Craftspeople supply goods to re-enactors, spectators alike

When it comes to anything Civil War -- from muskets to the shoe grease needed to soften footwear -- it's all available at your friendly battlefield sutlery.

For the uninformed, a sutlery is something like a general store for soldiers and a museum for casual visitors.

If visitors to Andy Fulks' Fall Creek Suttlery don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a reproduction firearm, perhaps they can spare $2 for a Marsh Wheeler's Stogie cigar.

For Missouri Guard re-enactor Jamie Morgan, searching for a pair of size 11 brogans involved a visit to Fulks' sutlery.

His well-worn footwear is 18 years old, Morgan said, and can't be repaired.

"I've had these shoes as long as I've been doing (re-enactments)," he said while studying his battered shoes.

Fulks has brick-and-mortar and online stores in Indiana, but he's also on a multi-year trek from re-enactment to re-enactment.

"I feel like it's going to peak in 2013 at the 150th anniversaries of Gettysburg and Chickamauga," he said.

The two dozen sutlers and craftspeople like Fulks at Wilson's Creek this weekend will sell a variety of merchandise.

Anita and Dean Lauramore of Jacksonville, Fla., offer items at Ortega Traders that once were very popular but now are curiosities.

That's particularly true of jewelry made of human hair, Anita Lauramore said.

Popularized by Queen Victoria, hair jewelry became during the Civil War a universal way to mourn fallen soldiers or as remembrance items, Lauramore said.

Hair jewelry was popular with women, but crafting the items was a strictly male occupation, she said.

Modern-day hair jewelry can be had for $20, but authentic items can cost several hundred dollars, she said.

It all comes down to authenticity, even for the ladies, Lyndsey Miller said as she walked through the sutler's area with mother-in-law Pam Miller.

Men involved in battle re-enactments might talk about the rigors of wearing wool uniforms, but the women don't have it much easier, Lyndsey Miller said.

As a proper Victorian lady, the Monroe, La., resident's attire includes a chemise, a pair of pantaloons, a petticoat, hoop skirt, another petticoat, yet another skirt, gloves and a blue broad-brimmed hat.

No re-enactment lady wants to commit the sin of being "farby," she said.

"That means not period-correct," Miller said.

People taking advantage of a free-admission night and a student open house Thursday evening got a view of that authenticity, thanks to sponsoring organization Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Foundation, said education coordinator Mary Beth Cox.

Activities ranging from games to displays on civilian life during the war aim to give a more rounded view of the conflict, Cox said.