Farb (reenactment)

Farb is a derogatory term used in the hobby of historical reenacting in reference to participants who are perceived to exhibit indifference to historical authenticity, either from a material-cultural standpoint or in action. It can also refer to the inauthentic materials used by those reenactors.

Also called "polyester soldiers", farbs are reenactors who spend relatively little of their time or money maintaining authenticity with regard to uniforms, accessories, objects or period behavior. The "Good Enough" attitude is pervasive among farbs, although even casual observers may be able to point out flaws.

Farbiness is dependent upon context as well as expectations and is somewhat subjective. For example, while a "mainstream" reenactor might accept an object that looks right from a spectator perspective, a "progressive" or "hard core" reenactor might consider the object to be farby if it is not made in a historically accurate manner.

The origin of the word "farb" (and the derivative adjective "farby") is often thought to date to early centennial reenactments of the American Civil War in 1960 or 1961. Some believe that the origin of the word is a truncated version of "Far be it from authentic.". Or alternately, short for "far be it from me to say what is right...but..." An alternative definition is "Far Be it from me to question/criticise," or "Fast And Researchless Buying". Some early reenactors assert the word derives from German Farbe, color, because inauthentic reenactors were over-colorful compared with the dull blues, greys or browns of the genuine American Civil War uniforms that were the principal concern of American reenactors at the time the word was coined.

The term has been in wide use in the reenactment community since the early days.

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