| Lessee here.
Inexpensive currency, pix, etc. Check with the gift shop at any ACW
battlefield. Your node is in Littleton, MA, so you're probably pretty
much out of luck for getting to a battlefield, but I'll wager the gift
shop at Gettysburg would respond to a mail query. Writing such a query
would be another learning experience for your son.
Battlefield/museum gift shops often have facsimiles of ephemera such as
Confederate currency, "parchment" copies of the Emancipation
Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, newspapers, and prints of maps,
uniformed soldiers and other such things that he could use. (I saw all
of these at Gettysburg last time I was there, and I bought an excellent
map, suitable for framing, for only a few dollars.) Some such shops,
likely including the one at Gettysburg, have inexpensive kepis for
kids, and one of those might work well in a display. You can find
"Confederate" flags in many places, too, not always associated with the
ACW because of the popularity of the rebel banner with truckers,
although what you usually find is really only the battle flag, not the
national ensign.
As for libraries' or societies' lending out things, not likely. ACW
memorabilia are usually valuable, and they are irreplaceable. Some of
the gift shops I've been in, though, do have possibilities; I've seen
real (modern made) Mini� balls, for example.
Toy soldiers, well, the market ain't what it used to be, that's for
sure. The most likely candidate here is a hobby shop that sells Airfix
1/72-scale plastic miniature military figures; these come for all sorts
of wars from ancient Rome to present day, and there are sets of ACW
troops among them. They come a few dozen to a box, and the ones I've
found are molded in either blue or gray plastic. (It's a flexible
plastic that will not take glue...) The sets have included infantry,
artillery, even cavalry. I've painted them so that they look quite
good, but as they're very small I wouldn't think the average
11-year-old would have great success with that fine detail. Still,
even unpainted they could be used to good effect. In one diorama I
built, I added a few figures from a couple of cowboy sets - that way I
got dead horses and a couple of "scout" figures, i.e., not in uniform.
Good luck.
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| RE .0:
A good source of pictures (and some really good battle maps) is the
American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War. A good library
should have it - and it is available at Barnes & Noble, plus other
bookstores - and you could get color copies made for something like a
school project at your local xerox place. If you are serious about
studying the war, it's a good book to add to your personal library.
.1 covered the miniature soldier situation pretty well. You might
find some expensive 54mm figures already painted, but "expensive" can
mean $10 or more per figure. (The 1/72 unpainted stuff runs about $4
for a box of 40 or so.) If you want a look at what's available, try
Excalibur Hobbies in Malden. (Warning: constructing a decent battle
scene in miniature is time-consuming, and requires some research to do
it properly. It is a lot of fun, if you enjoy that kind of work, but
the American Heritage book has battle maps drawn in "3-D", with units
represented by little groups of figures, cannon, etc., which might give
you more "bang" for your time and money.)
Time/Life recently published a three-volume set on the arms and
equipment of the Civil War. Again, I've seen it at Barnes & Noble, but
a good library might have purchased it. Had pictures of uniforms,
weapons, flags, etc.
Good hunting! I first got interested in the ACW at about age 11,
myself.
MikeR
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