Do people collect stamps, build puzzles, or maintain such hobbies anymore?

There is not much time now, for the older hobbies. Just about everyone is tuned into their IPod or computer.

It’s easier to work and do these hobbies online, than physically use our brains.

And, this is not a good thing.

“20 million stamp collectors of the United States” Stamp Collecting Basics

No, these hobbies are not dying out.

That’s hard to believe.

Does anybody know ONE person that collects stamps?

These things are definitely still around. Just the other day I had a coversation about birds and bird watching with someone, we are in our 40’s. My neighbor has several different types of bird feeders to attract specific birds.

There are crafty people all around me, scrapbooking, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting. Maybe the numbers are going down a little for sewing and knitting? I don’t know for sure, but it is definitely still alive.

Model planes and trains and cars I would think are still loved by young people. My husband still buys matchbox cars, I am looking at his collection right now. When we go to that section of the toy store it is a pretty big section, so I figure he is not the only one.

As far as board games. Whenever I visit a friend who has little kids we play board games.

Wouldn’t ham-radios and electric trains qualify as “electric-hobbies?” lol

A lot of those are losing popularity yes, but it’s not 100% a bad thing. Some of the electronic hobbies can be just as constructive. You may look down on someone playing a game like words with friends on their phone… But in reality it’s just scrabble, so they’re probably enhancing their vocabulary and spelling.

Personally, I maintain several “non-electronic” hobbies (as well as several “electronic-hobbies). I’m building an arcade machine, which is a hobby in both categories (construction of it is old fashioned, playing it will definitely be more electronic)... My g/f and I are going to make a garden when we move in together in a few weeks. I collect models of Chinese dragons. I enjoy cigars and collect them (til I smoke them). I collect/read a bunch of graphic novels. I also enjoy playing numerous video games with friends. I play guitar, and I’m in a band that plays/practices regularly.

Everyone has hobbies, it’s not really a bad thing that they’re changing because of modern technology.

I have a friend that loves doing the giant jigsaw puzzles, not my thing at all. I like immediate gratification. lol I like collecting interesting artistic pieces but otherwise not into stamps, coins, models, etc. I also know someone who is into model airplanes, and yes, both these peeps are in their 50’s, so, the older generation I guess you could say.

My stepsister collects puzzles and she’s only 27. I thought it was strange at first, but sometimes when I’m shopping I see a really awesome puzzle and I can see the appeal. She bought my son a round puzzle ball for his birthday last year and I put it together, they are pretty fucking cool. I’ve been looking for a globe puzzle ever since.

Could it be that maybe I am incorrect?

Would no be the first time.

I am getting ready to put work a new jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table. I use to keep one going all the time.

I’m a birder and keep a journal of birds I’ve seen since 1992.

We just learned a new card game the other night, Spite and Malice. We average playing cards with friends at least every other week. I learned to play Mexican Train, a board game, and we are going to teach my husband one night this week at our community pool after we have our nightly swim.

Where I live there are hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of clubs. Every kind of card game imaginable, models and board games clubs to model trains…language, photography, genealogy, Hummel collectors and diving. It is amazing to me. Another world.

Considering I know quite a few families that do model rockets, make models, have train sets, etc…I’d give this question a definitive No.

An aunt (98) is still heavily into stamp collecting. The SO, his dad and I usually do a jigsaw puzzle over the Christmas holiday. The SO also picked up calligraphy again a few years ago. Mom was a big bird-watcher, and a sister and I caught the bug. That sister also has several cooking magazine subscriptions and spends a fair amount of time cutting out recipes and putting them in binders by food types. Another sister was taught by one of her students how to cane chairs, and that became a hobby. For years, I collected memorabilia from an ancestor’s brewery that closed down in the ‘40s. But all of these people are “old”.

Of the people I know from the younger generation, most have hobbies that rely on electronics, unless reading a physical book counts. The only niece or nephew I know that has a hobby as described is a niece who does needlepoint.

I agree with @tedd‘s comment that certain uses of electronics can still be considered hobbies. The SO’s teen nephew has always been fascinated by airplanes. His mum used to drive him to the closest airport so he could “hang out” with them. He started using a flight simulator program, as his dream was to be a pilot. That got shot down due to an eyesight problem. He’s now in a certification program to become a flight attendant. According to him, his knowledge on flight and airplanes has given him an edge.

No, hobbies are alive and well. Here’s a story about “a 12 year old boy who collects vacuums“http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3106431n

Many children and their parents collect fast food toys, old (unfilled) gift cards, and the standards, Beany Babies, matchbook covers and coffee mugs.

Sure!

I used to do puzzles with my ex mother-in-law, color in walll posters with my ex husband, bird watch and collect stones with an ex boyfriend. My husband and I target practice together as our hobby.

No, it is not dying out. Almost everyone I know collects something or has a hobby .. everything like puzzles, coins, stickers, patches, swords, sewing, etc.

I love puzzles and woodworking (especially with wood I find in nature).
My partner collects coins and paper money.

I know a guy who collects train sets and whatever else comes with that type of thing; he’s in his late 30’s. My uncle loves to work on motors of any type.

I am fond of jigsaw puzzles made of wood, like these. I’ve just started one that I got for Christmas and have been saving up. It’s a pretty difficult one that’s going to take me a long while, placing just a few pieces at a time. That’s how I like to do it. But sometimes I’ll sit down and focus on it for hours at a stretch.

My son has often enjoyed doing them with me. He got interested in puzzles when he was two and is in his mid-twenties now.

@Jeruba, the individual pieces of the Liberty Puzzles look beautiful. Just one question though. Do you look at the puzzle image when working the puzzle? I do and can’t imagine what a twist it would make not having the image and only a description. My mom and I worked a 5000 piece puzzle using the image on the box. The image had been completely flipped. It was a mistake made when the box was printed. The color transparencies were flopped when it was printed and we didn’t know until after we started. That was a very difficult puzzle. I can’t imagine having no image.
From your link:

“A Note About Puzzle Images on the Box”

“Traditionally, jigsaw puzzles came without a picture of the puzzle image on the box. Most simply had a title to tease the puzzler about what the image could possibly be. The image then unfolded as the puzzle was put together, creating greater satisfaction with the finished challenge.

“In the spirit of old jigsaw puzzles, we encourage you not to look at the box image when assembling our puzzles! In fact, if you so request we will ship your puzzle without an image on the box. Instead we’ll provide just a title and artist information, as well as the puzzle dimensions. Additionally, if you join one of our puzzle clubs where we ship you puzzles on a periodic basis, you have the option of choosing not to receive the images on the box.”

I knit, cross stitch, embroider, crochet, sew, do puzzles, collect numismatic property and I’m about to teach myself calligraphy. I’m 39 and I’m passing what I’ve learned down to my kids. In my experience many old skills are making a come back with some among the younger generations.

I like drawing, if that counts. The types of hobbies you’re talking about aren’t dead though. True, electronics have pushed their way through, but probably not anymore than other recreational/connivance based stuff that revolutionized things in the past. I’m pretty sure we’ll always have puzzles and stamp collections.

@bkcunningham, I don’t. In the past I have awarded myself one good long look at the picture before I started, and then put the lid out of sight (actually, it stayed upside down with sorted pieces in it). But now I don’t even do that. I have a general idea of what the picture is because I chose it, but I don’t peek while working on it.

Those Liberty puzzles are great, though, well made and of very nice quality. They are lovely to handle, and the art reproductions almost seem to glow like oil paintings. I love the whimsies (which I also remember from ordinary puzzles when I was a little girl). And if you really, really have to have help, you can actually see a diagram of the complete cut puzzle if you click on the images in the individual item pages.

Back in the 1930s, when there was a mad rage for jigsaw puzzles in the U.S., puzzles did come in boxes with no picture. The surprise of seeing what you had was part of the fun. There were puzzle lending libraries, and some people subscribed to puzzles for regular delivery. Cutting the pieces was a cottage industry, one that was especially popular with women, who cut them on a tabletop jig saw. For many people, picture puzzles provided a glimpse of art works that they weren’t going to see any other way.

I go to Michael’s and AC Moore quite a bit. They are craft, hobby, and art stores. My daughter is into crafts.

Those places are always busy with mostly women – from teens to fifty-somethings – buying everything for scrapbooking, floral wreaths, crocheting, letterpress crafts, and more.

So ‘no’, I’d say hands-on, analogue, crafts and hobbies are doing just fine.