Posted by JD Seller on August 10, 2013 at 21:50:24 from (208.126.196.144):
There was an earlier post about how that poster thought that the attendance was low at his area shows. Others posted similar thoughts on their shows.
Here is my question and observation. Where are there many younger fellows collecting anything??? What I mean by this is there are very few people under 50 collecting tractors or just about any other stuff. I have friends that are into antique cars. They talk about how the market and attendance is dead at their shows. Just some of the very rare stuff seems to have much value holding in either hobby. So hot rod shows seem to still have a younger following but not much else. The local go cart track has not has not had a full season in several years. Used to have races Saturday and Wed. night. Stock car races have half empty stands, used to be standing room only.
I think that there is one common issue that could be causing this. It is the simple fact that the average working guy these days does not have the expendable income to have a hobby collecting anything. Also the work week is longer now than it used to be. Many have to work much more than a 40 hour week. Many places have MANDATORY overtime. So the two coupled together is hurting many things. This includes community groups too.
The Jaycees in Dyersville disbanded a few years ago. Just not enough interest from men under 40 years old to keep the group going.
My sons are working as many hours as I did at their ages but I was able to build a much better standard of living/assets than they are doing. The simple cost of living is WAY higher than it used to be. We do have things we did not have when I was younger like cell phones and cable TV. The cost of these is peanuts compared to the higher cost of other things.
Several examples of this higher cost: 1) Health insurance. I always carried it for the whole family. I dug out some of my insurance bills from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. I paid an average of $250 per month for a Blue Cross and Blue shield policy. A family plan can easily cost $1000 plus each month.
2) The cost of utilities. A $200-300 electric bills are common now. Mine used to never run over $75 for the whole farm.
3) Fuel prices. Gas is 3-4 times as high as it was then. Even with inflation figured in.
4)Cost of a new car or truck. Compared to the average annual income has doubled in price.
So all of this is adding up to the fact that many younger fellows would like to have a hobby but they do not have the time or money to be able to enjoy one.
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