The Pennywise Peasant

Introduction: How to Play Faire Without Mortgaging the Castlet Perkins

I find it difficult to recall a season going by that didn’t find me sitting in the pub, listening to someone complain about the expense of our chosen pastime. Decent pavilions can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars, shiny new pewter feast gear can set you back a couple of Benjamins, and don’t even get me started on period footwear, lighting, firepits, cookware, bedding, 100% linen & wool garb… the list is endless, and so is the expense.

What’s a pennywise peasant to do?

The growth in popularity of historical reenactment has helped lead to a slight increase in the shopping potential for the rennie on a budget. What it didn’t do was drop the going prices much; demand has kept up with the supply of period-appropriate gear and prices have held steady. On the bright side, an influx of cash into the marketplace has (generally) raised the quality of gear available for those willing to pay for it. Foundries are turning out fantastic metalwork cast from artifacts dredged out of the Thames or taken from originals at the V&A Museum. This is likewise true with pavilions, garb and footwear, but it all comes with a price tag.

We all want to attain period-perfection, but the cheap stuff isn’t accurate and the accurate stuff isn’t cheap. A zero-sum game if ever there was one. Few of us are eccentric millionaires with money to burn on this stuff so the real question is where do we put the money we do have to spend, and how do we make up for the absence in the rest of our gear without going broke and/or looking like complete wannabes?

The wise peasant knows the extent of their mundane resources and budgets accordingly just as they do in real life. Some things should never be skimped on, others give us more leeway to cut corners. I would advise making a list of what you need, less what you already have and divide it into two categories: Things You Can Cheat on and Things You Can’t.

Note that I didn’t say things you shouldn’t cheat on. Things you can’t cheat on are actually quite few. Things you shouldn’t is subjective and up to you and your guild leader. (Enough with the italics already!) Since our main goal here is to present a show for our paying guests, we can afford to be less subjective. The easiest way to save money is probably in the area of feast.

I personally leave only two items on which I will never compromise. Footwear, because few things have the power to make you more miserable than bad shoes, and Lead Poisoning. Yes, I said lead poisoning. I never drink out of a 2nd hand metal or ceramic item until I’ve performed some rudimentary lead testing. Prior to 19__ it was not uncommon for cheap pewter to contain lead, which acidic drinks can leach out, leading to madness, brain damage and other nasty side effects. Some glazes used on ceramic items not meant for use as food-carrying items still contain lead and other nasty things, so be careful there too.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll talk about lead testing when we get to tankards. First, we'll start with Feast Gear...

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