[MR] Re-enactment canceled

[Charlotte Johnson]

> I hate to break the news to the reporter that wrote that article or the 
> re-enactors who are making a fuss about the historical authenticity of 
> sunglasses, but sunglasses were first invented in 1752 by James 
> Ayscough an eye glass designer, more than 100 years before the Civil War 
> began.  Now although the tinting of the glasses was green and blue and not 
> directly made for shielding the eyes from the sun, I have no doubt that 
> at least a partial side effect of the tinting was shading the effects 
> of the sun.

If somebody showed up in period correct glasses for that era, I doubt there
would be any problem. I suspect that the sunglasses that are being banned are a
far cry from what our ancestors wore during the ACW. To say that tinted lenses
were in use, therefore, all sunglasses should be acceptable, would be like
saying that an M-16 would be an appropriate weapon for the battlefield at
Gettysburg, since they had guns, after all. ;-)

Cheers,
Charlotte