PA’s cat-themed Civil War museum weds historical past & whimsy

Before cats dominated the web, the felines ran the battlefield. At least, that is historical past as advised by Gettysburg’s Civil War Tails on the Homestead Diorama Museum. The museum options painstakingly detailed miniature scenes that painting pivotal battle moments utilizing handmade clay cat collectible figurines — 8,000 of them and counting.

Rebecca and Ruth Brown, the dual sister co-owners of Civil War Tails, have been gearing up for his or her annual Labor Day scavenger hunt when Rebecca spoke with PA Local in late August. They’ll have guests intently learning their dioramas to search out quotes, information, and objects inside the scene. “We attempt to make it a mixture so that children and non-history-buffs can do it, nevertheless it’s not too straightforward for historical past buffs!” stated Rebecca.

They might not draw a crowd as large because the long-weekend guests to Gettysburg National Military Park roughly two miles away, however the occasion will mark the particular area of interest they’ve carved out in a city steeped in warfare historical past.

Though the Browns opened their museum in 2015, the labor of affection dates again to the sisters’ childhood in suburban Philadelphia, the place the home-schooled 11-year-olds first grew to become captivated by Civil War books. “I learn biographies on generals Lee and Grant,” stated the 39-year-old Rebecca. “And since I preferred them, I made them out of clay.”

Cats, she explains, have been simply simpler to sculpt than individuals. “We’ve all the time had cats as pets. Everything we did was cats,” she stated. “So once I made Lee and Grant, they simply robotically got here out as cats.” A pastime was born, and each sisters started making hordes of feline troopers. In highschool, they used their collectible figurines to show different home-schooled youngsters in regards to the Civil War.

The Browns presently have near a dozen dioramas on show. Each consists of a panorama reproducing a Civil War second, with buildings and nature parts to scale, and one 1-inch-tall cat for every soldier. In addition to the complete tableaus, there are additionally smaller scenes and older figures on view. Their largest undertaking depicts the Little Round Top battle on the second day of the preventing at Gettysburg, and is 10 years within the making.

The second enacted within the 11-foot-long diorama, Rebecca tells PA Local, is a dramatic one. It takes place “simply after the arrival of the one hundred and fortieth New York. Companies A & G have adopted Col. O’Rorke’s name, ‘Down this manner, boys!’ and have come into line on the fitting of Col. Vincent’s brigade. The different eight firms are nonetheless on the crest; quickly, they are going to left-oblique down the slope to hitch A & G, however by then the preventing shall be principally over. Meanwhile, on the left of Vincent’s brigade, the twentieth Maine is starting their bayonet cost. The left wing of the regiment is swinging ahead.”

Right now, there are 2,000 “cavalrycats” on this scene; every cat takes 10-Quarter-hour to make. The sisters proceed to update the diorama whereas it’s on show.

The Browns attempt to preserve their depictions of carnage family-friendly. Originally, Rebecca stated, “we had one cat whose head had gotten blown off. I imply, his head was there — subsequent to him.” They opted to take away that determine, deeming it slightly too graphic, although there are others with lacking or severed limbs.

Civil War Tails

Ruth works as a lawyer, whereas Rebecca runs the museum. The Homestead, a 6,500-square foot Civil War-era home that was initially a dormitory for a women’ orphanage, can be their home; they reside upstairs, and the dioramas are exhibited on the primary flooring.

“The unique building, simply north of us, was right here through the battles,” Rebecca advised PA Local. “And then our house was built in 1869 to expand it.”

Living in Gettysburg is a dream come true for Rebecca, whose favorite landmark is The Angle battlefield. “It’s really cool to be able to just walk down there and hang out,” she stated. “Or to just go down to Little Round Top when I need photos of rocks.”

The Homestead has many battalions of clay cats, but only two live ones, Kenzie and Aubrey.

The two-year-old siblings mostly stay on the third floor, where they can’t get into kitty shenanigans (Kenzie has a penchant for knocking T-shirts off the merchandise shelves). But the Browns are not exclusively cat people, it turns out: The day after we talk, they’re getting a new dog.

So who is the target demographic for a cat-themed Civil War museum? “It runs the whole gamut,” said Rebecca. “It’s fun having cat people who aren’t into history, because they go home wanting to read more [about the Civil War].” The place has also become popular with staffers from nearby Gettysburg National Military Park, Rebecca says.

“We have licensed battlefield guides and rangers coming in and enjoying seeing, to scale, a specific point in time on the battlefield. We had one fellow who works at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum come up and totally geek out that we had the right number of guys on the turret of the [USS] Monitor.”

Every so often, they’ll get a social media mention that generates viral interest, and inevitably, polarized commentary, but the sisters welcome skeptics to Civil War Tails. “We’ll have people come in who admit they didn’t think they’d like it, and then they end up enjoying the detail, and seeing the history it’s grounded in,” stated Rebecca. “And I’m like, kudos to you for shelling out admission to one thing you did not assume you want. That’s cool.”