If you are going to reenact a war, the outcome is already known and history. As the old saying goes, it's not whether you win or lose that counts. It's how you play the game. Thus I can see how reenactment could be a popular pastime. Not being from the deep south Civil War reenactment hasn't been a big part of my experiences. I am more familiar with an activity called cosplay which is simply dressing the part of a character you admire. The point there is to dress exactly like the character but there are groups that act out scenarios too. It's all play acting, but in cosplay there is no predetermined outcome as would be the case in the Civil War theater.
I think I might enjoy target shooting, or at least I did when I had occasion to do it at carnivals and the like. A good friend of mine took a serious interest in it after his stint in Viet Nam. I went with him to a few shooting ranges where he let me shoot his rifle. The problem with it all is the cost. Not only is the gun itself expensive but also the ammunition. Then you must pay to use the shooting range. I guess it could be fun if you have the means to enjoy it.
There is a gun shop not too far from here that has a sign in giant sized lettering, "Tactical Gear." At first I was curious about why they would be selling such things and who exactly is buying it. It didn't take long for my curiosity to turn into fear.
The Price Is Right
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Re: The Price Is Right
Yes, the civil war reenactments are more like a stage play performed in an open field outdoors.
I was a Whofin, so went to many Dr. Who events when they were in town. Had my costume and tools that went with it.
It was a fun thing to do once a year or on rare occasions twice a year.
Back when I went to rifle and pistol ranges, you could buy a box of 100 22s for a buck, only a penny each shot.
Even the 38 I had only cost about 6 cents per shot, back then.
Black powder was super cheap, and many of us made our own lead shot from recovered bullets or plumbing.
If you stepped up to Cap n Ball, then you had to buy the caps, which were like a buck for a hundred also.
I know the price of everything has gone up considerably since then. My wife's 380 ammo is like 45 bucks a box of 20.
And that is only if you can find it that cheap.
At one of our malls here, there was an indoor shooting range, but it was a carnival type of set-up.
The guns were powered by compressed air, and they reused the same steel ball shot over and over.
The front of the barrel was chained down so although you could hold the gun, you could not move it away from the target area.
The same company who owned this booth, also had a newer booth in another mall that used fancy looking laser rifles.
To make them more realistic, their is a weight inside the rifle so when you pulled the trigger, it would give a mild kick to your shoulder, just enough to make it feel real to folks who were not used to shooting rifles. Plus they had the sounds you would expect to hear if it was a real rifle, unless they flipped it to Star Wars mode, then the sound were all different, hi hi.
Speaking tactical gear, the I Spy Guy, a PI down the street from us, no longer sells all the spy equipment he used to. His place now looks like a professional office with secretary. Not at all like the counter in a store type layout. I guess he finally got enough jobs he don't need to sell the stuff he was selling anymore. I doubt he still follows folks planning on getting a divorce around anymore either, which is what he was big at ten or so years ago. I figure he's more like a bounty hunter now, since he is credited with finding a few of those on the most wanted lists. Even so, I think most of his work has to do with corporations now though, and security challenges.
I was a Whofin, so went to many Dr. Who events when they were in town. Had my costume and tools that went with it.
It was a fun thing to do once a year or on rare occasions twice a year.
Back when I went to rifle and pistol ranges, you could buy a box of 100 22s for a buck, only a penny each shot.
Even the 38 I had only cost about 6 cents per shot, back then.
Black powder was super cheap, and many of us made our own lead shot from recovered bullets or plumbing.
If you stepped up to Cap n Ball, then you had to buy the caps, which were like a buck for a hundred also.
I know the price of everything has gone up considerably since then. My wife's 380 ammo is like 45 bucks a box of 20.
And that is only if you can find it that cheap.
At one of our malls here, there was an indoor shooting range, but it was a carnival type of set-up.
The guns were powered by compressed air, and they reused the same steel ball shot over and over.
The front of the barrel was chained down so although you could hold the gun, you could not move it away from the target area.
The same company who owned this booth, also had a newer booth in another mall that used fancy looking laser rifles.
To make them more realistic, their is a weight inside the rifle so when you pulled the trigger, it would give a mild kick to your shoulder, just enough to make it feel real to folks who were not used to shooting rifles. Plus they had the sounds you would expect to hear if it was a real rifle, unless they flipped it to Star Wars mode, then the sound were all different, hi hi.
Speaking tactical gear, the I Spy Guy, a PI down the street from us, no longer sells all the spy equipment he used to. His place now looks like a professional office with secretary. Not at all like the counter in a store type layout. I guess he finally got enough jobs he don't need to sell the stuff he was selling anymore. I doubt he still follows folks planning on getting a divorce around anymore either, which is what he was big at ten or so years ago. I figure he's more like a bounty hunter now, since he is credited with finding a few of those on the most wanted lists. Even so, I think most of his work has to do with corporations now though, and security challenges.
Re: The Price Is Right
Back in the days when I worked among electronic engineering type people, the fan fiction there was predominantly Star Trek oriented. I am not sure Dr Who was around back then, and if he was it was in its early stage of development. There was a lot of talk about Dr Who and a lot of folks I knew outside of Motorola were big fans. Unfortunately, it was on at the same time my favorite TV shows of the day were also on. By the time I saw my first Dr Who episode they were a few seasons into the show and I was watching reruns. I don't recall anything about it other than the fact that I was amazed at how strange that show was. LOL It was a bit like Rod Sterling's Twilight Zone, or at least that is the impression I got from the few shows I did manage to see.
I don't think you can by any ammo for a penny a shot now and days unless it's BB's for an air rifle. LOL The rifles I fired at the local carnivals were chained down to the counter as you describe. They were .22 caliber and I got the impression the sights or the rifling was not exactly what it should be. The idea was to shoot at a tiny triangle and obliterate it. You won a prize if you could do that. No matter how carefully I aimed, the bullet hole never ended up where I thought it should. I don't recall what 3 shots cost but I did spend several times more than the value of the prize in order to earn one. LOL
I don't think you can by any ammo for a penny a shot now and days unless it's BB's for an air rifle. LOL The rifles I fired at the local carnivals were chained down to the counter as you describe. They were .22 caliber and I got the impression the sights or the rifling was not exactly what it should be. The idea was to shoot at a tiny triangle and obliterate it. You won a prize if you could do that. No matter how carefully I aimed, the bullet hole never ended up where I thought it should. I don't recall what 3 shots cost but I did spend several times more than the value of the prize in order to earn one. LOL
Re: The Price Is Right
The first episode of Dr. Who aired in November of 1963.
It was around 1965 when I got hooked on the show, but went back and watched all of them from their first episode up until about 10 years ago when I thought they had got ridiculous in what they were doing. Haven't watched them since.
The first couple of years were pretty bad, but on the bright side, it was excellent acting and a good story line.
Dr. Who finally ended, but was picked up by others for a while. I didn't like them as much.
And did not like the new ones the BBC came up with. But Dr. Who is still on in 2022!
Well, you can't get 10 cent McDonald's hamburgers anymore either.
Everything has gone up. We no longer have a Dollar Menu at McDonald's either.
That 10 cent hamburger had jumped to 89 cents for a long time, then they had it on the Dollar menu for a while.
Heck, I remember White Castle's at 15 for a dollar. Now they are like a buck each, hi hi.
And you cannot even buy a car comparable to our 1, 2, and 3, thousand dollar muscle cars anymore.
50 grand might get you close, but close only counts in horseshoe and hand grenade throwing.
I talk to kids every now and then who are landing jobs at 20 bucks an hour fresh out of high school.
And here I though 1.50 an hour was hot stuff back when I got out of high school.
It was around 1965 when I got hooked on the show, but went back and watched all of them from their first episode up until about 10 years ago when I thought they had got ridiculous in what they were doing. Haven't watched them since.
The first couple of years were pretty bad, but on the bright side, it was excellent acting and a good story line.
Dr. Who finally ended, but was picked up by others for a while. I didn't like them as much.
And did not like the new ones the BBC came up with. But Dr. Who is still on in 2022!
Well, you can't get 10 cent McDonald's hamburgers anymore either.
Everything has gone up. We no longer have a Dollar Menu at McDonald's either.
That 10 cent hamburger had jumped to 89 cents for a long time, then they had it on the Dollar menu for a while.
Heck, I remember White Castle's at 15 for a dollar. Now they are like a buck each, hi hi.
And you cannot even buy a car comparable to our 1, 2, and 3, thousand dollar muscle cars anymore.
50 grand might get you close, but close only counts in horseshoe and hand grenade throwing.
I talk to kids every now and then who are landing jobs at 20 bucks an hour fresh out of high school.
And here I though 1.50 an hour was hot stuff back when I got out of high school.