250th Birthday

[Murfreesboro]

I feel pretty ignorant now. I once spent a week in colonial Williamsburg (an academic conference of sorts, where we all took specialized classes from other profs), but I never even knew about this side of it, that they would make and sell reproductions of their antiques, etc. And I am a little envious of that Bicentennial china, even though I have no use for it at all.

[Murfreesboro]

HH, since you're a father of school-aged kids, you should know that there's a good animated series called Liberty's Kids that teaches children about the Revolutuon. My kids watched it on tv in the 90s, I think, and since then we've acquired the whole series on dvd. It tells the history of the American Revolution through the experience of three children, two American boys, one white and one black, and an English girl.

And I just looked it up online. Apparently there is also a French boy I'd forgotten about. The series has a pretty good rating for historical accuracy.

[Andybev01]

Charles schultz also had a short lived series starring the Peanuts gang , explaining various events in american history.

I believe this was vintage 1980s.

Where to Find It (As of May 2026):
Vudu (Fandango at Home): Available for purchase by the episode or season.
Google Play Movies & TV: Available for purchase.
Amazon: DVD copies are available for purchase.
YouTube: Individual episodes or clips may be available via user playlists, though not an official release

[Andybev01]

I feel pretty ignorant now. I once spent a week in colonial Williamsburg (an academic conference of sorts, where we all took specialized classes from other profs), but I never even knew about this side of it, that they would make and sell reproductions of their antiques, etc. And I am a little envious of that Bicentennial china, even though I have no use for it at all.

I'm sure that I wouldn't even know what Williamsburg was, but one of the jobs my father took right before WWII broke out was in Washington DC and he made it a point to scour the eastern seaboard for historical sites.

There is a short but interesting documentary that you can find on YouTube, of the Rockefellers and they're involvement in starting the Williamsburg foundation and restoring the historic buildings.

https://youtu.be/Ptqhdvaqdls?si=yCxWaCKTFKpgZkTu

The furniture and fabrics and home goods that they make are true to the original designs and craft quality.

https://shop.colonialwilliamsburg.com/1 ... ury-goods/

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

How astonishing that your aunt's lifespan promises to embrace three of these significant anniversaries! That ought to be featured on tv or something.

I agree, and I know that I'd want to watch a story like that on the news, but Millie was interviewed for her birthday last year, and at the time she seemed fine with it, but a few months later she said that if we ever put her on tv again that she would shoot us.

There are some 110-115 year olds still around that probably have a better perspective on the topic because they were older than her during those events, and it would be great to hear their memories of the celebrations back then.