deja vu all over again

[Reynard]

Does this sound somewhat familiar?

 

* Young people are being priced out..., with rising prices attributed to a lack of competition among manufacturers and the increasing cost of materials and shipping.

 

* A lack of young people ... has been blamed for the closure of a popular exhibition and major retailers.

 

* The tick of the demographic time bomb is getting more prominent.

 

* We are an ageing membership and we have to be realistic about what we can deliver in the future.

 

Well, it's not from a commentary on the old car hobby. Hobbyists of other interests share our plight. Click the link below and read what model railroaders are saying in England. From what I have seen, the situation is shared by many here in the US from antique furniture collectors, stamp collectors, drag racers, Harley motorcycle riders, etc. 

"Times, they are a-changin' "

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/end-of-the-line-for-model-railways/ar-AA1mWm0e?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ca1f01a338814f05ba04fc7e13efc8f5&ei=83.

 

 

[Terry Bond]

The sky is falling.

[Bhigdog]

No, the sky is not falling. But, it certainly is changing. Practice wishful thinking at your own peril. Adapt or die.....bob

[Crusty Trucker]

37 minutes ago, Terry Bond said:

The sky is falling.

 

...and it will hit the hardest on those of the next generation when they run out of people to buy all the stuff they are presently buying or inheriting from today's hobbyists.

Just try to sell a stamp collection or your wife's good china or silver.

Edited January 15 by Crusty Trucker (see edit history)

[Walt G]

Entertainment is at the click of a button, on a phone or a larger computer, lap top whatever. If people - younger or any age are not welcomed by those of us who have had interests for years and had mentors to guide us ( now most long gone), how can one expect the future generations to have any interest at all? Their creativity is there, also the desire to know more , but has to be encouraged - a smile helps and an extended hand offering to talk to them or show them how or what helps.

I taught 1,100 kids ages 5 to 12 every week for over 30 years. There were extra classes they could pay to attend on weekends in the winter months to make something, not all kids were into sports activities , i never was.

NY State says you have to have local history classes in the 4th grade, I gave a talk on that as well. One of the things I did to "connect" them was ask them to write their address on a piece of paper - no names. I then looked up the address of their house in a phone book that was from 60+ years earlier and would also list who lived in the house then and the occupation. I then let the kids know who that was and it was THEIR history of THEIR house. they went home and told their parents and it was then a family connection for all..

One has to think out of the box ( yeah I do that most of the time all my life)

It is up to all of us to pass the torch of interest and learning and it can be really fun for all if presented and offered the right way......

[1912Staver]

Absolutely biggest obstacle around here is that very very few under 40 or so have a house. Average single family house price { province wide , 5.5 million people} , is pennies under $ 1,000,000.00  Canadian { $750,000.00 U.S. } , with nearly all the lower end places way out in the wilderness. British Columbia is a very big place. 

 Old cars and Apts. or even Town houses just don't mix. The few houses for rent are at least 3K a month { usually more } and usually if a landlord sees you working on a old car you are out.

 Younger people for the most part just don't have any place to keep or work on a hobby vehicle. Rent a shop on a farm ? There are quite a few around me but rents start at about $1500.00 / month and climb rapidly from there.

 During my sell off last year a fair number of young people came by. Lots of interest. But none bought , liked what I was selling and really liked my asking prices . But none of them had any available space. Everything I sold went to buyers 50 and above except for a couple of vintage dirt bike projects.

Edited January 15 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[7th Son]

1 hour ago, Walt G said:

Entertainment is at the click of a button, on a phone or a larger computer, lap top whatever. If people - younger or any age are not welcomed by those of us who have had interests for years and had mentors to guide us ( now most long gone), how can one expect the future generations to have any interest at all? Their creativity is there, also the desire to know more , but has to be encouraged - a smile helps and an extended hand offering to talk to them or show them how or what helps.

I taught 1,100 kids ages 5 to 12 every week for over 30 years. There were extra classes they could pay to attend on weekends in the winter months to make something, not all kids were into sports activities , i never was.

NY State says you have to have local history classes in the 4th grade, I gave a talk on that as well. One of the things I did to "connect" them was ask them to write their address on a piece of paper - no names. I then looked up the address of their house in a phone book that was from 60+ years earlier and would also list who lived in the house then and the occupation. I then let the kids know who that was and it was THEIR history of THEIR house. they went home and told their parents and it was then a family connection for all..

One has to think out of the box ( yeah I do that most of the time all my life)

It is up to all of us to pass the torch of interest and learning and it can be really fun for all if presented and offered the right way......

 

Nice thoughts,all, Walt. We and, I'm sure, all of your students over the years appreciate your attempts to connect them with the past. Unfortunately the world is changing. I, like all my schoolmates, and countless others grew up in post-war subdivisions where the history reached back to fruit orchards and cow pastures or Indian hunting grounds before that. Most of the history classes I remember consisted of the glorification of  "the Miners, '49'ers", conquering Japan and Germany, and later Sputnik and the feared Russians. Early on, slack time consisted of playing "Cowboys and Indians" in the back yard and later, the freedom of long bike rides to as far as we could go and still get back in time for dinner. (no helmets, no wristwatches, no GPS).

 

Today's kids, more than likely, live in a six story apartment building, hopefully with a security cameras, if not gates, spend ALL of their off time (as well as school time) under the watchful eyes of adults who, in many cases are overworked, underpaid and often distracted. Many rarely exercise outside of a gym, much less on natural turf. How many are being raised with one or more siblings by a single parent or grandparent?

 

Shop classes don't exist anymore, for the most part. Their hands are kept busy on keyboards, not tools, paint brushes or holding books. The TV tube is often the center of their universe. These observations come from direct experience.

These are not only "poor" kids. These are the product of working parents, trying their darndest to raise proper young people. Visit a grade school, talk to a teacher or a 20's/30's something parent. Things are not as they were.

 

As stated above, space seems to be at a premium. A kid making minimum wage can hardly afford the car he relies on to get to work or school plus gas and insurance, much less a project car, tools and a place to put it. Also, unfortunately, there are never enough "mentors" to go around.

 

"Present and offer" all you can is a good motto, unfortunately seeds must fall on fertile ground to grow and thrive.

The best seeds sprinkled on asphalt or cement will not.

 

 

 

Edited January 15 by 7th Son (see edit history)

[Mr. Don]

"Times are a changing!" -of course they are! Having time AND money AND space for our hobbies is something that we have been fortunate to have, but our great grandparents, (in most cases), they did not! My grandparents were all small kids before the Wright brothers flew. And though the car was a known commodity very few were seen in Parkers Prairie Minnesota, at least not till the teens. And all the generations before them? Worldwide?

 

Maybe not even that far back? Before WW2, not too much leisure time, -so it's really been since the 50's that this hobby, most hobbies, have had a chance to be realized. 

 

Maybe this is an adjustment of cultures? Economies have ups and downs, and adjustments. Populations change, interests change. How and where we spend our money and time? -those things too change over time.

 

However, an interest in the past has always been part of all cultures! A desire to learn "old ways" and preserve them is not completely gone. And craftsmanship, and quality, those two concepts are never gone! -sometimes they're hibernating, or they are not embraced here, but they are "over there".

 

[Walt G]

I based my comments on the area on long island where i live and at least a 30 mile radius around as well. Most of it was all built up by the 1950s - cape cod style houses were the last type and a few high ranch houses came when larger plots of land were subdivided. SO most of the houses here are from the late Victorian era up to the early 1950s. Our village was created in 1907. In NY State you have to have local history on the 4th grade level - not the schools choice to not do that it is state law. This may not apply to all areas of the USA but as mentioned I am supplying what applies here. If you are an incorporated village in NY state there is a separate number of laws that also have to apply or you are in VIOLATION. One of those N Y laws is that you have to have a village historian this started in 1919. We all look at what applies to the area we live in and can overlook that other areas may not have the same circumstances.

I rarely had any local history to learn of when growing up as well, closest it came was an anniversary journal published when the village was 50 years old in 1957. This is why that 4th grade history lesson was created and that was done decades later. WE do have apartment houses in our village but not 6 stores or more high. Kids who live in those have to learn about the local history as well. I hope this clarifies things a bit .

My whole point is that in order for the cars to be appreciated we have to be the ambassadors to make kids and other people feel they can talk to us to find out about them, I guess I didn't make that clear enough.

[Gary56]

I don't know what can be said about this new generation, they live for electronic toys.  From the time they are of age they have to have a cell phone, tablet or laptop.  If you give them a wrench they want to know where the keys are at.

[Mr. Don]

Out here in the "Wild West", which actually we are far, far, wilder and more dangerous now than we ever were in the past, a bit north of me, in the sleepy town of El Segundo, (named after the second Standard Oil refinery . . .) -there sits in one of the now quiet, semi-industrial neighborhoods, a very fine little museum.

 

The Driving Musem.

 

All cars there are drivable, and every Sunday, weather permitting, they give rides! Not everything, but one or two of the cars, and if there is a specific one, you'd like to ride in, you can ask to be notified, and of course this all has to be coordinated with the actual owners. Being just a small distance from LAX, it's a nice visit.

They do organize tours with city kids, not too many, but it's something. (As an aside, you would be dismayed how many of those kids, "city kids", living just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, have never seen it!) (Those kids, and really everybody involved learn something, get a feel for something gone, and hopefully the seed of something is sown.)

 

https://autodrivingmuseum.org

 

Run by a man named Zimmermann! Must be a great guy!

Edited January 15 by Mr. Don (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

10 hours ago, Reynard said:

Does this sound somewhat familiar?

 

* Young people are being priced out..., with rising prices attributed to a lack of competition among manufacturers and the increasing cost of materials and shipping.

 

* A lack of young people ... has been blamed for the closure of a popular exhibition and major retailers.

 

* The tick of the demographic time bomb is getting more prominent.

 

* We are an ageing membership and we have to be realistic about what we can deliver in the future.

 

Well, it's not from a commentary on the old car hobby. Hobbyists of other interests share our plight. Click the link below and read what model railroaders are saying in England. From what I have seen, the situation is shared by many here in the US from antique furniture collectors, stamp collectors, drag racers, Harley motorcycle riders, etc. 

"Times, they are a-changin' "

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/end-of-the-line-for-model-railways/ar-AA1mWm0e?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ca1f01a338814f05ba04fc7e13efc8f5&ei=83.

 

 

 

  This comes up often.   Heck, I remember the "old" folks saying the same thing.  IN THE

1950's!!

 

  Ben

[8E45E]

8 hours ago, Walt G said:

I rarely had any local history to learn of when growing up as well, closest it came was an anniversary journal published when the village was 50 years old in 1957. This is why that 4th grade history lesson was created and that was done decades later. WE do have apartment houses in our village but not 6 stores or more high. Kids who live in those have to learn about the local history as well. I hope this clarifies things a bit .

My whole point is that in order for the cars to be appreciated we have to be the ambassadors to make kids and other people feel they can talk to us to find out about them, I guess I didn't make that clear enough.

Tulsa also turned 50 in 1957.   They tried that, by giving away a buried Plymouth 50 years later that didn't stand up in its underground, water-filled vault too well.

 

Craig

[CarNucopia]

8 hours ago, Gary56 said:

I don't know what can be said about this new generation, they live for electronic toys.  From the time they are of age they have to have a cell phone, tablet or laptop.  If you give them a wrench they want to know where the keys are at.

I’ve got to disagree with you on this. I’ve been a Miata owner for 30+ years and have a few JDM cars. As such, I spend a lot of time talking to enthusiasts under age 30. Honestly, I'm astounded at the level of complexity in their projects. That age group loves to modify their cars and do things like engine swaps. The other thing that boggles my mind is the amount of money they spend on their “builds”.
 

It’s not a lack of skill that keeps them out of the old stuff, it’s a lack of interest. I’d wager there are more car enthusiasts under the age of 30 than ever before.

[TAKerry]

My son is 31. Never showed an interest in cars at all. The only car he would even think about was a late model GTO. Last summer he finally bought one and has completely immersed himself in car culture. He loves the JDM stuff. He reads my classic stuff and probably would own something 'old' some day but for now its 'modernish' stuff that excites him.

[8E45E]

3 hours ago, TAKerry said:

My son is 31. Never showed an interest in cars at all. The only car he would even think about was a late model GTO. Last summer he finally bought one and has completely immersed himself in car culture. He loves the JDM stuff. He reads my classic stuff and probably would own something 'old' some day but for now its 'modernish' stuff that excites him.

'Modernish' to us, but not to him.  For him, it will always be a 'car of his youth' like a 1964 GTO is to yours and my youth.

 

Craig

[West Peterson]

9 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

 

  This comes up often.   Heck, I remember the "old" folks saying the same thing.  IN THE

1950's!!

 

  Ben

 

Yup. If you read enough of the old magazines from the 1950s, everyone in a while you'll find the same comments either in editorials or the letters section.