Attracting people to our hobby

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atopolosky
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by atopolosky »

When I was in college, I was going to swap meets with my new brother-in-law who collected records. I first talked him into buying a cherry wood upright for $20. Later he bought an Edison Standard and a box of cylinders from Jim Eastland, an old gentleman who lived alone in the mountains of Arizona. Jim befriended me and I would go out to his place and he would show me how to take apart and reassemble machines. I became infected with his love of the old machines. I met many people through the want ads of Antique Phonograph Monthly and now the Talking Machine Forum. Luckily I have collected slightly more than I have sold over the last 40+ years. My advice - befriend a young collector or admirer and pass on your phonograph infection. Al

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OrthoSean
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by OrthoSean »

atopolosky wrote:My advice - befriend a young collector or admirer and pass on your phonograph infection. Al
I really couldn't agree with you more, Al, and I've done this several times. There are plenty of younger people out there interested in this stuff, I can attest to it. While financial means may limit what they can actually afford to buy, I'm happy to give them things to help them along. I know I already said this a few pages back, but I'll add some further thoughts. When I was a kid and getting into this stuff, I did whatever I could to find it. I worked delivering papers, mowing lawns, shoveling driveways, anything to get a few buck to sock away. Eventually, I started finding better and better stuff and family members started giving me records and machines. My Uncle would go to farm auctions in Vermont and Upstate NY and pick up machines that usually needed help and give them to me. I later met an older collector who taught me a lot and I've always been thankful for that. This was the mid 1980s, no internet, no forums, etc. You'd run into other collectors at local auctions and sales and I met quite a few, but most of them had no interest in helping a "kid" like me. It's kind of amusing runnning into some of them now, who still remember me (and still see me) as that "kid"! :lol:

Over those years while I was in school, I'd fix the machines my Uncle would get for me and sell them in the newspaper to make a few bucks. Before I knew it, I had local antique dealers watching out for machines for me and a little extra money to start buying better things. It took a long time, but I was determined. Most of this was the result of being encouraged by mainly just one older collector and a couple of family members. My parents were never exactly thrilled by my hobby and there were many battles over "new" machines coming into the house. Almost 30 years and probably a couple of hundred machines later, I'm still at it and still loving it. Thinking back, it's easy now to see how much some things have changed and some have not. There are still collectors out there that have a selfish "mine" attitude about anything and everything they come across, which I dealt with a lot years ago. I've noticed in more recent years, through forums like this and Facebook groups, however, that there is a greater trend of generosity coming from older collectors to younger and newer ones. It's nice to see and I'm glad I can be a part of that.

Sean

retro92
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by retro92 »

This is a very interesting thread to read. I've lurked on this site for a year or more and didn't feel a need to post until now. I'm 21 and bought an Edison Fireside last year, and have met some very generous local older collectors who've given me advice and helped me get it running well again.

It's true that there aren't many young people in the hobby, largely because of the cost. Buying my machine was a big deal but I already had a lot of cylinders and they deserve to be played! I'm so glad I did buy it.

Someone mentioned in an earlier post about Bioshock Infinite - no other game I've seen has done such a great job of featuring early 20th century style music, and a couple of my friends have become interested in gramophones and phonographs as a result of it.

Scott

Aaron
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by Aaron »

Quite an interesting topic at hand. I have been involved in the hobby since around the age of 13, and in April I will turn 20. I seriously believe that the lack of young people in the hobby is a generational constraint. Our hobby is one not solely based on messages boards, and internet correspondence, as is typical of many. Ours is a very social network of individuals, that get together, and have fun due to our similarities. Most people my age are so anti-social. My friends often make comments about how lucky i am to know so many people around the world, with such a strong common interest. Whenever this topic comes about, i tell them that its not at all luck, but instead my big mouth :lol: . I love people, and i feel as though the phonograph word has some of the finest individuals i have ever come in contact with. Something i wish the world would understand is that we're all people, pants are put on one leg at a time by all of you, as well as myself, and when there is a common interest among us, we connect even better. Though i haven't been active on the forum as of late, my interests in phonographs and the hobby are still as strong if not stronger than they've ever been. Perhaps just not on the internet side of it. Mostly i am back on the forum to procrastinate college homework, and let me tell you, i truly appreciate you all for that. :D

Aaron

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FloridaClay
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by FloridaClay »

Aaron wrote:Mostly i am back on the forum to procrastinate college homework, and let me tell you, i truly appreciate you all for that. :D

Aaron
:lol: Ah yes, I remember those days--and I still do it when something is at hand I know I have to do but really don't want to start.

Glad to have you with us Aaron. Stop by when you can.

Clay
Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume's Laws of Collecting
1. Space will expand to accommodate an infinite number of possessions, regardless of their size.
2. Shortage of finance, however dire, will never prevent the acquisition of a desired object, however improbable its cost.

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alang
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by alang »

It's funny how things happen sometimes. I just got contacted by the local Winterthur Museum in Delaware http://www.winterthur.org. They do lots of workshops and projects with schools. In their next program they have one called "East Egg, West Egg" about F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. They bought a VV-50 to use with the kids in the program. They were devastated when the machine came to a grinding halt whenever they put the needle on the record. Of course, the usual problems like old loud tone needle, reproducer in wrong 90 degree angle, 100 year old lubrication, late 78 records. All easy fixes, no problem. What excites me is that they will actually have the kids explore the phonograph and write about comparisons with today's iPods etc. Sure, to most it will be just another annoying day at school, but maybe the spark will land on someone and ignite a deeper interest in the subject. Worst case it will help reduce ignorance in the world a little bit. In any case, a worthwhile effort.

Andreas

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Player-Tone
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by Player-Tone »

My college offers a “History of Jazz” class so I emailed the professor and offered to bring in my VV-50 to play several early jazz records from the 20s era. It would have been a great first hand historical experience for the students; however the professor never emailed me back. I wasn’t enrolled in that class and didn't want to force the idea on them –Oh well, their loss. :(

zenith82
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by zenith82 »

Starkton wrote:I know from an older poll that only 15% of the members of this forum are under 30. These few are the future of our hobby, because another poll shows that 85% of us bought their first phonograph or gramophone at the age of 29 or younger. I find this alarming and predict an unstoppable decline of our hobby.
I don't know anyone 29 or younger who can comfortably afford gas for their vehicles, let alone a hobby where the entry level machines are a couple hundred bucks and go up from there!

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alang
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by alang »

zenith82 wrote:
Starkton wrote:I know from an older poll that only 15% of the members of this forum are under 30. These few are the future of our hobby, because another poll shows that 85% of us bought their first phonograph or gramophone at the age of 29 or younger. I find this alarming and predict an unstoppable decline of our hobby.
I don't know anyone 29 or younger who can comfortably afford gas for their vehicles, let alone a hobby where the entry level machines are a couple hundred bucks and go up from there!
I know lots of people in that age group who can afford to camp outside an Apple store in their designer cloths only to be among the first to buy a new iPhone for 800 bucks - just to replace one that's a year old and works just fine. I understand that there are many who have a hard time affording a phonograph, but for many it's also about choices. And there are also cheaper ways to get into the hobby. There are still many uprights and consoles to be had for under 100$ if one is willing to invest some work into them. Of course these will not be VV-XVIIIs or Pooley's, but they work just the same and allow to play the records, enjoy the music, and learn for future better machines.

Andreas

obmcclintock
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Re: Attracting people to our hobby

Post by obmcclintock »

Andreas, finally someone cut through the cra-- and tells it like it is. Thank you!! Kids have the money for a lot of other things. As you say, it is all about priorities. If you want it badly enough you can have it. How is the plight of the younger generation any different than what we old timers knew? 45 years ago I would sometimes take rent money and buy a phonograph. My wife was upset, my dad would have called me crazy, as well as some on here probably, but I persevered and both got paid for. It took some guts but if someone wants something badly enough it will happen. The rent always got paid, there was always food on the table, today we have very few bills, my house is paid off, and I have a nice phonograph collection. I am not bragging here please understand, I am just saying that if you want something badly enough you can make it happen. Dave

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