The Tableaux

 

Since 2003, the Civil War Explorers have presented tableaux at reenactments, living histories, and a Lancaster Civil War Roundtable meeting.  The tableaux was a popular form of parlor entertainment and the highlight of many social events.  It is a living picture composed of living persons, that produces, when skillfully arranged, the effect of a real picture. Tableaux primarily depict famous historical events and paintings, and are accompanied by a brief explanation.

It is said that the tableau originated in this manner, “A profligate young German nobleman, who having, during the absence of his father, sold one of the celebrated pictures belonging to the old castle, which was an heir-loom, to conceal the deficiency, placed some of his companions behind the frame, so as to imitate the missing picture, and to deceive his father, who passed through the room without being conscious of his loss.”

 

The Original Tableaux:

(still searching for information on the web)

 

Civil War Explorer Post Presentations: