Soldier on Guard

On Saturday, an 8 or 9 year old bespectacled  boy came to the Hamilton Military Museum with his grandpa. As the interpreter manning the front desk that day, their visit turned out to be one of the most delightful interactions I can remember.

Part of my job is to direct visitors where to go, and to encourage them to do the activities we’ve set out – like trying on various military uniforms, or playing strategy games. Usually people nod appreciatively and go on their way, but this boy’s eyes lit up as I explained all the hands-on activities he could participate in; we was clearly a fan of playing soldiers.

I brought him over to the first dress-up station, where I put him in one of our replica 1812 British red coats. He wanted more. So I also put a shako on his head. “What else would they wear?!” I went to the office closet and brought out the full outfit, usually reserved for school programs – a bed roll and backpack; a canteen; a bread bag; a cartridge bag and a bayonet cross-belt. We piled every piece on until the boy was just about to fall over, but he was so excited to look in the mirror and see a real, if rather short, Red Coat soldier.

There was a lot more to see at the museum, but he did not want to take the uniform off. He politely asked me and his Grandpa if he could keep the coat and hat on while he looked through the museum exhibits. We have many others available to use, and besides it wasn’t very busy – so I said he could if he was careful and could remember to bring it back to me at the desk. For about an hour, he and his grandpa played soldiers in our Discovery Gallery; pretending to cook a hock of meat on the campfire, loading our miniature cannon, building a fortification with our big foam blocks. He didn’t want to leave when 4pm came and the museum had to close.

So he, and his Grandpa came back the very next day and did the same thing all over again.

Here’s the best part: On Sunday, when I had him all dressed up again in the Red Coat, he wanted to get other museum visitors excited about dressing up to. So for about 20 minutes or so, he stood by me at the front desk, and greeted new visitors with a salute and a cheerful “HEY! Do you want to dress up like me?! Come over this way and try on a uniform!”

Weekend made.