Are most reenactors also collectors and vice versa?

Jack7171

Corporal
Joined
Feb 28, 2021
I don't reenact (yet), as my business sucks every minute of time I can give it, but I do have an amateur collection I've put together over the years, because that can be done during my spare time from 10pm to 6am when I'm not working. Do most reenactors also collect, and vice versa, do most collectors also reenact? Not knowing any other collectors or reenactors in my area, I was always curious if most did both, or are they separate groups of folks. It's one of those dumb things I've always been curious about.
 
I believe both "skirmishing" (i.e. target shooting with original or repro weapons) and reenacting came out of the collecting community about the time of the Civil War Centennial in the early 1960's. Original items were much more affordable, and some collectors enjoyed shooting their weapons or putting their stuff to use in a living history context. Reproductions were developed to "fill the holes" of things which were not readily available or affordable. Many of the same people were probably initially involved in both hobbies, but then they split due to different levels of interest in the different activities.

I could be wrong - I wasn't personally involved in the hobby until 1991.

Many reenactors seem to be "frustrated collectors" in the sense that they buy the best reproductions available of original stuff they can't afford :smile:.
 
I was a collector at first, then I got into reenacting later. The items were affordable many years ago. They are not so much now. Everything has a beginning someplace, and mine was in collecting. First WWII, then the Civil War.
 
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