Dirty Blue Shirts

08/23/2026

Please join us for The Web They Wove this Thursday, August 27th!

Join us on Thursday 8/27 @ 6:00pm for a fascinating presentation on women and their wardrobes during the Revolution, presented by Dirty Blue Shirts. Hope to see you there!

08/17/2026

It’s ! Rebecca switched up her 1850s accessories to give this dress, originally made for interpreting Stonington whaling wife Mary Burtch Brewster, a new look for interpreting the Avery family at East Lyme’s Brookside Farm Museum. At Friday’s “Tending the Story: the Fabric of Our Lives” event, you can explore the ways that women in the past created, altered, and mended their clothing & textiles and get some new ideas about fighting fashion & fabric waste in your own wardrobe.

08/14/2026

Did I mention the petticoat trowsers are done?? Like an apron with legs, this garment protected the breeches-wearers of the working classes, farmers & sailors alike. Come view this prototype pair on Nate tomorrow as he speaks to John Johnson Jr.’s life during the Revolutionary War as both a farmer & a member of the local Coastal Guard alongside one of his sons!

08/13/2026

So what DID women’s wardrobes look like during the American Revolution? Our program “The Web They Wove” tries to answer that question as succinctly as possible, BUT during Saturday’s History Day event at East Lyme’s Samuel Smith Farmstead, we can take our leisurely time! Join Rebecca in feeling fabric options, exploring fashion styles, and discussing what Amy Brooks Johnson might have chosen to wear as she raised six children on a farmstead not untouched by the war. She’ll be there from 11-2; the event runs 10-3.

08/09/2026

Our summer programs continue this coming Saturday at the Samuel Smith Farmstead! See you then!

Save the date!! Come join us on Saturday, August 15th from 10-3pm to see history come alive and tours of our historic house.

08/07/2026

“Fine weather were it not for the heat,” Mary Brewster of Stonington remarked to her journal in 1846. “The weather very warm so for the last two days I have been very uncomfortable.” If you too are suffering in this heat & humidity, or if you too know how interminable the final leg to the Sandwich Islands can feel after 4 months on a New England whaling ship, come swap stories with Mary Brewster & others tomorrow at the Leffingwell House Museum’s Midsummer Maritime History Day! (Simple commiseration works, too 🥵)

08/03/2026

Midsummer Maritime History is coming to Norwich on Saturday, and so are we! Seen here in the Tavern Room, Nate will portray Thomas Crocker, who shipped out as a blacksmith aboard the whaler FRANCIS ALLYN in 1877. As such, he was responsible for maintaining the whaling irons - harpoons, lances, boat spades, &c. - among other tools & fittings needed by the vessel & its whaleboats. Nate will be indoors so mostly working on roping the irons 😁 Come hear the yarns he spins of life aboard the ALLYN & tell a sea-tale of your own! 🐋

07/29/2026

This Saturday!

Step into the world of Revolutionary New England with the Carpenter Museum & The Dirty Blue Shirts!

What did clothing have to do with winning the American Revolution? More than you might think!

Join the Carpenter Museum on Saturday, August 1 for The Web They Wove: Women & Their Wardrobes During New England's Revolution, an engaging and eye-opening program that brings history to life through the clothing, textiles, and stories of the women who helped shape America's fight for independence.

https://thewebtheywove.eventbrite.com

07/04/2026

Today is just the beginning.

Bringing programs like “The Web They Wove” to communities around New England multiple times a week since last Spring means we’ve met a lot of tired program coordinators lately. They’ve been looking forward to the Fourth: on one hand it’s a long weekend, on the other it signals the end of the 250th program push. So while we wish these hard-working event organizers all the well-deserved rest & relaxation this New England holiday has to offer, we know that today is just the beginning.

04/19/2026

Turns out a cool New England Spring is the perfect weather for pic-nicking with daffodils! Living History Day at the Bonfoey Farm brought us lively outdoor games with busloads of ARC clients & Yale students, visits from old friends & introductions to new ones, and the friendliest, most welcoming venue we could ever imagine. Plus we were a practically perfect timeline about 5 years apart, starting with Barbara in the mid-1770s and wrapping with Beth in the 18teens! Must be some Halfinger magic because we couldn’t do that again if we tried 🌼

📸 thanks to the fabulous