OLD NORTH STATE SUTLERY

My advice is about being around the fire.

For men, wear only 100% natural fabrics.  You have less of a chance to be severely burned.  Anything with polyester burns more quickly and sticks to your skin.  Do not throw garbage such as cans and plastic bottles in the fire.

For women, the same advice goes.  Ladies should wear 100% cotton, linen, etc undergarments because when bending over the fire to cook, your petticoat could catch on fire. NEVER wear a hoop while cooking!  I myself caught my 100% cotton dress on fire cooking, but was able to put it out before too much damage was done.  A piece burned about the size of an egg.  Another lady did the same last year.  We were both wearing 100% cotton.

Do not let children play around the fire unattended.  They could loose their balance and fall into it.  Some parents are more lenient about period correct clothes in dressing them and the polyester in the garments catches fire quickly.  One little boy leaned over the fire, his immigrant hat fell in and was almost completely burned before we retrieved it.