Biggest threat to the hobby

[ca4penn]

How are numbers in your group? Ours is "kind" of fine. However, I've been in and out of a few units over the years and a pattern I've been seeing is the graying of the hobby. There seems to be less and less twenty year olds. The +35 crowd seems to help make up the numbers. But you just don't see the less than 30 crowd like you used to.

Another problem are the gun laws. The way things are going I expect large size sales of black powder to be illegal in less than five years. We will get the standard line "prevent crime and stop terrorism". Yep, Civil War reenactors have to do their part in stopping drive by musketings and terrorist led artillery bombardments.

[Anders]

WE are our biggest enemy, and as to the younger crowd, most of the "campaigner/Progressive" organizations are made up of over 50% of those under 30.

They are still in the hobby, just looking for something more challenging and realistic, that's all.

Pards,

[Ephraim_Zook]

We've got on our roster six young people in the 16 - 21 year range, and we've seen only two of them, occasionally, for several years now. The rest, contacted by e-mail, claim that they are still interested but haven't the time to participate. So what's the problem?

Here's my take on it: College, summer classes at college, internships, summer jobs. Two of ours are in their high school bands -- with band practice in late summer, then football games almost every fall weekend through Thanksgiving. Many young people barely have time to go to the sinks any more, nevermind spend time at a hobby that may take up 2 or 3 days at a time, including travel to and fro. Then, as they approach their mid to late 20s many start thinking about graduate school.

Maybe the hobby is greying because we greybeards are the only ones who have time to participate. I dunno.

Ron Myzie
Reg. Penna. Dep. Agr.

[major]

Gun laws will certainly come into play in the upcoming years, unless our politicians take the time to read the “Bill of Rights” and adhere to the text their, we may find ourselves reenacting with wooden muskets.

In New York State there is a bill in the Senate that would outlaw anything 50 caliber and up, and muskets are not exempt from it. This is another example of our law makers coming up with a solution in search of a problem. (when was the last time you heard of someone using a musket or even a modern 50 caliber rifle to commit a crime?)
Terry

[31stWisconsin]

That's because 50 caliber rifles can shoot down airplanes and cause buses full of nuns to explode! And they are EVILLLLLLLL. (At least that's what the media told me, so It MUST be true.)

Thank god on the federal level black powder, non-cartridge weapons are considered "antiques"

[bill watson]

Clearly the biggest threat to the hobby is the existence of buttonholes. And, you know, everybody has them, so, we're surely doomed.

I hadn't actually realized the hobby was threatened. It gets ever more expensive, ever more fragmented between those who say the egg must be broken at the large end and those who insist that only the small end will do. It gets more difficult to willingly suspend disbelief as my hair turns white and my knees turn into two sharp pains. I get distracted more easily and it may be that I can actually see the moment coming when there's nothing new left to learn or experience. But whether the hobby is threatened, or it's just following a natural cycle of birth, growth, decline and death, or whether that's all just my perception based on my own journey through life, remains to be seen.

So probably the buttonholes really make as much sense as anything.

[JBW]

Hmmmm…Buttonholes………….

It seems you have two groups contesting whose vision of the future is the one to follow. Both sides are populated by a variety of personalities, from the thoughtful to the rude. Throw in egos, politics, and those who enjoy inflaming the masses, and you have a recipe for conflict. As either side loudly claims to be “THE” only correct one, the more stubborn the other side becomes. The rational voices in the middle tend to get drowned out by the yelling. Neither side has yet proven itself correct. What can we expect next?

We, as historians, should be learning from the past. It seems to me that we can draw lessons from conflicts such as this. One that comes to mind started with a provocation of reinforcing the garrison at a fort and the subsequent firing upon said fort. These actions resulted in the deaths of 600,000. Will we repeat this? I certainly believe not. We will however need to silence the extreme elements of both groups, so common ground can be found and built upon. This is just my opinion. Take it and a dollar to Starbucks and see what you get.

I mean no disrespect to anyone, I'm just ranting out loud.

On the other hand, maybe it is just buttonholes………..

[nyczouave]

Bill I think you're right. I think it is the natural progression of any hobby. It grows and then levels off and then it shrinks as those who have carried the ball for a number of years get burned out. I think the lack of a succesful marketing tool in the recent past (i,e, a Succesful Civil War Movie) also has hurt the recruiting numbers.

I am the recruiting chairman for the 5th NY and I have to tell you it's not really the expense that I see turning off new recruits so much as the desire for us to want them to show up at events. Sure, for some young college students even the most minimal out lay (gas and regrstration fees) may be more than they can afford, I know it would have been for me, but I think for many people, talking about being a reenactor is more appealling then actually going out and doing it. They like the idea of buying the gear and talking on the forums, but the reality of showing up some place 6 to 8 times a year to shoulder a rifle and drill all day in the hot sun is less appealing.

I don't have a solution (I wish I did). I hope the wheel will turn as we get closer to the 150th anniversary. Though I am not holding my breath.

As always just my two cents.

[nyczouave]

So it must be the button holes...

[ley74]

Bill is correct.

Forward march.