Homebrew PC’s, I used to make plenty of them 15 years ago or so for family friends and random people. You could alway give the end user more bang for their buck than the mainline manufacturers, especially on high spec boxes.
Now (in the UK anyway) you cant even but the components for the same price as the box-shifters retail a software loaded PC with a manufacturers warranty!
Hot iron wood burning.
Meh. People have been wringing their hands about “kids these days” since Cicero, and probably well before. Or, as my brother calls it, “grumpy old man talk”.
As for sewing…my wife (28) sews, and it’s actually pretty popular among her cadre of mom friends in that blurred zone between Gen X and Y.
Hobbies that have declined - stamp collecting, coin collecting. Baseball cards. Not exactly a hobby, but Boy Scouts. Building every ship in the Royal Navy out of matchsticks…
Hey all,
I got back into model building to build wood ships. I am 1 year into my fist wood model and thought that I could build some plastic models in between down time.
Seems like wood modeling in general is dieing out.
My wife is a elementary school teacher and it seems like any hobby that requires some thinking is dieing out. Sad really,as I learned a lot as a kid building models etc. and I hope that when we start a family, our kids will be interested in more than cell phones and video games.
John
So far none of the serious answers meet Manny’s dead hobby criteria, less popular sure but you can still find the stuff fairly easily, they just are not as popular as they once were.
I don’t know about other parts of the country, but in California working on cars is still quite popular. Our climate may have a lot to do with that though, we have a lot more old cars around. Areas that salt the roads really kill off the older cars.
I can think of plenty of less popular hobbies but nothing jumps out as a once popular but now dead hobby.
That is thier hobby.
I swear to god guys… if I see a streaking manny, or streaking hans on the TV any time in the future im going to kill you all
Good question, Manny but I think there is a difficulty answering it since there are so many people out there and any given number of possible hobbies. Since a hobby is an activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, typically done during one’s leisure time, this leaves the door open for all sorts of obscure undertakings, including Lawn Darts.
It would be difficult to say that our hobby is dying, IMO. I believe the strength of the hobby relies on the strength of its community and the strength of its industry…if it even has one. We have the benefit of enjoying a hobby that has both a strong community and a strong industry, at least to this point. Other hobbies may enjoy strength in numbers but may not have a vocal community or the need for an industry. I know several wood carvers who have great skill but never exchange information or techniques, as we do, with other carvers. And that certainly isn’t a hobby fueled by industry. All you need is the know how, the time, some tools and some wood.
Similar to our hobby, in size and industry, is paintball. It was once my hobby but I’ve since lost interest. It was far too expensive and far too much maintenance for me to continue on a regular basis. But as a hobby goes, its growing in popularity - and could in some cases be recognized as sport. New markers are constantly being released along with other new accessories and equipment and one can follow the game by reading one of several publications, much like we do. This hobby relies greatly on community as it is VERY difficult to play paintball by yourself…
There are certainly hobbies out there that I don’t know any one personally participating in but that doesn’t mean they are ‘dead’, just means I’m not looking in the right places. I only know ‘personally’ 2 modelers other than myself, one of them is my father, so that’s not saying much. As long as there are people looking to fill their spare time, then hobbies will continue, whatever they may be. And as long as that hobby brings that person enjoyment, than that’s really all that matters.
OMG!!! LMAO!!!
Pepsi out the nose!!!
Well I didn’t ask it because it would be easy to answer…think harder …
…how about embroidering the backs of blue jean jackets?
Don’t buy it.
Facebook, Twitter, texting etc are just evolutions in communications technology. It’s not like kids/teenagers just started spending every waking moment communicating with one another. 10-15 years ago it was instant messaging and chat rooms. Before that it was the phone. I remember getting fussed at for spending too much time on the phone…looking back I can’t honestly imagine how I ever spent four hours on the phone with one person, even if it was a cute girl.
If anything’s pulling kids out of other hobbies, I think you’d do a lot better to finger video games.
I agree. Know why? Because they pull me out of my hobby and I’m not a kid. I just bought Call of Duty: Black Ops. How am I going to finish my models now? [bnghead]
I don’t think that is a hobby as much as a preference in style. Embroidering certainly still exists.
Homebrewing Beer.
I used to do this 10 years ago, but with the explosion of craft beers since 1995, this has really gone downhill. A lot of local brew shops have closed and now you have to get most everything off the internet (sound familiar?)
If modeling is declining so much, why are model companies coming out with so many new releases? It might be declining in the US, but looks like in Asia it is still strong.
Table top Role Playing Games are far less common than they used to be, although painting gaming miniatures still seems to be going strong.
I believe that the European and Asian markets are whats keeping our modeling hobby as strong as it is now. The walmarts and targets in my area and one toys r us, that i know of, no longer carries ANY models (or anything related). Hobbylobby, a huge hobby store, is also very limited on models (trains, plastic, rockets). speaking of… I have also seen a huge decline in model rockets. Too many burn bans!
I also see the model train community is worried about their hobby dying.
I wonder if there were discussions 10 or 20 years ago about this hobby dying?
not in this area…ready made ammo is ridiculously expensive
Somewhere around 30 years ago the first widely available video games appeared. It’s been down hill ever since. Initial investment is more but video games take up a lot less room, the parents don’t have to participate, and interest is renewed (ie; gets rid of the kid) by the simple introduction of a new game.
I personally think parents are more the cause of hobbies getting weaker. As adults we worry about money and how to make it, prefering to spend time at work rather than with the family or the kids. What little time is left is spent eating and sleeping, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and paying bills.
If the kids grow up seeing mom or dad enjoying a relaxing and exciting hobby they are much more likely to find enjoyment in that activity when they themselves are adults.
My dad didn’t build models and only once sat down at the dining table and began putting together a kit I got for my birthday when I was probably nine. He didn’t really enjoy it and never finished it but the spark caught and I have loved modeling ever since. My uncle continued to foster the love of the hobby and the rest is history. Ofcourse, Baa Baa Black Sheep helped a lot too.
I don’t know how you’re doing it. But reloading is still WAY cheaper than buying factory loads. All the components have gone up in price significantly, but so have factory ammo loads. Shooting as a hobby is seeing some decline due to costs though.
People say camping and other outdoor sports are dying, they aren’t. People say Boy Scouts is dying. It isn’t. It is changing and not in ways an eagle scout from 12 or so years ago (me) likes but it is far from dead.
O yea, boy scouts is very much still alive. We’ve had at least 2 eagle scouts come out of our troop the last 4 consecutive years, my self included