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Origin Pre-War Post-War What Outsiders Know The Reality Population Territory and Locations Organization Government, National and Local Military Justice, Social Control, Punishment Political Factions, Dissent Famous/Infamous Persons Relationships with Other Groups Culture Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration Social Divisions and Castes Religion, Beliefs and Superstition Morality and Values Progress and Failure Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender Education and Language Environment and Agriculture Food Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation Fashion and Appearance Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture Equipment and Resources Economy Science, Medicine and Technology Weapons and Military Equipment Communications Vehicles Aircraft Watercraft

 

a common banner flown by the Tigers

"What do you mean, 'tigers have stripes'?"

 

     A small but capable independent community in central New Jersey.

 

Origin

 

Pre-War

     Trenton was the capital of New Jersey, and the Mercer County seat. The county had 307,000 residents in 1989. It's on the Delaware River, upstream from Philadelphia.

     New Jersey State Prison was located in Trenton; it held the state's most dangerous prisoners -- including hit men, serial killers, and all persons held for execution. The older sections were surrounded by a 7 meter high concrete wall. 

     Fifteen kilometers northeast of Trenton was the campus of Princeton University; the town of Princeton had a population of about 12,000 persons, including 6,300 students. Twenty-eight kilometers further northeast was Rutgers University, at New Brunswick. Also included in the 22nd Century area called "Princeton" are the communities of Roosevelt, Windsor, Applegarth, Cranbury, South Brunswick, Princeton Meadows, Rocky Hill, Montgomery, Harlingen, Mount Rose, and Hopewell. US Highway 1, and Interstate 95 (the New Jersey Turnpike) passed through the Trenton area.

     ROTC programs at Princeton and Rutgers were very small in 1989 ... two or three dozen students at each school. A lot of their "military" training (and certainly most running-around-with-guns) was performed at Fort Dix.

 

Post-War

     On November 18th, 1989 the weather was just above freezing. A single 100 kiloton warhead from an SS-N-20 missile detonated several hundred meters above Trenton. The visible mushroom cloud spread to 5 kilometers radius, with its top 6 kilometers above the ground. 100,000 persons were immediately killed or injured; essentially all buildings were destroyed out to about 2 kilometers from the location below the nuclear blast.

     In the nuclear winter which followed, a dangerous amount of fallout drifted over Trenton -- not from the airburst explosion over that city, but from the two destroyed reactors at Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania. The population of Trenton was probably close to zero until 2040.

     Princeton University was the center of a large refugee camp for a few years after the Atomic War; the faculty and students became the camp staff and leadership. It was located in a relatively fallout-free zone between the Delaware River strikes, and those aimed at the greater New York area. Even so, dangerous amounts of fallout, some of it carried on winds from west of the Mississippi River, endangered people here for several months after the War.

     Most refugees from the greater New York area headed west or northwest after the Atomic War, rather than south or southwest; fallout and destruction along the Delaware River kept any refugees from heading north in large numbers from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, D.C., etc. A significant number of Rutgers students were evacuated to Princeton.

     In early 1990 the university sent several trucks and buses to retrieve the contents of the National Guard artillery armory at Lawrenceville (including a dozen vehicles and artillery pieces); and in the summer of that year, they went east to the coast at Sea Girt, and and retrieved most of the contents of the National Guard training center there.

     By the end of the Long Winter (circa 2030), the area controlled by the camps around Princeton had settled down to about its current size.

     Princeton did not merge with the New New Jersey Republic, but usually had good relations with them. The second half of the 21st Century saw the rise of the Tigers for which the region is named -- small but powerful mercenary units, working for warlords, traders, raiders and anyone else with something they wanted.

 

Specifically, the Tigers were a particular unit;

they worked with the OTC, which has a more defensive attitude towards warfare.

The term "Tigers" became applied generally to other mercenaries,

and eventually to the whole area (sort of like how "Vikings" became a general term).

 

     With the rise of the Empire of the East fifty years ago, Princeton began stabilizing its society -- control of society had been far more anarchic and prone to violent changes than currently (2140).

     Contact with the industrial society of East Broad Top has grown since 2110; by 2140 trade between the two nations is quite useful. People from East Broad Top pay for educations and copies of books from the library; shops and companies in Princeton pay for fuel, lubricants, and industrial goods.

     In the 22nd Century, the mercenary units came to be considered violent, anti-social organizations, especially when they worked as strong-arm units within the Princeton area. Volunteer "non-profit" military forces grew to displace them. With the most recent war against the Empire (2134), the Tiger mercenary force (and all the other effective mercenary groups) were mostly destroyed in combat. Mocked for their failures against the Gale Force and Storm Force of the Empire, and hit with heavy penalties for failing to perform "up to contract", the mercenaries were disbanded.

 

What Outsiders Know

     This area is little known outside of the Pennsylvania-New York-New Jersey area; outsiders usually call it "The Tigers" or "Tiger Zone".

     There is trade with East Broad Top -- one or two convoys per year (petroleum products from EBT, manufactured goods from Princeton).

 

The Reality

     Less than two dozen towns centered on what was formerly Princeton University. While reasonably civilized, a couple of mercenary military units gave the area a hostile reputation in the late 21st Century.

 

Population

     30,000 people live in the areas united by the Tigers; population density is 43 people per square kilometer.

     The population is about 44% female, 56% male. By age groups:

 

Princeton area demographics
age group	number
0-5 years	3,586
6-14 years	7,183
15-19 years	2,990
20-59 years	13,987
60-99 years	2,209
100+ years	2

 

     The city of Princeton, including the University, has about 5,000 inhabitants, with about 700 families (at least one parent living with at least one child).

     Besides Princeton, other towns include:

 

• Bawenburg

• Cedar Grove

• Clarksville

• Cranbury

• Dayton

• Edinburg

• Hightstown (ruins)

• Monmouth

• Mount Rose

• Rocky Hill

• Rosedale

• Suird Hills

• Stoutsburg

 

     None of those have more than 1,000 persons; the "better" ones are all west of the old Pennsylvania Railroad line.

 

Territory and Locations

 

dotted black lines are old major railways;

the dotted red line is the trench line from the last war with the Empire of the East in 2134;

dark green tone represents marshes and swamps

 

     This region is all within about 10 or 15 kilometers of Princeton, New Jersey at most. The border is about 100 kilometers long; the area enclosed according to most groups is 690 square kilometers.

 

Organization

 

     A confusing variety of commissions, boards, musical groups, political parties, colleges, and councils make up the government; they have overlapping and poorly-defined areas of responsibility. There have been in the 21st Century) various coups, purges, suppressions, abdications, revolutions, etc.; but for the last generation the "government" of Princeton has been stable (or at least free of violent upheavals).

     Depending on who you ask, the area is the Trenton Camps; the Princeton Province; or the Princeton-Trenton Governate; or the Tiger Zone; or other things ...

 

Government, National and Local

     Think of the Princeton area as being a dozen or more governments controlling roughly the same area; they have treaties or agreements between each other. It's difficult nowadays to start a new "government" function, since a lot of agreements and treaties have to be arranged or altered.

 

Military

 

     About $50,000 is spent each year on the military, including salaries, etc.; the Officer Training Corps spends the most of this -- they are responsible for aircraft production and usage, and own the most powerful armored vehicles.

     Besides the Officer Training Corps, each small town has a volunteer militia of one or two hundred members, and there are three "big" militia units at Princeton. Most are only open to adult males. The units at Princeton:

 

• The Nassau Rifles:  the most prestigious infantry unit at Princeton; members pay to join and remain active. There have been accusations that this unit might be willing to perform mercenary work.
  

• The Corps of Artillery:  a battery of breech-loading cannons. In the past, various makeshift muzzle-loading black-powder guns were employed, but currently this unit fields six 82mm breech-loading field guns.

• The People's Guard:  the "less expensive" infantry, it's funded by "popular subscription", so the members don't have to pay (and get paid while deployed on active service). Women are admitted as members.
  

 

Justice, Social Control, Punishment

    

     Police agencies and fire departments work for commercial districts, University departments, individual households, neighborhoods, etc. Some are commercial, working something like insurance companies; some are more like volunteer fire departments.

     Any one individual, household, etc. might be subscribed to more than one police agency.

     Fines are the preferred punishment for crimes; jails only hold people waiting for trial. If you cannot or do not wish to pay, you must do work required by the police or justice agency, nominally rated at $1 per day is available to pay off your fines. A few very serious crimes (murder, rape, kidnapping, piracy, counterfeiting paper Tigers) are punishable with death by hanging.

     Rewards are a very common method of bringing in suspects - the reward is only paid if the person is brought in alive.

 

Political Factions, Dissent

     The entire government is made up of factions. Some of the many groups:

 

• The Collectors:  preserving knowledge and technology from the past, but also peddling a conspiracy theory about Princeton University

• Reliable Insurance Company:  a mutual-aid group, for aiding the unemployed or sick

• The Liberated Rock:  a secret society, one of many

• New Jersey State Police:  a subscription law-enforcement agency

• The Blind Judges:  a subscription law-enforcement agency

• The International Science Foundation:  supports research and technical improvements; descended from the Institute for Advanced Study. They have a campus a few kilometers outside of the town (surrounded by a low fortified wall since about 2005), and a faculty of two dozen "scientists".
  

• The Mercer County Medical Association:  an accreditation group for medical professionals (except pharmacists)

• The Officer Training Corps:  a private military group, claiming descent from the Army ROTC unit from before the Atomic War. Their headquarters is the Armory, on campus, but they have several shops and storage areas around Princeton, and an airfield a few kilometers outside of town.

 

Famous/Infamous Persons

 

     John Witherspoon:  the founder of the University

     Grover Cleveland:  a famous alumnus

     Albert Einstein:  a famous faculty member

 

Relationships with Other Groups

 

 

     While not a particularly Catholic culture, relations with the Knights of Columbus are cordial.

     The Empire of the East has been a growing threat for the last fifty years; the most recent war was fought in 2134, which caused many casualties among the Tiger mercenaries and other forces, and the loss of several of the OTC's aircraft.

     Traders from East Broad Top come a couple of times a year, not during the winter. Boats come down the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg; from there, traders bring goods along the old Pennsylvania Turnpike, eventually swerving around New Philly to avoid the Empire. Most people in the Princeton area are unaware of how much larger and more economically capable East Broad Top is; it's seen a place where grubby mechanics hope to have their children educated at Princeton.

 

Culture

 

Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration

 

     Before the Atomic War, New Jersey had the highest percentage of people of Italian heritage in the U.S.

 

Social Divisions and Castes

     The faculty of the University are seen as "putting on airs" regarding their education and sophistication.

     A bit more than half of the Princeton students are from "out of the area", usually from East Broad Top.

     Until 30 years ago, most of the population identified with one of the four "refugee camps" from the early 21st Century:  Campus, Raritan, Cedar Grove, Feemah (although the actual camps were pulled down a century ago). The last real effect was a reluctance to marry a person from the same camp background; there are also supposed differences in emotional outlook, food preferences, politics, etc. for people of each camp. Some examples are:

 

"Feemah people prefer to eat dogs and goats."

"The Campus Campers are soft and unskilled at living off the land."

"A Raritan person won't admit they like you until they've known you for a season."

"The people from the Cedar Grove camps don't like to wear shoes or socks."

 

     These are all just stereotypes by 2140.

 

Religion, Beliefs and Superstition

     A bewildering number of sects, unaffiliated churches, political parties, philosophical societies, etc. have members in the area. Religious differences are not a source of much friction -- a citizen's religious background is about as important to other persons as which school they attended, or their "camp" affiliation.

     The "tribal" groups nearby are looked down on as uncouth savages; the Empire of the East is seen as a cunning group of advanced tyrants oppressing a large population of serfs.

     Faculty and students at the University believe that a person walking out through the main gate won't graduate ...

     A bowl of lentil soup is eaten on New Year's eve for good luck.

 

Morality and Values

     People have a strong "defensive" mentality; "We're preserving civilization." They feel that other cultures and groups have "wrong" attitudes and beliefs.

     Heroes, when called upon, give up the plough or anvil for the gun; after the threat is defeated, they return to their quiet, peaceful ways.

     There is no particular desire to return to the days of the United States; most people believe the "Ancient nations" were violent, oppressive, and bent on conquest.

 

Progress and Failure

     Literacy, education, and "civilized behavior" are important to Princetonians. "Were you raised in a barn?" is a moderate insult.

 

Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender

     Blah blah ...

 

Education and Language

     The locals speak Ancient (English) pretty well. Schooling is available from several groups, including some that claim to offer "college level coursework. Literacy among adults is high, at least 90%; at least 65% of people age 25 or above have a high school education.

     Princeton University, or more specifically a set of departments, faculties, independent student groups, etc. occupies a collection of four dozen or so buildings south of Nassau Street, between University Place (to the west) and Washington Street (to the east).

     The Firestone Library is a huge building, possibly one of the greatest remaining in the eastern United States. There are 110 kilometers of bookshelves. Library privileges are extended to students, faculty, staff, graduates, and whoever wishes to spend 10 Tigers per season to join the "Friends of the Princeton Library" group.

      The confusing web of actual educational institutions, and some "in name only" makes the University seem a bit more useful than it actually is. Even so, instruction in science, technology, medicine, chemistry and pharmacology all take place (though far less extensively than in the 20th Century); there are about 70 college students at any one time, and a dozen or so persons each year gain something like a bachelor's degree; slightly more than half of the students are from outside the Princeton area. Most units of the University are co-educational.

      An education at Princeton costs $400 per year in tuition and fees, and about $600 per year for housing, food, texts, etc.

      An equivalent to "high school education" is offered by the Department of Education; students from as far away as 15 kilometers make the trip for a pretty solid education. Elementary school education is usually free; the Department of Education charges a fee for high school students.

 

Environment and Agriculture

     36,000 hectares are under cultivation, with wheat (8,400 hectares), rye (440 hectares), oats (4,000 hectares), corn (15,000 hectares), hops (12 hectares) and barley (500 hectares) the main cereal crops. 7,200 hectares of grassland are mown each year for hay. About a ton of sugar is harvested from 8 tons of sugar cane each year, although in some years there is no production at all (sugar cane doesn't like snow or frost) -- it's probably grown in greenhouses.

     Orchards, truck farms (for beans, peas, Irish and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc.) are quite productive.

     Like the rest of North America, there are no swine, chickens or cattle.

     9,600 horses, 1,500 donkeys and mules, 13,000 goats and 21,000 sheep are important livestock. 42,000 kilograms of wool are sheared every spring. A few farms have tried raising elk for meat (the milk has not proven popular).

     Turkeys, ducks and geese are raised for meat and eggs.

 

Food

 

     Breakfasts tend to be porridge or oatmeal, or bread and cheese, sometimes with honey, fruit or molasses. Adults often have pint of hard cider or beer with their breakfasts. A "fancy" breakfast might include cold cuts or cold fish, or pancakes (either "hoe cakes" made with corn, or wheat flour pancakes). Coffee and tea are available, but not to everyone's taste.

     Dairy products, such as milk, cream or cheese, come from non-cow mammals:  horses, donkeys, goats and sheep mostly. Oat milk, and a few other "vegan" dairy products, are sometimes used.

     The main meal of the day, dinner, is in the mid-afternoon; tomatoes, potatoes, peas, salads, vegetables (such as artichokes, onions and cucumbers), breads, and even some pasta are common. The "tomato pie" is really a very tomato-y variety of pizza. Sauces such as mustards and ketchups made from various vegetables -- tomatoes, walnuts and mushrooms especially -- are "family recipes".

     Meat pies, puddings, pancakes, fruit pies, soups, pasta, turtle, oysters and fresh fish are "better foods". Dessert is rare -- dried fruit, cranberries, custards, tarts, cakes, and cookies don't feature in day-to-day menus. Ice cream can certainly be made, though changed to suit the milk products (horses, goats, sheep, and donkeys). Salt water taffy is sold at fairs and other festive warm-weather events. Game (such as venison and rabbit) is much-appreciated. Porter is served with many meals.

    Supper, in the evening, is pretty much just toast and jam, perhaps with nuts, apples or raisins. A fair number of people just have a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of wine, for their supper.

     Canning, salting, pickling and other preservation methods are used.

     Rum, brandy or wine are served with dinner; better-off households serve punch, fancy wines, mixed drinks, or even imported alcohol for supper. Hard spirits are certainly distilled, at every grade from moonshine on up. Cranberry liqueur is a regional specialty.

     Fowl are certainly eaten -- most often ducks or geese, but non-waterfowl are avidly hunted. There are a few farmers who raise ducks and geese to sell the eggs.

     There are inns, taverns or diners in every town; they serve a few traditional foods almost never seen in homes:  milkshakes (with goat milk usually -- some popular flavors are "mint", "coffee" and "beet"), panzerotto (a sort of fried calzone, filled with tomato sauce, melted cheese, and about anything you might put on a pizza), club sandwiches, and giros. "Texas dogs" are deep-fried horse-meat hot-dogs, served with onions and hot sauce, seen only in diners and at fairs or public events.

 

Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation

     Blah blah ...

 

Fashion and Appearance

     In a general way, the Tigers somewhat follow East Broad Top fashion -- sort of late-Nineteenth or early-Twentieth Century American industrial or agricultural workers. 

     Rural folk have a sort of "Little House on the Prairie" appearance -- sturdy pants or bib overalls for men, along with slouch hat or wide straw. Dresses and caps for unmarried women, hats for married women, etc.

     In the cities, laboring men wear striped overalls when working; various cloth caps are worn. More formal clothing resemble 19th Century "sack coats", with felt hats like those worn by European hunters.

 

Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture

     The town of Princeton is dominated by the University, famous for its many "Collegiate Gothic" buildings. Nassau Hall, on the campus, dates back to 1754, and contains the central offices of the University.

     Just to the north of the University in Princeton is Nassau Street -- the main downtown road and shopping area. Most of the buildings date from well before the 20th Century; none are taller than five stories, and most are only two stories. The intersection of Nassau Street and Witherspoon Street are the "business center" of the town.

     The main electrical generation and distribution source is a steam generator, operated by the Public Service Electric and Gas Company at the edge of Princeton.

 

Equipment and Resources

 

     We have some pages with price lists.

 

Economy

     The GNP is about 2.5 million dollars. The Princeton zone is best described as Rich for trade.

     Until 30 years ago various "commodity currencies" were employed in the Princeton area -- nails, gasoline, shoes, drugs from the Empire of the East -- but with the current stable government(s) a form of paper currency, the Tiger, is circulated around Princeton. One Tiger is worth one dollar in old coinage.

 

The term "paper Tiger" seems to amuse members of the Morrow Project, which puzzles the locals.

 

      "Ancient" quarters, dimes, and pennies (if in good condition), gold and silver are also accepted -- the tolls on the Ancient turnpikes just before the Atomic War had been 25 or 35 cents. Parking tokens, prison money, foreign coins, slugs and (especially) casino tokens are not usually accepted as currency.

      The actual amount of currency in circulation is $450,000:

 

• $135,000 in various paper banknotes ("Tigers")
  

• $90,000 in silver coinage (mostly old U.S. coins)
  

• $22,500 in gold -- mostly, but not all, Krugerrands or Maple Leaf coins valued at $20 each
  

• $150,000 in quarter-dollars

• $32,000 in dimes

• $8,000 in nickels

• $8,000 in pennies

• $4,500 in other "commonly accepted" currency, such as non-Tiger notes, half-dollars and full (non-silver) dollars, etc.
  

 

Science, Medicine and Technology

     The Tigers are rated at Technology Level C.

      Compared to East Broad Top, the variety and amount of chemical, technical, mechanical and scientific items produced is far less, and prices are often higher.

 

Weapons and Military Equipment

     Various groups have a variety of weapons; all "military" firearms are cartridge weapons. Carrying and using muskets has gone out of style (and utility) over the last six years.

     The Officer Training Corps has the most and best weapons.

 

Communications

     There are two telephone systems (each with under 100 subscribers, almost all within Princeton or within a kilometer); you can't make calls from one system to phones on another system.

      A sort of telegraph system exists around Princeton; it's mostly used to ring signal bells, fire alarms, etc.  rather than to actually send text, almost nobody uses code, and this system is dying out.

     Two different postal services provide mail and parcel delivery; one of them only delivers to subscribers, but it's much cheaper to use.

      There are some radios, but no "broadcasting". The radios are bulky, jury-rigged and incompatible with common late 20th Century types. The Officer Training Corps uses old CB (much-repaired) radios in their aircraft and motor vehicles.

     There's a large (by 22nd Century standards) printing plant, and several small printshops. A few weekly or monthly newspapers or flyers are published, along with books. Notable ones are:

 

• The Princeton Gazette:  published weekly on Fridays; mostly notices of commercial opportunities, business deals, legal decisions, also includes "want ads". Price 5 cents.
  

• The Princetonian:  published every two weeks (except for a couple of breaks) on Wednesdays; concerned with collegiate matters, educational opportunities. Free.
  

 

Vehicles

     Most transport is on horse, or by horse-drawn vehicles, but a lot of light motor vehicles and some motorcycles are used by the Tigers. The larger ones are either gas-generator vehicles, or steam powered; motorcycles and very lightweight automobiles are normally gasoline powered. Gasoline, and most lubricants, are obtained from East Broad Top.

     The OTC motor pool at Princeton includes a number of 20th Century military armored vehicles; only a few of these are still in operating condition, and little or no ammunition is available (except for some of the machine guns). In the 21st Century, many of these were the core of the Tiger mercenary units.

 

• M42 Duster anti-aircraft vehicle (two of these)
  

• Marmon-Herrington CTLS amphibious light tank

• M3A1 Stuart tank

• M4A3 Sherman tank (in running condition, shares parts with the M7B2 Priest)
  

• M26 Pershing tank (in running condition)
  

• M47 Patton tank

• M48 Patton tank (two of these, both diesel-powered; one is an A1 with a 90mm gun, the other is an A5 with a 105mm gun)

• M16 half-track with quad fifty (guns removed by now, though)
  

• M49 Otter amphibious vehicle

• M75 armored personnel carrier
  

• M7B2 Priest self-propelled howitzer (105mm; in running condition, shares parts with the M4A3 Sherman)
  

• M37 self-propelled howitzer (105mm)
  

• M44 self-propelled howitzer (155mm)
  

• M52 self-propelled howitzer (105mm)
  

• M55 self-propelled howitzer (155mm; two of these)
  

 

      The Tigers don't have any railways or railway vehicles, though there's been discussions of fixing the track on the Princeton Branch, and onwards to Hightstown, to allow more rapid movement of troops to the southwestern border.

 

Aircraft

    

     There is a small airport 5 kilometers northeast of Princeton, with an 1100 meter long grass runway (on what used to be part of US Highway 1); assembly of aircraft, and pilot training, occurs here. The stripped fuselages and wings of several 20th Century aircraft are stored here -- mostly basic "general aviation" types, but two are Britten-Norman Islanders.

     The OTC builds and uses cruciform biplanes (the upper and lower wing surfaces consist of a cross arrangement) with automotive engines. They can carry two persons, or one person and a small amount of ordnance -- they don't always even have a fixed forward-firing weapon.

 

 

a photograph of a Tiger biplane

 

     They also have some smaller, lighter aircraft (1 pilot, 1 passenger) for training and courier work -- around the scale of a Piper Cub.

 

Watercraft

     Nothing significant -- certainly no ocean-going craft.