Lets face it. Nothing lasts forever. The Civil War has been pimped for decades and participants have done it Over and Over and Over. People get older, times change, events just stop being held. One here, one there....I know for a fact there are less now than when I started 20 years ago.

Its has gotten hotter, in general. Gas prices have went up 200-300 percent, WAR is an ugly word even more now and I feel that reenacting has became socially unacceptable. Most participants are looked upon as 'wacky'.

Venues have seen revenues dry up, even as they raise fees and offer less.

So now its the 150th coming around...but the hype is drying up. The big "supercharger". the Ken Burns Civil War series....will they trot that out again to add interest?

Old guys think twice about running around in 98 degree heat all weekend. They think twice about the 400 mile car drives, hundreds of dollars out of pocket for 'same old, same old'.

Will the 150th signal 'the end' to organized and semi popular CW reenacting??

The last reenactment I was at about half of the men at arms were under 35. Many of them were younger, mid 20s. Reenacting is a lifestyle for many, not just a hobby. When I did F&I it was for me. I don't think it is going anywhere.
cheers,
chriso

I agree with Chris. I have been reenacting for three decades and haven't noticed any change. If anything there is more of it today then years ago. 20 years ago you would be hard pressed to find five or six reenactments to go to, no matter what time period you were looking for.

Now there are some months that I have to choose between two events going on the same weekend. F&I, Rev War, CW, Span Am, WWI, WWII, even Vietnam; there is something going on nearly every weekend.

I started in 1986 just as the 125th events were starting, and the hobby grew through those years. After the 125th years things leveled out and then tapered off. But I think with the 150th going on the hobby will grow again. I think it comes in waves. Maybe out west there were less to go to 20 years ago, but in the south east I could have easily done 25 civil war events a year 20 years ago now you're hard pressed to find 7 or 8.

As you know Ray Ive been reenacting for about 20 years and for the last 14 doing CW Photography at events.

Here in Virginia where the bulk of large events are I can say for a fact its not as big as it once was. It is still strong but with the current economy people are picking and choosing what events they attend. With the 150th anniversary now here there are many more events but they are a lot smaller.

The 150th Manassas was a huge sucess with over 9000 reenactors. They had to limit that event because of the size of the event site but from what I can see it wouldnt have been much larger even if they had a bigger site.

I am hearing a lot of talk about older guys getting out of the hobby when the 150ths are over. I think it will get smaller but wont die completely. There are a lot of young guys getting into it. Just not enough to ever make it what it once was. Also the day we live in has something to do with the fall off. Kids arent being taught US history like we were. Its not PC to want to celebrate a war that most people think was only fought over slavery. A lot of young people are more interested in video games than playing soldier.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

PS- It would have been really nice if it was in the 90s for Manassas. It got up to 105 and was very humid. It was worse than the event 10 years ago that we were both at. I set up on Wednesday and took everything down on Thursday and came home. I left on my own rather than wait to be carried out. At almost 60 and with some heath problems this past year and just couldnt take the 120 degree heat indexes that we had there.

Bob I think you made a very wise move pulling out. I know for a fact some of those tornado pulldowns I used to do would currently land me in the ER clutching at my chest. I know that....thats why I chose to give it up.

somethings you only get one chance at doing right.

I will tell you though that wet plate will not die off again. THOUGH, it is becoming centered in Europe now, as I am seeing it through my business.

Reenacting is great fun, a great way to socialize for men that has been always in our society, but has faded away in some aspects. Once, we had Lodges, yup, Redmen, Odd Fellows...and so on and on, in fact in my small town of about 2000 during the post cw era, there were over a dozen lodges.

Ralph Kramden was in a lodge.

It was about socializing, drinking, having fun with your pals, drinking, electing your officers, functions, uniforms, rules, drinking...in many ways just what CW reenacting was/is. there is nothing at all wrong with that, in its spirit, but the reenacting has gotten to be a CHORE and many have caved in due to high fuel costs, astoundingly high temperatures and unpredictable weather, greed on the part of organizers squeezing more and more money out of an already overtaxed group of people. Late in his life my Father told me that as you get older you learn how to be comfortable and really seek this out. I dont think Mannassas was comfortable.

It has become Work for many, and once these big events are over...like Bob said, the pullback will be dramatic.

One thing I am seeing, is a lack of respect for the reenactors themselves on behalf of the media and public, who are seeing them as 'crazy' in a whole new light, as the distance between the time of the actual war and today increases. Also like Bob pointed out, History is a subject which has come under scrutiny in how it is taught. Echoes of Stalin...we are rewriting out history as we speak, and straightening out a lot of the ugly things in our past to make them appear more correct to our modern eyes. ....changes are being incorporated into what our children are learning that portray a different climate than what existed during that era in the past, looking at it through our eyes and seeing bad things which during the era, through THEIR eyes, were perfectly acceptable and normal.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2011 09:59AM by Ray Morgenweck.

Ray is absolutely right about the grownth of the process in Europe.

When I stated in 2000 I couldn't find anyone else in England who used the process, and little interst was shown over here until about 3 or 4 years ago.

These days I probably introduce over a dozen students every year to the wet collodion process.

Seán