That's just it, Sharon, they didn't want reenactors, they wanted fish out of water. And they were supposed to do EVERYTHING like it would have been done in 1883, so it was a reenactment of sorts. A living history immersion, as it were.

The biggest gripe most of us reenactors had was the women going around in their underwear. Yeah, you bet it's hot - they didn't have SPF 15 in those days, but they did have sunburn, so when you went out in the sun to hoe the taters, you covered up. Head to toe. And you wore that corset because it's a back-supporting (and bust-supporting, for them what needs it) garment.

I would have loved to have tried it. But they wouldn't have taken me. :-(