The image of the hobby.

[Captain Kernow]

It's fascinating how the other 99.9% live!

 

I would be interested in the money saving aspect, were it not for the fact that I am institutionally lazy when it comes to shaving at the moment.

 

So, if shaving is a 'thing', I wonder if other activities concerning one's toilet are in the same category?

 

What about brushing one's teeth. Or washing one's hands?

 

I've managed to overcome some of my initial shock from this morning now, so I think I can stretch to an emoticon.

 

 

[SM42]

I to am quite suprised that shaving is a thing that creates such a following, but I suppose like many hobbies, it boils down to an interest in something that most people see as a mundane part of daily life.

 

Like catching a train for instance.

 

In terms of railway modelling, most of my aquaintances who aren;t modellers,  don't find it unusual that people have hobbies or in any way look down on mine. In fact one even likened the discipline and everyday problems of golf clubs to that of model railway clubs.

 

I'm not so sure my club has a dress code though, but it does have a (dry ) bar.

 

Andy

 

 

[steve45]

The Hairy Bikers were on the 'One Show' this week and Dave Myers announced that during lockdown he had started to build a model railway and now had 6 engines (yes he used the correct word), there was no adverse comments from anyone.

I think the foundations were laid with the Great Model Railway Challenge

[durham light infantry]

20 hours ago, steve45 said:

The Hairy Bikers were on the 'One Show' this week and Dave Myers announced that during lockdown he had started to build a model railway and now had 6 engines (yes he used the correct word), there was no adverse comments from anyone.

I think the foundations were laid with the Great Model Railway Challenge

 

On at least 2 occasions when I have exhibited at the FMRC exhibition in Barrow (possibly 2015 and 2016), Dave Myers has visited the show and spent time there.

[Zomboid]

Geeky hobbies in general are becoming more acceptable (not really the right word). I think it's partly down to things like social media allowing the wider world to see what fun can be had and that it's actually mostly normal people doing them.

[fezza]

I also think society generally has become more tolerant. In the early 1990s I used to joke to a gay friend  that coming out as a railway enthusiast was just as difficult and less socially acceptable. Perhaps that was in slightly bad taste but the media would shamelessly ridicule train spotters in that era. I even remember a job advert that said train spotters need not apply. Fortunately the world is now less judgmental in many respects. 

[TEAMYAKIMA]

On 25/10/2020 at 18:01, Neil said:

Today this article appeared in The Observer, describing the growth of interest in model railways and sales of equipment during lockdown. There's no fun poked or tired cliches present just honest, factual reporting.  It's just the latest in a growing mainstream media interest in railways and model railways. It made me wonder if the public perception of our hobby isn't a whole lot better than we think or worry it may be. If you're of my age you'll remember  when 'railway enthusiast' was shorthand for 'socially inept, probably still lives with his parents' or worse. However I sense something different and more positive at play now.

 

I totally agree an excellent article - for its target audience!!!

 

It's target audience is not 10-16 year olds.

 

It's target audience is not readers of MRJ

 

It's target audience is  40-65 year olds who have more time on their hands now and may be looking for new interests inside the home.

 

JOB DONE as far as I'm concerned.

[The Johnster]

10 to 16 year olds are by and large nobody's target audience because they don't listen to anyone; I certainly didn't at that age.  But it is when I was spotting and was the genesis of my 'proper' modelling.  But that was the 60s, and the years 1965-8 saw the period between the end of steam locally and nationally, and I was 13 in 1965.  As the steam action retreated further away from Cardiff and spotting trips grew longer, they began to involve long weekend trips starting with the 00.05 Cardiff-Liverpool and ending with the 20.45 ex Crewe Manchester-Cardiff on the Sunday night.  A group of under-16s, or sometimes myself flying solo, unsupervised by aduts for the weekend and expected to be capable of living off the land, eating in factory canteens, and sleeping in carriage sidings. 

 

Nowadays, our parents would be reported to social services and we would be taken into care, though we were perfectly competent to look after ourselves.  A parent would turn up in a car at Cardiff General to meet us off the Manchester on the Sundey evening as the last buses had long gone, and deposit us at our various homes where experienced mothers would have hot baths drawn (we were none too fragrant by this time)  and various broths or stews to fill us up with.  The railway hobby is less available to youngsters these days, for fear of the boogie man (who existed then as much as he does now, but is much more publicised) and the general state of society.  You don't see groups of teenagers on the ends of platforms with notebooks and pencils any more, you see middle aged gents with laptops or tablets and several k's worth of camera, binocular/telescope, and video kit.  Our old biscuit tin sandwich boxes have been replaced by plastic.

 

It's a shame in a way; we learned a lot about self reliance, planning, problem solving on the fly, budgeting, and how to get on with strangers, but I get it.  The world has become scarier and expectations, no, demands of safety for teenagers are higher and parents more concerened.  Everything is less teenager friendly than it was then, and we would have held that it was pretty teenager unfrinedly then as well.  The net has made a quantum difference; parents who used to chuck their offspring out to play in the streets of an evening so that they could watch tv undisturbed now cloister them in bedrooms with computers or smartphones so that they lead a varied and interesting cyber existence and are less adept at dealing with realiy.  Except for those who are 'street', and you don't want your kids mixisng with them...

 

Do as we say, not as we did.  Note that the current Covid-related resurgence in RTR sales is very much rooted in the 50s ideal of the father/son bonding project, as fathers have time on their hands after being furloughed or made redundant.  The kids probably mostly enjoy it and many will develop into future modellers long after Johnster is a'moulderin' in his grave, but they don't get much real say in the project.  Don't expect a re-appearance of hordes of pubescents on the ends of platforms any time soon. 

 

Pre-covid, I'd occasionally wander out the ends on Cardiff Central to relive the memories, and ould encounter middle aged enthusiasts, sometimes with offspring, but never the offspring on their own or even in groups like we used to!

[fezza]

To be honest the problem today is the lack of loco hauled trains of any description. When I started bashing Pacers I realised I needed to seek help... 

[boxbrownie]

On 27/10/2020 at 10:07, Ruston said:

 "wet shaving"? I never would have imagined that shaving would be a hobby, let alone that there's a forum for it. I thought it's just something that you have to do if you don't want to grow a beard.

 

Presumably then there are dry shaving forums, where guys admire each other's Remington and Philips electric shavers? Which ones are the P4 equivalents of shaving?

I must admit I had visions of our celebrated member hiding in the bushes with soapy cup and cut throat in hand just waiting for the next “victim” to wander along 

[boxbrownie]

On 28/10/2020 at 22:45, steve45 said:

The Hairy Bikers were on the 'One Show' this week and Dave Myers announced that during lockdown he had started to build a model railway and now had 6 engines (yes he used the correct word), there was no adverse comments from anyone.

I think the foundations were laid with the Great Model Railway Challenge

I saw that as well and was going to mention it, but as to “there was no adverse comments from anyone” I am not so sure, his partner and buddy did give a funny look and asked the host not to ask him anything about the hobby  or he wouldn’t stop talking about it 

 

But it was in jest.....I bet at his club nights every one looks forward when it’s his turn to “bring the cakes” 

[HonestTom]

I think the Internet has made "geeky" hobbies more acceptable in general, from model railways to comics to, well, wet shaving. I think that's because before the Internet, people's views of hobbies were shaped exclusively by the mainstream media. And the mainstream media, in turn, favoured negative stereotypes because they were easy to understand and more eye-catching. The vast majority of hobbyists didn't get a look-in, because nobody wants to read about a regular person who happens to be into trains - they'd rather laugh at the anorak-wearing manchild. And as the mainstream media controlled the public image of such hobbies, there was no voice for the vast majority who didn't fit the stereotype.

 

With the rise of the Internet, though, anyone can put themselves out there as a railway modeller, through forums, blogs, YouTube, whatever. The image of the hobby is no longer controlled by people with no interest in it.

 

[fezza]

1 hour ago, HonestTom said:

The vast majority of hobbyists didn't get a look-in, because nobody wants to read about a regular person who happens to be into trains - they'd rather laugh at the anorak-wearing manchild. 

 

Oi! As an anorak-wearing manchild I resent the implication of that! 

 

Yes the media live off stereotypes - it is easy, lazy journalism. I also think most specialist hobbies have their eccentrics. 

 

 

[steve1]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

I must admit I had visions of our celebrated member hiding in the bushes with soapy cup and cut throat in hand just waiting for the next “victim” to wander along 

 

With set up like this maybe? 

 

steve

 

[boxbrownie]

4 minutes ago, steve1 said:

 

With set up like this maybe? 

 

steve

 

Certainly would speed up my walk home.....

[Northmoor]

13 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes the media live off stereotypes - it is easy, lazy journalism. I also think most specialist hobbies have their eccentrics. 

My impression of the media, or more specifically the TV industry, is that like us, they think their jobs have an important role.  However unlike other professions, they seem to think theirs is the only important one.

[westerner]

Why do people in the hobby want to refer to our hobby as Geeky?

[Dunsignalling]

18 minutes ago, westerner said:

Why do people in the hobby want to refer to our hobby as Geeky?

In this day and age, any activity requiring manual skills that don't involve the propulsion of various sizes of balls, and do require  the acquisition of any kind of specialist knowledge, gets labelled "geeky".

 

However, the label is usually applied by an increasingly witless "mainstream" or a dumbed-down media industry unhealthily obsessed with banal minutiae about "celebrities" that are really nothing of the sort.

 

Given that I don't regard any of the above as deserving of my respect, I take it as a compliment rather than an insult.

 

John

 

 

[Zomboid]

8 hours ago, westerner said:

Why do people in the hobby want to refer to our hobby as Geeky?

Because it is. It's no bad thing either these days. It's mostly about intelligence and skill, and doesn't have a large mandatory social aspect.

[HonestTom]

23 hours ago, westerner said:

Why do people in the hobby want to refer to our hobby as Geeky?

Because "geek" and "nerd" are no longer insults. The progression of the word "geek" is quite interesting. It originally referred to sideshow performers who essentially made their living debasing themselves. Then it attached itself to other people outside of mainstream society, and particularly to those who were into offbeat interests. And as sideshows fell out of fashion, most people became familiar with the word in its newer sense. But then, with the rise of the Internet, offbeat hobbies became mainstream and so being a geek just became a description of anyone with a strong interest in something that's not traditionally mainstream. It's almost become a badge of pride in some circles. I'll happily describe myself as such.

[Phatbob]

"Blessed are the geek".

J H Christ 
30AD

['CHARD]

The geek shall inherit the earth.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I work (for the moment at least) mainly with younger people (18-30) and I make no secret of my hobby and I have never received any negativity with regards my interests. Indeed, I have had lots of good comments and interest,

 

But (and I think it's quite a big but) I sell it to them by telling them that I am telling a story of a place and a time that they no knowledge of - CHINA in 2005 - I do not talk to them about loco numbers, or wheel diameters or train times - I tell them that my layout shows them not only a place that they have never visited, but also a time which has gone,  never to return.

 

Selling my hobby in that way makes them interested and wanting to know/see more.

Edited November 4, 2020 by TEAMYAKIMA

[JinglingGeordie]

What they said. Also, we are living in a technocracy, and knowledge of a more technical subject is not seen as a weakness. Who would have predicted prime minister and First ministers appearing with scientists, technical experts on daily briefings? 

TV shows where "geeks" prevail without being mocked or in self deprecating humour is now very popular. 

 

The humour (sic) of the 80s and 90s was basically bullying wrapped in a "Yo trendy cutting edge hardcore" No it was bullying easy targets. Fortunately that seems to be mostly dead now. 

 

 

[Zomboid]

On 02/11/2020 at 16:15, The Johnster said:

10 to 16 year olds are by and large nobody's target audience because they don't listen to anyone; I certainly didn't at that age

They also don't have any money/ spending authority.

 

Always baffles me why the music industry aims its product at people with no money (teenagers & young 20s). I bet live venues do better business when a band with a following largely aged over 30 comes to town...