[Sca-cooks] [OT][OOP] Pennsic Customs Question

[Stefan li Rous]

Giano asked:
> I've just had a most fascinating conversation. It was suggested I  
> might be
> able to partly fund a Pennsic visit by selling my period cosmetics and
> aphrodisiacs. "Giano's Medieval Makeover"

Oh? I'd love to have more material on these subjects for the  
Florilegium if you'd be willing to send me some messages I could use.  
Or even better, an article or two. And I have no problem with you  
putting in a notice that you are selling these items for those who  
don't want to make their own and giving the contact info to where  
they could buy these. Of course, if you wish to keep your recipes or  
info as a trade secret, then nothing is going to prevent that.

Just in case you haven't thought to look in the Florilegium, here are  
some of the files in the PERSONAL CARE section which might be of use  
in doing more research on these topics:
aphrodisiacs-msg  (24K)  2/12/04    Medieval aphrodisiacs.
cosmetics-lnks    (10K)  8/21/05    Links to info on medieval  
cosmetics and
                                        perfumes by Dame Aoife Finn  
of Ynos Mon.
cosmetics-msg     (16K) 12/29/02    Period cosmetics.
Handcream-art     (16K)  6/ 5/00    "Handcream" by Constance de LaRose.
handcream-msg      (9K)  2/10/97    Medieval lotions and handcreams.  
recipes.
Man-d-Mujeres-art (12K)  4/19/01    Selected redactions from the  
"Manual de
                                        Mujeres" by Lady Serian.
Perfumes-bib      (20K) 12/26/00    "Perfumes Bibliography" by Nora  
Siri Bock.
perfumes-msg      (36K)  9/19/02    Medieval perfumes and pomanders.

> Now, this is still all very theoretical, but even if it works I'd be
> Limited to flight luggage, and a chunk of that would be scents,  
> cream bases,
> Powders and such.

Ship your merchant items to Pennsic rather than carry them with you.  
I think this option has always been there for merchants. What was  
added four or five years ago, was the ability of non-merchants to  
ship things to Pennsic. Because I have been flying in to Pennsic 27,  
except for this last one where my work situation wouldn't allow it, I  
can probably give you some ideas because of what I've learned and  
been doing. Because the luggage allowance is rather small, at least  
for two weeks of camping, I have depended upon shipping in another  
large footlocker of stuff. International flying might be even more  
restricted. I've never had the chance to do that, so I don't know. I  
do know that the extra luggage charges can be rather high. And the  
footlocker I use would get hit with both extra baggage and oversize  
charges. There is a semi-trailer in the merchant area where you pick  
up your boxes. I think for merchants there may be no charge for this.  
For non-merchants there is a nominal extra charge.

At the end of Pennsic I use the regular U.S. Post Office to ship  
things home. There is a small postal cart set up at Pennsic each  
year, so you don't have to get into town to mail things. However, it  
has rather limited hours 10 AM to 2 PM and it is only open Monday  
through Friday, so if you are leaving on that last Saturday you have  
to keep this in mind.

My luggage consists of a footlocker which just fits under the maximum  
baggage size, and an ice chest plus a carry-on bag and my cloak. The  
cloak I carry over my shoulder since the airlines allow you to bring  
a "coat". The footlocker has wheels on it. I strap the ice chest on  
top of the footlocker, sling my carry-on bag over one shoulder and  
the cloak over the other. I can handle everything this way myself and  
not depend upon bell-hops. When I get to Pennsic, the stuff in the  
ice chest goes elsewhere and I have a place to keep foods and drinks.  
You can get ice on site. I have seen ice chests with wheels now, so  
you could also invert the two boxes from what I've been doing. Again,  
your international luggage limits may differ and you may have to  
modify this, but hopefully this gives you some ideas.

Oh yes. I do lock all my checked luggage. The footlocker has a built  
in lock bracket through which I can put a padlock and I put a chain  
around the ice chest, from end to end, through the handles and lock  
it closed. I also tape both of these boxes closed with duct tape. I  
have had to change this in the last few years to using the new  
security locks which the airport security folks can open, but  
supposedly the baggage handlers can't. I've also had to figure out  
how to seal both boxes with duct tape and yet get the duct tape home  
in something other than my carry-on bag. I suspect that duct tape,  
like fingernail clippers are no longer allowed on in carry-on baggage.

> I don't assume Pennsic has 'crash space', so how is this
> Handled for overseas visitors?

I think there is usually a Drachenvald encampment. As a merchant I  
think you can also camp in your merchant space, but I don't remember  
for sure.

One problem with merchanting is that as many merchant spots as  
Pennsic provides, they get snapped up pretty quickly. They may  
already be gone for next Pennsic, but you'd have to inquire with the  
person in charge of merchants to know for sure. I think it is one of  
the Coopers.

If you are new to SCA merchanting, this file in the COMMERCE section  
of the Florilegium might be of use:
merchanting-msg   (60K)  9/ 4/04    Merchanting in the SCA.

> Are there 'hotel' tents? Do you stay with allied households?

As someone else mentioned, you can rent a Grimm's Tent, but they are  
rather large and expensive for one person. I think you also have to  
be onsite when they deliver it, and that might be difficult if you  
can't spend the entire two weeks there. There is this file in the  
STRUCTURES section of the Florilegium:
tent-rental-msg    (5K)  7/ 3/00    Rental of tents at Pennsic and  
Estrella.

You also need a way to get from the Pittsburg airport to Pennsic. It  
is about an hour's drive. You can rent a car, but that gets rather  
expensive when it is going to be spending most of its time just  
parked at Pennsic. The best way is to have someone drive to the  
airport to pick you up and reverse the process at the end of Pennsic.  
For the past four or five years, Phlip, one of our household members  
of SPCA or another friend not in the household have been taking me to  
and from the airport. I hate to take this time out of someone's  
Pennsic, so I am very grateful for my friends who have helped me out.  
I bought a cell phone initially with Pennsic very much in mind. It is  
rather difficult otherwise for either you or your friends to tell the  
others that problems are occurring. One year while Phlip and someone  
else were waiting for me to arrive, they came across the Prince of  
Lochac and entourage who had been stranded at the airport for a day  
or so. They had had "the trip from hell" with tussles with the  
immigration folks and other problems. Phlip had loaded their stuff  
into the van when their regular ride showed up. It can be very  
anxious waiting for your ride to show up and not know where they are.  
So a cell phone is nice.

I'm not going to commit someone else, but I imagine transportation to  
Pennsic and into town for supplies can probably be arranged with  
Phlip or others.  I'm sure also that you'd be welcome to stay in the  
SPCA encampment if you pre-registered so there was space for you.  
Each encampment is only supposed to allocated 225 sq. ft. for each  
pre-registered person. Out of this has to come common areas such as  
kitchens, dining flys, camp showers etc. Sometimes it can get a bit  
tight, so that is why many encampments are going request (or require)  
you to pre-pay. From my own experience though, it often looks like  
having certain Dukes and such in your encampment can get you more  
than the standard allotment of land.

SPCA my Pennsic household, actually member of it, Margali and Rob,  
have kept a small tent in storage for me as well as a cot and  
sleeping bag. While I have transported all those to Pennsic before,  
it is very nice not to have to ship them.

Before I had the loan of the cot from Margali, I took a large, coarse  
linen looking sheet, folded it over and sewed it closed on one long  
side. I then bought a bail of straw at Pennsic for $5, broke it apart  
and stuffed this sack with it. This was much smaller to transport  
than an air mattress and wouldn't suffer from a disturbing "hisssss"  
in the middle of Pennsic. The $5 is slightly high, but it also  
includes the clean up of the straw at the end of Pennsic.

If you expect to bring a propane stove, remember that you can't ship  
the propane canisters by air. But you can buy them here, assuming  
European and American canisters and valves are compatible.

Plan for all types of weather. Check the various files in the PENNSIC  
section of the Florilegium for more info and how-to stuff about  
Pennsic, as well.

I hope this is useful to you. Someday, I'll probably get around to  
writing an article or creating a message file on how to manage flying  
into large SCA events such as Pennsic, but it hasn't happened yet.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****