I have participated in reenacting and living history for over 15 years concentrating originally on the Second World War with the 51st (Highland) Division and more recently with Queen Victoria's Highlanders. I have also assisted San Diego based “Bydand Forever” in several of their shows at various Scottish Highland festivals as an assistant loader for the Gatling gun and Krupp Mountain gun. My main area of interest is the Black Watch throughout Queen Victoria's reign. I also custom load and shoot the Martini Henry and Long Lee rifles. For the last several years I have attended the Charles Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. This is a great event that usually runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas on the weekends. I was growing tired of ordering items from dealers and having the uniforms not fit and many times the wrong article sent. Everything I reproduce is based on photographic evidence, patterns from republished original sources and original surviving examples in museums and private collections. During my post as curator of the Kings County Museum I established valuable contacts with other museums around the world. I am currently a Senior Researcher for the Fresno County Library in California.
Cheers,
Stan Dolan