How 1990s Tech Transformed SCA Events
I was digging through old photos the other day. It’s on one of those cloud storage you promise you’ll organize someday but never quite do. I found pictures of feasts, court gatherings, and what was surely a failed attempt at a wimple. Then I found it. A relic from the past, proof that we in the SCA were ahead of our time.
The photo was taken around 1990, during an SCA event in the Barony of the Lonely Tower. I remember ithe situation well, as I was a “newbie.” I thought it was an ordinary scene. I still hear the echoes of fighters clashing. Heralds were bellowing. However, there is something remarkable for the time. A computer was being used to track the fighting list results.
Now, in our age of smartphones and Wi-Fi, you might think, “So what? A computer? Big deal.” But let me tell you—this was cutting-edge technology for its time. This was the future. It appeared in the form of that clunky, beige, likely DOS-based machine. It probably weighed as much as a shield. And someone brought it from their home, along with all the necessary amenities to make it work.
I can almost hear the conversation that must have surrounded it:
“Are you sure this thing will work?”
“Absolutely! I just need to load the program from this floppy disk.”
“You mean that small, fragile square that gets ruined if you look at it wrong?”
“Yes. Now, don’t breathe near it.”
The ingenuity of Lonely Tower shone through. We had plenty of traditions rooted in the past. These included feasts, banners, and chivalry. However, we never stopped embracing a little bit of modern wizardry when it suited us. While other kingdoms were probably scrawling results on parchment (or at least someone’s hastily borrowed notepad), we were computing.
Of course, I don’t know if the machine made the process smoother. I think this was my first event. Perhaps it crashed at the worst possible moment. Maybe the day ended with someone muttering, “Forget it, just hand me a quill,” but the intent was there! We had seen the future and, by golly, we tried to grab it with both gauntleted hands.
This old photo uncovered an old piece of lost lore for me. It made me chuckle. It’s a reminder that, long before the age of smartphones, we were already dreaming. We imagined ways to make our medieval world a little more modern. This was long before Wi-Fi was in every corner of an event site.
If you recognize anyone in this photo I’d love to know who they are.