The 21st Century answer to ‘You Are There.’
Several years ago, my younger son and I were watching a Civil War program on the History Channel. It was shortly before that cable outlet had decided that hot rods and motorcycles were of equal value with the Magna Carta and the Fall of Constantinople.
I cannot remember the exact battle discussed, but toward the end of the show, my son said it appeared the actors did not want to dirty their expensive Union and Confederate uniforms and were loathe to fall in battle. (Years earlier, my brother had arrived at the same conclusion after viewing Gettysburg, produced by Ted Turner et al.) Indeed, I had noticed a Johnny Reb’s checking the grass before he gently let himself float in a micro-gravity drift to the ground.
That was the moment my son decided he would become a Cold War re-enactor. It would have been easy to find Soviet-era suits because local haberdashers still carry that Eastern Bloc-style. While it would be more trying to find a ZIL in running condition, I had told him we could have searched for an old Checker cab and have painted it black. Or, we could have waited for a History Channel production of Limousines of the Warsaw Pact. The end credits would have undoubtedly given thanks to collectors of same.
Alas, my son soon forgot about his joking wish to become an Anastas Mikoyan or Christian Herter alter-ego and the History Channel never aired Big Hats, Big Suits & Black Cars.