Civil War Tails at the Homestead Diorama Museum, Gettysburg, PA.

I heard about Civil War Tails through Roadside America, and not through my usual Civil War channels......

AND that is kind of the thing about Civil War Tails in Gettysburg.  MOST of the traditional attractions in Gettysburg don't make the list on a website like roadsideamerica.com.  Civil War Tails may.... or may not make the list of usual attractions relating to the battle in town.  It straddles a fine line.

So...  twin sisters Rebecca and Ruth Brown enjoy making Civil War dioramas.......  using CATS instead of humans.  They have done a lot of them.  I think I heard that they have done over 8,000 cat soldiers.  Think about that for a minute.

AND, they have set them up showing accurate scenes from the Civil War.  Well, accurate except for the fact that cats have replaced people.


Admission is a very affordable $6.50 to check out this new folk art must see.

We walked in and were pretty impressed with the set up.  Small signs have been made to explain each of the dioramas.

As I looked at the first layout, I observed Confederate and Union soldiers.  I asked the co-creator where were the orange tabbies while all of this was going on?  She politely laughed, but I get the feeling that they have heard every imaginable joke about cats and the Civil War.

We ended up spending a bit of time here, as the small figures in the 1860s scenes are very interesting.... and different.  Plus, having one of the artists present to show us around, and tell us about the process was a huge bonus.


Before leaving, we checked out some of the merchandise for sale here.  Small domed cat soldiers, hand made by the Brown sisters, are available for as low as $5 each!  For $10, you can get a Civil War Cat kissing his cat wife.  I mentioned that I felt these little works of art were a total bargain at that price.  I was told that the sisters want to keep the prices  reasonable so that the kids that come through can afford one.


I really like what Rebecca and Ruth are doing here.  PLUS, their museum IS inside of the Homestead, which is part of the old Orphanage, linked to the Humiston photo.  I really appreciate the privilege of being able to walk into the old historic buildings linked to the battle (and the events right afterwards).  Getting to walk inside of this historic building is just an added bonus.