Pirate Theme Party

Stories about pirates are almost always centered on male figures and characters. The role of women in these stories usually concerns a damsel in distress. We have done our research here, and found a few stories that do not fit that mold. Women pirates were few and far between, but those few characters would make a lasting impression on the history of piracy. For your daughter’s pirate birthday party, why not consider lettering her dress up as Emmy Tot, The Scottish born pirate was actually born into aristocracy. The town where she grew up in now has a figure of her in the center of the city. She is shown to be standing and holding a sword that covered in blood! In the other hand is a severed human head! Apparently people thought she was pretty tough.

When she was a young woman, she happened to attend a party where she met the captain of the Amsterdam, Jan Van der Goot. Van der Goot was absolutely smitten with Emmy, and was determined to have her. Emmy had no interest in the captain, but unfortunately, she was to be his one way or another. While she slept at home, four men broke into her house and kidnapped her. They spirited her off to the Amsterdam where she awaited her fate. Not what I would call the ideal pirate birthday party. Van der Goot showed up in her cabin completely drunk. He passed out on the bed and was soon deeply asleep. Emmy seized the moment. She grabbed a dagger and stuck it in his heart.

She had killed her captor, but was not quite finished. She cut off his head with a sword and took both the head and the sword up to the crew. There she demanded that they turn the ship back. The crew was stunned by her audacity, and did what they were told. The Earl of Eglinton was astonished by Emmy’s bravery and decided to make a tribute to her by including her picture on his coat of arms. The picture was of Emmy holding a sword and a severed head, and it remains like that to this day. For more pirate birthday party ideas, check our ebook out. There you will find a host of information regarding your pirate birthday party including props, costumes and recipes.

You should definitely consider replica pirate guns for your pirate birthday party. Guns were an essential part of the pirate’s armory, and they came in many shapes and sizes. There was the matchlock musket, which was a cheaply made rifle. The matchlock performed poorly for pirates because it was hard to use in wet weather. This did not bode well for sailors in that they were always around water. An improvement on this design, the flintlock musket, was usually a smooth bore weapon, and although it was more expensive than the matchlock, it performed much better in bad weather. Next was the musketoon, which was a shortened rifle so to speak. The musketoon could hold several rounds so that when it was shots, the bullets would spread out. It was mainly used in close combat. There was also the blunderbuss! This weapon could be compared to the modern day shotgun. It could use a host of materials as bullets, including metal scraps. It was an extremely short range weapon, but it was deadly effective. Finally, there was the pistol. The pistol was basically good for one shot because reloading it took precious time that pirates did not have during a frantic fight. Instead, they carried multiple pistols to make sure they had several shots. The famous Blackbeard was known for this. Be sure to include these weapons in your pirate birthday party.

Navigation charts have long been one of the most important tools for any pirate sea captain. Imagine if Captain Jack Sparrow wanted to attend your pirate birthday party, but could not figure out how to get there. What would happen if he did not know how to read a navigation chart and ended up driving his ship into a sand bar? Then, not only would he not be able to make your pirate birthday party, he would have to abandoned his gold laden ship! Things would be different if he had the proper sea navigation charts because he would be able to see where the sand bars were. Sand bars tend to move location, so sea navigation charts have to be constantly kept up to date. The nautical charts also outline the coastal regions, and include ocean depths. They might also include topographical features and list different man made and natural location identifiers. These are critically important for any sea navigator because natural and man made landmarks are very hard to come by. The next time you plan your pirate theme party, be sure to give your fellow pirates an up to date nautical sea chart!

Are you going to invite a few pirates to your pirate birthday party? Pirates did operate in the Caribbean, and many of them were from Britain, so they would have to take the Gulf Stream Highway to make your pirate birthday party. Ocean currents are caused by the unequal heating of water, and they create rivers within the ocean that can actually help a ship travel much faster than in still water. For instance, the Gulf Stream travels north up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, which means that the water is relatively warm. That is why ocean water on the east coast of the United States is generally warmer than the water on the west coast. The California current travels south, from Alaska, and explains why ocean water in Southern California can be so cold. As for the Gulf Stream, the warm water travels north towards Canada, then makes a right turn and heads for Europe. The water is warm enough that it regulates European weather, particularly the United Kingdom. If Britain did not have the benefit of the warm Gulf Stream water, it would be much colder. The warm ocean negates the effect of the cold air and ensures that Britain has a mild climate. More to come on the history of ocean currents.

You’ll probably want to schedule your pirate birthday party during good weather. Today, with the advent of the internet and satellite television, you can get your local weather and forecasts that are usually good for a week. I wonder if Black Beard would be jealous. The primary concern for any captain of a ship is firstly fire. Fire is the sailor’s worst enemy because there is no place to escape. The second biggest concern for the captain is the weather. As long as there have been ships and navigators, sailors have studied the skies to hopefully escape the hazards of a storm. In the Golden Age of piracy, most pirates operated in the tropics. In the tropics, weather can suddenly overwhelm and overtake a vessel. Sudden thunderstorms, squalls, lightening and water spouts were all dangers to the pirates. Pirates tried especially hard to steer away from islands during the night. Why, you might ask? Because during the day, the land of the island heats up quickly & becomes much hotter than the ocean water. At night, all that heat is released and travels upward. The combination of rising air, plus the high humidity work to create huge areas of instability in the atmosphere. This results in cumulonimbus clouds, which are the type of clouds that the worst possible weather comes from. So when you plan your next pirate birthday party, check the horizon to see if you’ll be the victim of an unwanted guest

Looking to dress as an interesting character during your pirate birthday party? This fellow is worthy of your consideration. Samuel Bellamy, also known as Black Sam, was an unusual pirate captain. Black Sam was raised without a mother. She had died during his birth and Black Sam took to piracy at a young age. He began his career as a treasure hunter and not a pirate. He was married in Cape Cod, and then traveled to Florida to search for the treasures of the ocean. Before long he hooked up with Black Beard to do a little pirating. Unlike Black Beard, Black Sam was unusually gracious to his victims. He always made sure to take care of them. He did not kill them, and made sure that they were well cared for before stealing their vessels. That is where his nickname of “Prince of Pirates” came about. His crew was enamored with him and they called themselves the “Robin Hood Band.” Their biggest claim to fame was a raid on the Whydah Gally. The Whydah Gally was returning with loot from a massive shipment of slaves when Black Sam caught it. Unfortunately for him, his ship got caught in a storm off of Wellfleet Massachusetts. All but a handful of the crew perished, including the Prince of Pirates. Perhaps it was a fitting fate considering what the loot had paid for! So for your next pirate birthday party, consider old Black Sam when deciding on your character.

Want to organize a pirate birthday party? Well, first ask yourself what was it like to be a pirated? Classic Americana gives us plenty of books and films to pour over in our quest for finding the real pirate. Few venture into the historical records to see what life was really like for the average pirate. From films like Pirates of the Caribbean, we see Jack Sparrow plunder his enormous bounty while escaping his enemies like the East India Trading Company. Real pirates were not so fortunate. Many of them were the castoffs of society and needed a place to survive, and pirating provided the perfect escape for many of the. Unlike current films, they were poorly fed, and did not receive the kind of bounty found at a pirate birthday party (pun intended)! Their enclaves could have been the first forms of modern democracy. The crew often chose the own captain. They democratically elected a leader who they thought would be fearless in battle. When the crew was not fighting, the real brains behind the operation was the leader; usually the navigator. This makes sense considering that the fiercest fighter of the group was not usually the brightest. In future blogs, we’ll talk more about life as a pirate. Arrrggghh and good day!

The blockbuster trilogy Pirates of the Caribbean has inspired many to host a pirate birthday party. The charismatic Jack Sparrow provides audiences with not only great costume ideas, but also how to best portray a pirate. Captain Sparrow is a very exciting character who uses his wit and charm to squirm out of trouble with other pirates and the East India Trading Company. The East India Trading Company is the perfect villain for these films, and their true history would suggest that they were, in fact, villains to many people. Because of this, the characters and costumes used in the film would also make great ideas for a pirate birthday party. The existence of the East India Trading Company was absolutely critical to the success pirates enjoyed during the Golden Age. The company was the first ever to issue public stock, and they were given virtually exclusive trading rights in India. What started out as a business venture eventually turned to political and social oppression. The company first issued stock in the year 1600 and did not leave India until after World War II. During this time, the British tried to impose their own political and cultural institutions on the Indian peoples. That is why you find such a large portion of Indian people today who can speak English quite well. Gandhi himself attended British schools and was an excellent student. The country boasted several religions, but the two primary religions were Hindu and Islam. When the country finally won its independence, the people were divided by their religion. This led to a tragic civil war that was incredibly brutal. Eventually the two sides compromised, but Gandhi was assassinated for his decision. India broke up into two countries. The Hindus would reside in the west and retain the name of India, and the Muslims moved east to what is now known as Afghanistan. There have been many troubles in the years that followed the succession, and all of it could have been avoided had the East India Company been initially denied their power. The East India Trading Company will make a great villain for your next pirate birthday party.