Jon Townsend, shown making bread, is the president of Townsends, a Pierceton business, which sells clothing and other items meant to recreate a mid-18th century to early 19th century lifestyle. The company has sold items to various movie and TV productions and has a YouTube channel, which shows recreating a historical lifestyle. Photo provided.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Jon Townsend believes preserving history is important.

“It’s part of our identity,” he said. “It’s part of who we are.”

Townsend helps conserve the past as president of Townsends, his family business at 133 N. First St., Pierceton. The business has been selling clothing and items to reenact a mid-18th century to early 19th century lifestyle since the 1970s.

Townsend’s late father, James Townsend, started the company in 1973 after noticing that reenactors at the muzzleloading events he frequented needed items such as dishes as they relived the lifestyle of the past while camping.

Jon said the company’s products are aimed at the period from the 1750s to the 1820s, with the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976 helping cement that choice as people became interested in the American Colonial period again.

People may order products by setting up an appointment to shop by calling (800) 338-1665 or online at townsends.us.

The majority of Townsends’ sales are to customers in the continental U.S., said Jon, although people buy from all over the world. Both individuals and historic sites purchase products.

Another of Townsends’ markets is TV and film crews. Jon said word of mouth in that industry has brought those sales in.

The list of movies and TV shows whose crews purchased items from Townsends is quite extensive.

It includes the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “National Treasure” franchises, “The Revenant,” “The Patriot,” and “TURN.” More recent ones include: “Peter Pan & Wendy,” “Outlander,” “Dickinson,” “Our Flag Means Death,” “Billy the Kid,” “Emancipation,” “1883,” and “The Gilded Age.”

Jon notes that though many productions have purchased from the business, Townsends staff isn’t always aware of when their products actually appear on screen as crews will sometimes dirty the items to make them more authentic-looking. Scenes with the items could also be cut.

He did note he knows for certain that a pot a child uses to paint toy soldiers in a scene from “The Patriot” is one of the business’.

Townsends’ recognition also has grown via its YouTube presence. The business started creating videos more than 10 years ago to showcase using its products, and its channel showing recreations of historical living has exploded in popularity.

It has more than two million subscribers and had 44 million views last year alone. Jon said though a majority of viewers are from the U.S., there’s many from other countries.

“There are a lot of people around the world that are interested in American history,” he said.

The goal of the channel is “How do you connect history with people?” he added. Recent videos include making coffee via roasting the beans over a fire and talking about the history of coffee and making a pizza using late 18th century ingredients.

Videos may be viewed by visiting youtube.com/@townsends.