July, 2009

Tuesdays are fish day day here at the museum this July. On Mayflower II at noon it’s all about Fish N’Ships, WIP at the Homesite is sponsoring Wampanoag Fishing Days (I thought they should have called it Where there’s a Weir….never mind) and I just finished a program in the Fort – Something Fishy. Something Fishy began as a Spring Training session for staff several years ago, Gone Fishin’, which was lecture and PowerPoint. In the Fort I have a salt cod and a fresh cod and as I process the fresh fish for salting, I talk about the fish trade in New England in the 17th century (Way to Wealth!) and how Plymouth never made big money in the fish trade and answer questions, but all as myself. No costume, just an apron. No dialect, except the one that says yes, I’m from around here. And I have a handout with fish head recipes, which people are actually taking, how polite is that!
And there’s been a hundred more things, and there are photos, somewhere, and someday they’ll be here, because a picture is worth a thousand words and then I won’t feel quite so guilty for writing so infrequently. If you’re free on a Tuesday in July, drop in to see our fishy business.

KMWall
Colonial Foodways Culinarian