on sale circulars, especially if you live in a city where there are competing stores.  Some grocery stores will honor prices in other grocery store circulars. If all these locations are nearby, it may serve you better to just hit each one.

For certain items you may need in large quantities, prepare to shop early and often.  For example – for my last feast and the other meals to be served that weekend, I needed 40 pounds of chicken thighs.  The local discount grocery store was offering said chicken for 77 cents a pound – a great deal less than the $3.29 a pound at Kroger. However, the store was only putting out 15 pounds at a time in its limited meat case – which required multiple visits.

There are other ways to save money and get things for free (or close to it), especially if you have plenty of advance notice of your feast.  Consider these options:

• Hunt or fish? Know someone who does? Arrange in advance to receive part of the bounty.
• Grow your own herbs, spices and vegetables.
• Ask for donations.  I have a working relationship with Petit Jean Meats, and sometimes receive items through the company.  A single whole ham will provide enough breakfast meat for 100 people, so that’s what I usually ask for.  Riceland Rice will sometimes offer donation of its products, if you’re willing to drive to Stuttgart.

If you don’t have a lot of room for food storage, make a plan to pick up refrigerables immediately before the event.  Dry goods such as rice, beans, noodles, etc. can be stored anywhere in your home that’s dry.

Step 3:  Service

We’ve fallen into a pattern with a goodly number of feasts these days – where the first course is bread, cheese and fruit; the second and third courses are meats, starches and vegetables; and the final course is dessert.  It can be pretty repetitive and expected.

But the way we serve feast was not the typical service for most cultures.  For instance, passed dishes and eating on banana leaves on the ground was common for central and southern India; a sideboard loaded with food where individuals picked up what they wanted was common in parts of norther Europe.  When you research a culture, pay attention not only to what was served, but how it was served.  Were there dishes that were made only from seasonal ingredients? Were those ingredients available at the same time of year for your feast? 

Taking the effort to provide service in the style of the culture that begat the cuisine of your chosen theme can change a typical feast into an extraordinary feast.

One of the biggest hassle I see for new feast cooks is forgetting how a dish will be served.  I do end up in kitchens a lot, managing plating – because while there may be enough food planned to feed everyone, dividing and plating said dishes (especially when there’s limited space) can be challenging.  

How food will be served at table is another important thing to consider.  A whole chicken for a table of eight sounds about right on the surface, but what if no one brought a knife to cut that chicken?  How will you account for preventing cross-contamination?  And can you manage for food allergies?

The preparation for serving your feast should be just as important as preparing the food itself. Create your game plan before you tackle your feast. Create lists of what you need to bring to site. Create a timetable to cook all items.  And then make sure you send out every dish.

Step 4:  Labor and Creation

There’s nothing sadder than watching a feast cook attempt to put together a big feast by themselves when they expected help.  Calling for volunteers from the populace can work, but it’s not something you should expect.  Things happen. There will be individuals who want to fight in that tourney or take that class or participate in that activity.  

Just like if you were in a mundane kitchen, “hire” your staff.  Find competent individuals to surround you.  When I prepare for a feast, I contact different individuals to come help.  I have a baker, a butcher (or cutter), and a dishwasher at the ready – and I make sure they’re in the know about my plans.  

Heaven forbid something happen to me, but between my feast recipes, my lists and the individuals on my team, I know the feast would go on even if I wasn’t there.

Having a team also makes other things simpler – such as making sure you have enough knives, bowls, and other kitchen equipment.  Sadly, few of our site kitchens come complete with all the things we need for our feasts (it’s always good to take a site tour if you’re using a new site, and to compare notes with people who have cooked in site kitchens we often use).  Team members also mean there’s someone available to make a last minute store run if you need it.

If you have the opportunity, choose your own hall steward and make sure that person is well informed of how you want to serve the feast as well as every dish.  This person is your direct communication between the populace and your kitchen (and yes, I have hall stewarded three of my feasts!).

The most important thing concerning your staff – they’re volunteers, they’re not being paid in money, so please pay them in appreciation.  BE KIND.  Be alert, have a game plan and be prepared to make adjustments if you need to.

HERE’S AN IMPORTANT NOTE!
So, you hate getting a cold cheeseburger at a drive-thru, right? Or if your ice cream is starting to melt. Or… let’s face it, while breads and crackers and hard cheeses aren’t hurt by a few minutes of sitting, most foods need to be served in a specific amount of time.  

The SCA is well known for its very flexible schedules.  Add in a court or a ceremony and the sliding scale of time, and a feast might get started very, very late.  That’s not good eats.

Talk with your sovereign or baronage before an event and express your food concerns.  Many will work with you to ensure that proceedings have concluded before the scheduled point of your feast.  I’ve been very fortunate to have crowns (Her Majesty Ilissa the Nightwatcher way back in 2001 told a crowd court would end on time whether people liked it or not because she wanted some of my stuffed oysters!) and baronages work with me to make sure we weren’t eating at oh-dark-thirty.

On that same note, be prepared on time.  If this means you need to swap a course or dish out, that’s fine too. Just keep your hall steward in the know so they can share that information.

Step 5:  PROFIT!

Er, no, not monetary profit.  That’s not why we do SCA feasts.

In this case, I mean profit in the completion of a great feast.  There’s nothing quite like the feeling of having a whole room of satisfied diners after a feast, or hearing about your feast (in a good way) from someone who wasn’t there who heard about it from others.

If something goes wrong, keep going. If a dish doesn’t turn out, don’t be afraid to scrap it (NEVER served burned food, unless it’s crème Brule, because crème Brule is burned to start with).  Keep your cool.  

And remember – you volunteered for this!

A Class on Mughal Women's Dress.

I finally got to go to Pennsic for the first time this year, and was able to teach a class twice on what I'd learned in my Mughal women's clothing research. I'm continuing to develop the class and plan to evolve it over time, as research will hopefully reveal more.

But this is the culmination of about six years worth of research. I've scoured museums and the internet for any images of women during the time of the first three Mughal emperors - and have come up with about 50 examples. The ones I utilized in my class were all obtained with permissions or were in the public domain - others aren't as accessible, sadly. 

I'm sharing this link with you here, so you can check out the book. And when I say book, I mean 70+ pages that include these images and my look into each of them to determine what it was Mughal women wore.

Please feel free to download.

24 Women in a Page of the Timur Nama.

 

The piece is "Maka Agha Khanam wife of Prince Rukh granting an interview to Tuku Khanam complete" - folio 72a, c of the Timur Nama - Akbar's commissioned work done by his studio of illuminators, chronicalling the life of his great-great-grandfather, Timur. It appears in the book "Imaging sound : an ethnomusicological study of music, art, and culture in Mughal India" by Bonnie C. Wade in 1998, and is apparently in the provenance of the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library in India. There's a copy at the Internet Archive, where you can borrow the book electronically. This image is on page 304 of the webdoc. 

I have isolated 24 women in the miniature, to peer closer at their hats. There are several different types of hats here, along with other head coverings and a variety of clothes. While this does represent Babur's court, these images were painted a half century later, and I suspect the fashion of 1580 is of influence in the clothing worn.

Here are the images.

I may comment more on this later (I'm on deadline) but I was just so blown away by the variations in this single miniature, I had to post.