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the radical sets their phone to "do not disturb" and plays frisbee-golf or pub trivia I have recently been surprised to learn how robust both the stamp collect

the radical sets their phone to "do not disturb" and plays frisbee-golf or pub trivia I have recently been surprised to learn how robust both the stamp collecting and model railroading hobbies are these days. Living in the HN bubble, I just assumed they were both dead. They're not. Not by a long shot. I wonder what other "old timey" hobbies are still popular.

softfalcon 3y ago
Railroading is and has always been huge as far as I can tell. I know quite a few folks who are into it and the projects they build are featured in our local museums. It turns out that kids LOVE trains and of the 3 history museums in my city, all of them have an exhibit for model trains. One of them (our heritage park) provides funding to the creators, paying them to transport and set up their models in their museum. So far, the room that has such exhibits shows off 20+ large scale train models. It's pretty cool seeing the older train hobbyists training new folks on how to create trees, little homes, automated circuits, etc. What's even more cool is them interacting with the community and sharing their knowledge to wide-eyed little kids. Warms the heart seeing people of all ages bonding over a shared interest.
JohnFen 3y ago
I don't think any "old timey" hobbies are dead, at least not in my area. There are even subcultures like blacksmithing, cobbling, etc. But you won't find any of these online.
RugnirViking 3y ago
that's funny, I saw a thing recently covering the death of stamp collecting, with participants obsessive but aging, very few young people entering the scene and very few interesting stamps (to collectors) being made. I'm confident railroads will continue to be a thing though, its ajacent to wargaming which I know is going strong from my own participation :)
- notadev 3y ago
  > with participants obsessive but aging, very few young people entering the scene I believe amateur/ham radio is experiencing a similar aging out of interest as well.

softfalcon 3y ago

Railroading is and has always been huge as far as I can tell. I know quite a few folks who are into it and the projects they build are featured in our local museums. It turns out that kids LOVE trains and of the 3 history museums in my city, all of them have an exhibit for model trains. One of them (our heritage park) provides funding to the creators, paying them to transport and set up their models in their museum. So far, the room that has such exhibits shows off 20+ large scale train models. It's pretty cool seeing the older train hobbyists training new folks on how to create trees, little homes, automated circuits, etc. What's even more cool is them interacting with the community and sharing their knowledge to wide-eyed little kids. Warms the heart seeing people of all ages bonding over a shared interest.

JohnFen 3y ago

I don't think any "old timey" hobbies are dead, at least not in my area. There are even subcultures like blacksmithing, cobbling, etc. But you won't find any of these online.

RugnirViking 3y ago

that's funny, I saw a thing recently covering the death of stamp collecting, with participants obsessive but aging, very few young people entering the scene and very few interesting stamps (to collectors) being made. I'm confident railroads will continue to be a thing though, its ajacent to wargaming which I know is going strong from my own participation :)

notadev 3y ago
> with participants obsessive but aging, very few young people entering the scene I believe amateur/ham radio is experiencing a similar aging out of interest as well.