Dying hobbies

[wallyj84]

There are lots of hobbies that used to be popular, but are now in their dying days. Things like stamp collecting or building model trains, etc.

Does anyone here have a hobby that is on the decline? Why do you think your hobby isn't as populnr as it used to be? Do you ever think it will completely die out?

 

[TexanStar]

I collect stamps that have pictures of trains on them.



I also play video games & role playing games. Neither is under threat.

 

[1101550]

I write short horror stories when pretending to be Lovecraft

 

[Enid]

I collect old books. I have a first edition Cat in the Hat, 100 Days of Sodom, and Decline and Fall of Roman Empire. Amongst others.

Bibliophiles, represent

 

[wallyj84]

I collect stamps that have pictures of trains on them.



I also play video games & role playing games. Neither is under threat.

Stamp collecting, as I understand it, isn't as popular as it used to be. Do you share that opinion? Has that affected the hobby for you in any way?

I collect old books. I have a first edition Cat in the Hat, 100 Days of Sodom, and Decline and Fall of Roman Empire. Amongst others.

Bibliophiles, represent

That is a really cool hobby.

 

[XL_Lingam]

I too used to collect books. Unfortunately, due to a downturn in my personal financial situation a few years ago I had to sell them all. I still miss them. I collected books on lot of fringe topics. I had a huge library of occultism, esoterica, Forteana, the paranormal, UFO's, hypnosis, body energy, erotica, etc. I had a collection of Wilhelm Reich first editions and other rare books. As well as collections of literature, history, psychology and film studies. The first Internet message board I ever joined, in fact, was an old one they used to have at alibris.com. And although I'm not collecting anymore, a good used book store is still my idea of heaven.

 

[wallyj84]

I have a number of hobbies, some of which I think won't exist in a few years.

For example, I collect original comic book art, but as more and more artist switch to digital, the market for new art will slowly disappear because there just won't anything to buy. That's why I've recently switched to commissioned art.

 

[TexanStar]

Stamp collecting, as I understand it, isn't as popular as it used to be. Do you share that opinion? Has that affected the hobby for you in any way?

I was teasing. I combined the two examples you gave into one hobby.

Stamp collecting as I understand it is suffering from a lack of stamps. The societal shift towards email and metered mail means there isn't the variety of stamps being produced today that there once was and not as many posted letters being mailed around./

Model trains aren't as popular as they once were, but I think it still has a healthy number of enthusiasts (I don't think this is facing any risk of death as a hobby, it's just not in its golden age).

 

[wallyj84]

I was teasing. I combined the two examples you gave into one hobby.

Stamp collecting as I understand it is suffering from a lack of stamps. The societal shift towards email and metered mail means there isn't the variety of stamps being produced today that there once was and not as many posted letters being mailed around./

Model trains aren't as popular as they once were, but I think it still has a healthy number of enthusiasts (I don't think this is facing any risk of death as a hobby, it's just not in its golden age).

As I understand it, most of the people who are interested in model trains are older and there isn't really a younger generation coming up to replace them. I think that is the biggest threat to that to particular industry.

 

[702402]

Music on 12 inch vinyl or pretty much any other from of vinyl such as 7'' or 10''. As dead as it gets. You could get "booed" for buying anything else besides digital downloads. No unwrapping, no sniffing the packaging... Just click and listen.

 

[MickeyLee]

I like refinishing/reupholstering old furniture. Original pieces are harder to find at a reasonable price thanks to the Shabby Chic aesthetic. I see one more whitewashed and distressed credenza I am taking somebody out. When I can't get my hands on antiques I will settle for vintage and experimentation with finishes.

Likes Ms.Enid I am a bookie. Everything from first editions to trashy zombie apocalypse horror. I've tried to covert over to an E-reader to be more tree friendly. I'm just failing miserably at it. I like turning pages. I like the smell of books. I like books being a huge component of my design scheme.

I knit. Knitting had a surge a few years ago. The wave broke and the flood waters receded. Fortunately, there is a lively, if smaller, enthusiastic community of creators and designers out there. I don't think the hobby will die. We're just waiting for the next generation of Hipsters.

 

[thirteenbyseven]

As I understand it, most of the people who are interested in model trains are older and there isn't really a younger generation coming up to replace them. I think that is the biggest threat to that to particular industry.

Wally84j, my father was a child of the 1940s and 1950s who was drawn into the hobby by his father. My late grandfather and he constructed a good-sized HO model train display that at one point took-up much of my grandparent's den. The layout lasted until my father went to college. The complete set, the track, toy town, bridges, freight trains and the Santa Fe Super Chief passenger train are in neat boxes over at my parent's house.

Unfortunately I was into airplanes.

 

[stustu]

As a kid, I used to build model car kits. They came in a box with everything except glue.
Built hundreds of them. My mother gave them to Goodwill when I left for college.
I don't think they are even made today. Too bad - it was funny.

 

[EllieP]

My hobby was interrupted by a group intervention recently. Sigh.

I love antiquing. I love going to second hand stores on weekends to see what I might be able to use in clients' homes. I go almost every weekend, and I there was the problem.

Years ago I purchased a large warehouse knowing that I would need a place to store merchandise and hopefully have a craftsman shop for custom work, in the event I ever hired a craftsman.

Well, with over 130,000 cubic feet I knew I'd have a big job to fill that space. Guess what? I finally achieved that two weeks ago. So my accountant, office manager, project manager and bookkeeper, oh, and my husband, met with me and said "you gotta stop. No, really."

I finally admitted that I was purchasing more than I was using and coming out on the losing end. Doors, windows, banisters, sconces, tables, chairs, chairs, chairs; and how many fireplace mantels is too many? They knew.

So we're having a sale, and I'm kinda OK and kinda not. We're allowing local contractors and designers first dibs to see if we can whittle down the inventory to something more manageable. But first we had to employ an inventory management firm to come in and tag each piece! My bookkeeper has been doing a great job of entering each piece I bring into the shop, but I never did the follow through of actually tagging the item. I got my hands slapped for that, and that's all on me.

So now the team has to come in and match our master list with each piece and stick a little scan bar on it.

Let's hope I was a frugal buyer and break even on this stuff. So far I'm in the hole with the inventory team. Hope I don't fall farther down.

Sigh. This sucks.

 

[wallyj84]

My hobby was interrupted by a group intervention recently. Sigh.

I love antiquing. I love going to second hand stores on weekends to see what I might be able to use in clients' homes. I go almost every weekend, and I there was the problem.

Years ago I purchased a large warehouse knowing that I would need a place to store merchandise and hopefully have a craftsman shop for custom work, in the event I ever hired a craftsman.

Well, with over 130,000 cubic feet I knew I'd have a big job to fill that space. Guess what? I finally achieved that two weeks ago. So my accountant, office manager, project manager and bookkeeper, oh, and my husband, met with me and said "you gotta stop. No, really."

I finally admitted that I was purchasing more than I was using and coming out on the losing end. Doors, windows, banisters, sconces, tables, chairs, chairs, chairs; and how many fireplace mantels is too many? They knew.

So we're having a sale, and I'm kinda OK and kinda not. We're allowing local contractors and designers first dibs to see if we can whittle down the inventory to something more manageable. But first we had to employ an inventory management firm to come in and tag each piece! My bookkeeper has been doing a great job of entering each piece I bring into the shop, but I never did the follow through of actually tagging the item. I got my hands slapped for that, and that's all on me.

So now the team has to come in and match our master list with each piece and stick a little scan bar on it.

Let's hope I was a frugal buyer and break even on this stuff. So far I'm in the hole with the inventory team. Hope I don't fall farther down.

Sigh. This sucks.

Next to money, space is probably the greatest enemy of any collector. I am a huge comic fan and would love to have a comic collection to obsess over, but I know that within a few years it would literally become this huge thing that would overtake my whole living space.

That is why I started collecting original art.

 

[XL_Lingam]

I forgot to mention my other hobby, which while not dying out, is still not entirely common. Ballet and other forms of dance have been such an integral, passionate part of my life and identity. I thought I had called it quits, but recently started taking a ballet class again and it's been awesome! I said earlier that a book store was my idea of Heaven--but so is a dance studio--although I've also experienced Hell and Purgatory in dance classes as well!

 

[EllieP]

I forgot to mention my other hobby, which while not dying out, is still not entirely common. Ballet and other forms of dance have been such an integral, passionate part of my life and identity. I thought I had called it quits, but recently started taking a ballet class again and it's been awesome! I said earlier that a book store was my idea of Heaven--but so is a dance studio--although I've also experienced Hell and Purgatory in dance classes as well!

My daughter took ballet for six years. That's not a hobby; that's an obsession! And an expensive one at that! I think it's wonderful that you're continuing your passion!

 

[XL_Lingam]

Thanks! Yes it definitely becomes an obsession! To be honest, ballet drove me a little crazy (although it didn't have that far to drive!). And oh yeah it can be expensive, but a lot of studios are so desperate for male-bodied dancers that they'll cut me some slack and let me take free classes or let me do work study.

 

[wallyj84]

As a kid, I used to build model car kits. They came in a box with everything except glue.
Built hundreds of them. My mother gave them to Goodwill when I left for college.
I don't think they are even made today. Too bad - it was funny.

What do you think happened to this hobby? Why isn't it popular anymore in your opinion?

 

[wallyj84]

My daughter took ballet for six years. That's not a hobby; that's an obsession! And an expensive one at that! I think it's wonderful that you're continuing your passion!

When you really get into it, the only difference between a hobby and an obsession is perspective.