Hobby Shop memories - Life in America

[@qrplife]

A real slap in the face that the internet is so skilled at showing us how good we had it before that very technology brought an end to so many of those good things.

[@paulj6756]

How ironic that we are here on a social media site bemoaning the good old days before computers.

[@shebamaree9026]

video killed the radio star.

[@itomba]

It’s all in how you use the technology and how much time you devote to it. You can find model making materials and tutorials on the internet too.

[@nohandle62]

Well said.

[@model-man7802]

@@shebamaree9026 First Music video shown on MTV.

[@stephenmusch56]

Sadly, days of going to and hanging out at the hobby shop are long gone. Can remembering hanging out and checking out all the latest things.

[@raymathews7035]

I to can remember those day's, but there gone for ever,I guess?😐🙁

[@ThisIsTheRealMe2]

I'm in southern New Jersey and we still have a few of the shops from the late 70's. They still have models, trains, supplies. It's nice to stop in and just browse sometimes

[@stevepowsinger733]

Our city has, at least, a model train hobby shop.

[@capmidnite]

@@ThisIsTheRealMe2 Remember Ted's Engine House? Sattler's in Haddon Heights (when the original owners ran it), etc.

[@jerrymccrae7202]

We have a good one in dsm iowa. Well its the only one but i hang out there every weekend!

[@oldhick9047]

I have been going to the same hobby shop for 56 years now. Four generations of the same family have owned it the entire time. They are hanging in there through this current mess and I expect they will continue on. Please support the local shops, we need them as much as they need us !

[@dalethelander3781]

I was at my LHS just yesterday.

[@oldhick9047]

@@dalethelander3781 Great, you and I are lucky we have one close.

[@hearttoheart4me]

Well said. I try to support local business as much as possible.

[@oldhick9047]

@@hearttoheart4me Thank you.

[@summerrose4286]

Where is this located? Would love to support them.

[@PC24800]

So innocent, we trusted everyone and none of us came to any harm. 1950s! A wonderful childhood full of priceless memories of time , place, smells and kind voices.

[@randallanderson1632]

When I was a 10 year-old kid in 1960 in Columbus, Ohio, I would ride my Huffy a few miles to Hobbyland. I know it was a few miles because my Cadet bicycle speedometer told me so. Hobbyland had neat-o gas engine airplanes and various WWI and WWII airplane models hanging from the ceiling. They had the airplane's guns tipped with bits of cotton to mimic smoke and make the guns look like they were firing away. Really keen, huh? I remember I bought a Sopwith Camel kit, took it home and assembled it, and then a few days later we blew it up with firecrackers. Hobbyland is still in the same strip mall but in a different location.

[@jcaflinco]

My name is Jose Carlos, I am from Brazil. I love these videos from the past, I sincerely think that we were happy in the past, with simple things.

[@ThisIsTheRealMe2]

I think so too, Jose

[@libslayer4280]

We were Jose. Simple is best.

[@ZZ_The_Boxing_Cat]

Ditto

[@deborahpellerito6117]

Yes!

[@ElCid48]

Obrigado.

[@DuaneHHLyon]

We've lost something in America, we really have and most don't miss it, they never had it! "The beauty of simplicity"..Duane Henry Hofer Lyon

[@Wilett614]

I have been a Hobby shop "Hobby est " since I was 6 years old . I once owned and operated a Hobby Shop in the 60's and early 70's Those Days were the Fondest of memories and the most Joyous of times I can remember . So sad that todays Young Boys and Girls will never experience that era . I learned skills and developed friendships that I still have today . It was a Different Time , Different Era for sure ... So glad I was able to Experience those Days : )

[@user-mv9tt4st9k]

I love hobby shops. I grew up near San Gabriel valley and there were hobby shops in Alhambra and Pasadena. Our town had a toy store with a model aisle. My husband and I have a box full of HO trains and accessories: my dream is to set up the trains again.

[@michaelfleming40]

When entrepreneurial aspirations were actually encouraged.

[@wizardofahhhs759]

Let's build a time machine and go back to these times, then we can destroy the machine so we don't have to come back to the present.

[@jefffriedberg]

It is indeed, sad. That era is gone; we lived it; no “modern” one from Today can ever know it. Those times are gone forever.

[@jameskan1906]

Here in HK, we have several and I stop by from time to time to grab a kit- I like tanks or maybe a plane from time to time

[@JohnBoy]

I'm glad I grew up in an era with hobby shops.... good times.

[@Theogenerang]

A simpler childhood without Apple, Microsoft, Amazon or Facebook. My only account back then was a passbook savings account.

[@therooster6104]

100% with ya , miss though’s days

[@rem145]

That actually paid interest. No one pays you interest to save money anymore. We are all being rolled like cattle into fractional shares of stock and crypto currency which can be risky at times as have already seen at times.

[@paulj6756]

And yet here we are on a social media site.

[@therooster6104]

@@paulj6756 Ain’t it the truth 🤔🤷‍♂️

[@willgaukler8979]

S & H green stamps ...

[@wessmith7408]

Considering I'm 72 this brings memories. Kids of this era learned responsibility. I grew up on a farm, at 16, 17, 18 I drove a school bus, going to school. I did try to teach my kids responsibility. They were often upset with me but today they see what I was getting at because they are far ahead of their friends their age. We have lost something and that something hasn't made us better.

[@DidntSay]

This one really spoke to me. My favorite thing to do as a child in the ‘70’s and Early ‘80’s was to go to the hobby shop with my dad and pick out new HO scale train cars that we would then go home and build. Weekends were for lawn and home maintenance, so we usually worked on models in the evenings when he got home from work and after dinner. The train cars were mostly wood with plastic bottoms and required a lot of meticulous work to finish correctly. He taught me everything about model building and the life lessons that went along with it: pride, organization, doing your best even if you are the only one that notices, safety (Xacto Knives are no different than scalpels), and many other important things a father should teach a son, like how my mother was my true best friend (and his). I realize I was very lucky to have a father and mother so loving and attentive. But I feel that the bonding and teaching opportunities of even good parents today are circumvented by noses buried in phones. Technology is the ultimate double edged sword... preventing us from enjoying things of the past, but allowing us to reminisce and share our experiences with those we’ve never met.

[@gregoryclemen1870]

I can relate to what you are saying, I was in single digits during the 60's( born 1961), how many "FAMILIES" sit down for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and talk about various things that are going on. there is no real bond of the families today, they are all off doing their own thing, with no interaction!!!

[@maxwellsilverhammer2205]

@@gregoryclemen1870 Im 55, my wife of 30 years and I still look forward to and enjoy sitting down to dinner with our 18 year old son and discussing the day. I know it's becoming a rare ritual by the comments that my son's friends have made over the years as they would stay for dinner. "Wow you guys do this all the time?"

[@gregoryclemen1870]

@@maxwellsilverhammer2205 , the kids are not kids anymore ,I am 60 years old. we do sit down for dinner on the week ends. it is also expected that cell phones are shut off during dinner time.

[@kingdomofgeorgia1751]

Yeah... I wish I knew you. I used to build airplane models and collected trains. All hobby staff I had were produced in Germany. Good quality.

[@billybobbrubaker2907]

Thank you for the unobtrusive, elegant background music

[@alonespirit9923]

That is a thing well worth noting!

[@garyboden5220]

yes a perfect video and the music was great, no flashing video shots you can't see, Thank you for the effort

[@sandovalperry2895]

I served in an Army hospital during Vietnam, our Post Exchange (PX) was stacked with models. Modeling broke the boredom and it helped with the rehabilitation. A lot of guys would build their dream car as a model until they got back to the world to buy the real thing. The library would display the best works of art.

[@thetrumpnewsnetwork7503]

When I was a kid in the 60's my father, brother and I would build plastic models together. I loved building models and remembering my mother complaining that the glue would give her a headache. Ah the good ole days when Testors glue would rot your brain.

[@kenmore01]

I recently got a tube of that very glue on Amazon lol. They still make it! Smells of my childhood.

[@ackgeezer9754]

Ah yes, Ambroid and plane dope as well for all those balsa and tissue gliders😎

[@DidntSay]

I still have a new, sealed tube from 1982. Found it in a box of a plastic model Jeep J10 Honcho that I haven’t built yet.

[@Cryo837]

Aha, now I know why I turned into a dufus. My brain rotted!!!

[@88SC]

@@DidntSay for grins, you might look on eBay to see what that kit is worth now.

[@starwars518]

Wow this video hits hard for me because my father was big into model airplanes/RC Planes and belonged to many clubs. We visited many many hobby shops back in the day and I wish we could visit one more. R.I.P. Dad

[@joemellon5444]

Buddy, you made a 56 yr old cry.

[@melzwings]

Rip to your dad. My grandpa built model airplanes. I have a couple of them he built in the 60s. I cherish them.

[@starwars518]

Ty both and I as well have a couple of his planes that I will always cherish

[@commonomics]

Rip

[@brucesmith9144]

My father was into HO model railroads and his layout was published as well as captured on KZbin. Sadly, he passed nearly 7 months ago and his layout has been disassembled and sold off to his friends in the hobby.

[@jaymartin3992]

No surprise there are so many nostalgic comments, even though this compilation just went up. I can see myself in half the pictures--not literally of course, but I spent so much time at plastic model counters, electric train counters, and slot car displays. Even the coins and stamp displays. Just depended what mood I was in that week. Time marches on and you can't stop change, but so many good things have slipped away-along with the small businesses that sold them.

[@hearttoheart4me]

Beautifully said.

[@davek5027]

You just phrased what was going through my head

[@XHollisWood]

That’s where I spent my money I made from delivering newspapers and mowing lawns 😁

[@harryinoklahoma1866]

Same here. I remember turning in alluminum cans to buy a model race car.

[@XHollisWood]

@@harryinoklahoma1866 Reflecting back those could be summarized as The best of times

[@XHollisWood]

@@corbyanderson5555 Amazing Corby, I don’t believe any of the hundreds of monogram & revell airplane models my brother and I patiently assembled and painted made it out of the 70’s .... great memories though ✌️

[@ZZ_The_Boxing_Cat]

This reminds me of Leave It To Beaver.

[@Bigskyguy56]

I am in the same boat. Paper route , mowing lawns, working on the nearby farm picking vegetables all summer long. Just to take a few coins , after I had put the bulk of it in the bank account my parents set up for me, just to go to the hobby shop & buy a kit. A.M.T. , Revell and all the rest of model car kits back then were $1.29. What a great childhood we had.

[@paddy9449]

We use ta build model air planes and hang'em from the ceiling in our bed room... Man' that was so cool

[@JoJo1955]

I wonder how having these hobbies spurred careers that lasted a lifetime. For an 11th grade science project (1972) , I built a 747 plastic hobby airplane and displayed it along with my assessment of the future of the 747 in world's aviation. Boeing sent me a 3-foot long cardboard cutaway schematic of the plane and I put that on my tri-board. I got a 'B' on the assignment (should have gotten an 'A' for all the work I put into it!) I was fascinated by airplanes and glued together more than a dozen models - and who couldn't forget about the headache-inducing glue! Didn't care - spent hours absorbed in complete happiness and imagination. That and endless days at the airport just watching real airplanes (before security). Fast forward to today - I'm retired from the airline industry as is my husband (he was an 1950s train collector - still has them) and one of our children is now an airline pilot, another a private/commercial pilot. Miss those days of hobby stores. All the cell phones, smart phones - whatever - will never replace the pastime of building your favorite hobby store product from scratch. I wish I could build a time machine and go back to those simpler days........I definitely miss the America of my youth.

[@quantumphaser]

When we were young l, we thought about the future and all it would bring. Now we long for the past.

[@Rob_1776]

I live in the past as much as possible! I'm not changing! Yes I may use my smart phone for some things! But other than that I pretty much live in the past as much as I can!

[@quantumphaser]

@@Rob_1776 😎 That's how I roll.

[@markmccreary9605]

I remember train sets were big at Christmas. My dad used to have his run around the tree. He said it had been his father's from the 1930's.

[@dennybro1]

I look at where we have come from these days . Sad! I'd rather be BACK in these days. Much happier times.

[@glenngailey4916]

I am 60 now, and I still build kits. I am lucky, there is a nice hobby shop in town.

[@miked1765]

Our local hobby shop closed down some years back and the owner has sadly passed away. He was a good guy and is missed. Closeted thing anymore is Hobby Lobby about 40 miles away and I get there now and then.

[@deaterk]

Whereabouts do you live Glenn?

[@glenngailey4916]

@@deaterk Baldwin Park Calif. About 17 miles east of LA. There is a place called Tonys hobbies about 2 miles from my house .

[@deaterk]

@@glenngailey4916 Gotcha! I’m on the East coast. Unless you’re in or near a major city over here the pickins are pretty slim. All the best!

[@situated4]

@@glenngailey4916 Sweet.

[@DomainDuSac]

Who remembers the glass display cases with the sprocket and chain system where you press a button and watch the shelves come to you?!

[@lifelongpatriot3695]

Im 71 years old and still work on models.I sure miss those days as each year goes by. Wonderful memories.

[@CountryCarReviews]

I still love going to hobby shops to this very day.

[@disboygotdabeat]

The passing of some things and the unique era and feel associated with them makes me wanna cry... and this is one of them. Can't help feel that boys today are not the better for it.

[@gunnarbiker]

I’m 50 and have rediscovered building models, especially during this “pandemic”. I get my models from Hobby Lobby, eBay, Amazon, Round2 Models and a couple of other places. Just not the same as running to a hobby shop, though.

[@buxxbannerspov30]

Yeah, and the prices!

[@tomt9543]

@@buxxbannerspov30 It’s funny how many of the model car and truck kits I built in the mid 70’s are being re-released now! The sad part is I remember mowing lawns to earn money, then my friends and I would ride our bikes the 3 or 4 miles to the hobby store and buy a kit for $2.25. The new releases of those kits are going for $25 and up!!

[@Lucille69caddy]

@@tomt9543 Adjusting for inflation, that’s about the same!

[@situated4]

You still blowing them up with M-80s when completed? Yeah you are. Best part, right, you ol' dog, ya!

[@corvetcoyote443]

Hobby Lobby has a nice selection of model kits,but the prices,whoa!

[@keonikaig9247]

75 now , ohhhh soooo many GREAT MEMORIES....AMT my favorites Thank you..🌴👍😀🌴

[@mikegehre570]

This brings back loads of memories- made tons of models as a kid. Ah yes, Testor glue and paint sets

[@RickJZ1973]

This brings back a lot of memories! I loved going to the hobby shop when I was a kid. Would look forward to building WW II planes and adding cars to the Lionel train set. Sadly, good hobby shops are a thing of the past. Still able to find excellent quality model kits and reference books, paints, etc. online. However, it definitely does not replace the experience of going to the hobby store.

[@phoghat]

not everyone had the money for hobbies and model

[@2098elk]

American Flyer, not Lionel! Allied Motels in West Los Angeles and Dinky Toys.

[@Fromard]

God bless the people who owned and operated these shops when I was a kid. It was so much a part of my childhood.

[@jedidrummerjake]

When my friends and I were kids, this is what it was all about!...and riding bikes!

[@johnhorton4089]

This takes me back to a special point in time that I will never forget. A brief memory that will last forever. Thank you.

[@281cobracar7]

I was a kid in the 60's. Use to build mostly cars, planes and NASA models. My parents bought me the Invisible V8 engine for Christmas with ran on batteries once you put it together. My dad thought it was a little bit too advance for me. I put it together in one day and it worked. Surprise the hell out of my dad.

[@rogerwilcojr]

Yeah, I got the V8 too, and then the Mazda rotary engine. As a kid I knew more about engines than 99% of adults.

[@alshotrodsandratrods8780]

It was called the "Visible V8". Mine kept pushing the heads off. I had to de-stroke it to make it work by cutting down the connecting rods.

[@61rampy65]

I built the Visible V8 for my science project in 7th or 8th grade. As was (and still is) normal for me, I waited til the night before the science fair to build it, but it got done and worked! (didnt win anything tho) My Dad built a model of the new Chrysler slant six, with removable intake and exhaust manifolds. Oh, I thought that was sooo cool!

[@SkiFlyN]

Estes Rockets, balsa airplanes, plastic car and airplane models. Memories of the old days.

[@KevinBalch-dt8ot]

Also Centuri rockets.

[@jamiecrawford8133]

The model cars and planes Revell & AMT as mentioned, the HO cars and trains, the teeny glass bottles of chemicals for you chemistry set 25 cents apiece, the Estes rockets, we actually launched those in 8th grade physics class. Great memories of my local Patch Craft hobby shop.

[@LarryLunchbox]

I loved Estes rockets...would send away and was so excited when it was delivered...it was the mid-late 60’s

[@williammoyer4587]

Estes Rockets - I remember ordering those by mail from their catalogue, then building them. Many things had to be precisely cut, like the fins, then sanded, clear coat it, and paint it.

[@artiek1177]

I remember Estes. Built a few B and C engine rockets. Never made it up to the bigger D engines. Always used sanding sealer on the wings before painting them.

[@billybobbrubaker2907]

I remember winning trophies with my model cars.

[@alshotrodsandratrods8780]

My hobby shop would display my models in the window and display cases inside. He gave me a 50% discount for keeping him supplied with finished products.

[@Doc_Dolan]

Ruth's Hobby Shop in Buffalo, NY (Genesee street near Moselle) had a semi-annual model car contest / show. I won a lot of shows there! Can remember when the 'body putty' came out so we could make our own 'adjustments' on the AMT 3-n-1 kits too! I still have many of the show winners in boxes, as well as many others I built back in the late 50's and early 60's.

[@wrightflyer7855]

Recollection Road, thank you for the great memories. My late father was career Army so we moved a lot, and everywhere we lived (except Taiwan) in the 1950s and early '60s there was a hobby shop. I started building models of all kinds in 1955 when I was six years old and am 72 now, still building models with no intention of stopping until age catches up with me. We're all still kids at heart.

[@lindajones8895]

We had it so great back then. I miss those days.

[@Idelia412]

Loved this video as I built models when I was kid. I got into slot car racing in 1965 and would rent time by the half hour to race my latest creation.

[@keonikaig9247]

I did too...Spokane Wa. 👍

[@ZZ_The_Boxing_Cat]

My older brother did the same thing!

[@gaborkorthy8355]

LOL I'd mow lawns and rent time at the local raceway 15 minutes at a time

[@alshotrodsandratrods8780]

I modified the motors. I removed some windings from the rotor To make them go faster. Or burn up.

[@rsprockets7846]

Wow had 1 24 race cars with hopped up motors got a cox🙂🙂🙂controller and everybidy thiuggt i was rich

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Kids don't have the patience, manual dexterity or even imagination to build a model plane or ship today. They are inexorably glued to their joystick playing soul-sapping and time-wasting video games as much as they can get away with. This mania carries on into adulthood. My brothers and I built the entire U.S. Navy, begged my old man for the Japanese battleship, The Yamamato just so we could have an enemy ship to destroy. We built jet fighters and models of the DC-10 after taking a Summer vacation to California on one. United's Friendship Service. We got a rock hound kit from the hobby store and had to do a specific gravity test to help identify the included minerals, a Chemistry set to conduct path-breaking experiments in the basement chem lab and a dissecting microscope to examine the animals in formaldehyde that came with it. It also had various prepared slides of plant, animal and microbiological tissues and cells. Fun Stuff...

[@gregggoss2210]

I used to customize the model hot rod cars using the plastic that the parts were connected to. I would use an Exacto knife to cut and shape suspension parts to give the cars that jacked up look. The models I built rarely ever resembled what they were originally intended to look like.😁

[@shugardad]

So did your Dad get you the Yamamoto or not lol?

[@jdc9528]

Thanks for 8 minutes and 4 seconds of my life 50 plus years ago!

[@gulfgypsy]

I too recall the days of hobby shops - Never put a model together myself, but was impressed with the models friends would make. Making models was such a great learning experience -- Reading the directions, assembling the pieces in the right order, the patience needed to follow through until it was completed --- Couldn't rush any part of the model. I also recall hobby shops sold all sorts of wonderful leather working tools and kits, too. Times change and some things improve, others, not so much. But it's the simple things I miss the most: Walking down the 'main street' to stop in the Ben Franklin or hobby shop, getting a nickle scoop of ice from Thrifty Drugs -- Even when I was older I remember how happy I'd be when I could get an icy cold bottle of Orange Crush and a dill pickle from the big glass jar on the counter. That was for me back then, the perfect summer snack.

[@gregggoss2210]

Great memories, thanks for sharing.

[@normanwyatt8761]

I can remember all those things that you are talking about like they happened yesterday, but when it came to choosing a pickle, me and my friends were a bit more daring and would always pick out the biggest SOUR pickle in the jar and devour it very slowly....ha....They made you pucker for sure....ha.....Enjoyed your reply immensely........85 and still in 3rd gear....

[@alonespirit9923]

Ben Franklin often supplied beads and other bits for miniature sci-fi spaceship built from leftover plastic model parts such as optional drop tanks and such. Leather punches could be used to punch discs out of this sheet plastic sold for architectural models and railroad models. And then there were the trains! My reflexes were too slow for slot cars. But model trains and stick and tissue airplanes, those were about my speed! Guillows kits are referenced in the video but for some reason I like Comet's kits better. Can still remember the sound of .049 glow engines. Those were cool but I liked the silence of rubber power & and the "trim it best you can, then let it loose and see what happens" aspect of free flight. My health is a bit of a mess now but I still do, though much more slowly now, model trains and still invent spaceship models. :)

[@eckankar7756]

I still have my Bonanza model with the original box I bought back in the 1960s.

[@brunobiava4833]

I guess I was very lucky to have worked with Jim Hilliker at Hobbyland in Bloomington, Illinois in the 1990s. We used to call it the 'Hobby Bar' ourselves because of the Saturday Morning Crew that came in... they'd buy soda and check out the magazines and replenish their supplies while the 'insults' flew and we cried from laughing so hard at each other. It was an entirely different experience from when I was a kid... my mom might take me to Lagrange Hobbies maybe once a year and I remember being overwhelmed by all the things they had that we just "can't afford"... but somehow, come Christmas and my birthday, I usually ended up with enough model airplanes and ships to keep me busy for months. I still tinker with model trains and a little bit of Radio Control... I miss my family... and I miss Jim and all the Guys at Hobbyland. We didn't just sell hobbies... We tried to help make memories, too.

[@fob1xxl]

In the late 50's I would buy Revell car kits. Paint them, customize them,even enter them in contests sponsored by the Hobby Shop in downtown San Jose, CA. I remember once I won 2nd place. It was a 1957 Mercury convertible. I painted it Black w/pink trim. It was so much fun. No video games. Just being creative ! As a teenager and adult, I became a car enthusiast. Started a collection of showroom brochures from 1957 on. I still have them !

[@franksmodels29]

Brings back memories of my local Hobby shop - Modelaire Hobby’s run by Harold... wow after all these years still remember that..

[@Not-Great-at-Gaming]

When I saw this video, I was almost more looking forward to reading the comments. Some of my favorite childhood memories are building various model cars, or even rebuilding old ones.

[@samp7003]

I remember these stores so well. The greatest place to go on earth for me! I built hundreds and hundreds of models back in the 60's through present day. These stores were like paradise for me.

[@donaldteuber8588]

For those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s , these videos are are a voyage through a better time. Yes.. of course.. there were negative aspects but that is true of any era. Kids still had the luxury..the joy of being kids. No P.C. nonsense... no school indoctrination sessions on gender identity no mandatory safety gear when we rode our bikes.. we would fight with our friends and then make up. We had a far greater degree of freedom and independence back then. How sad... how tragic that so many of my generation... I'm 69 years OLD.. not 69 years young.. became a lot of petty , self appointed guardians and controllers of everyone else's lives. Every once in a while I see kids engaged in "dangerous, unacceptable " behavior... no... nothing criminal... just being kids. Such " rebellious conduct" provides a slight spark of hope for the future. Lets hope it is contagious.

[@Bigskyguy56]

Agree 100%. I am 65 yrs old & grew up in those glorious times. I truly miss those grand times. We had more fun , just being with friends, playing baseball, building model cars / airplanes, & helping each other , than the kids nowadays do , having anything & everything. I hear kids now say they are bored. We never had time to say we were bored, as we were always out doing something. And whoa be it if I told my parents I was bored. They found jobs to do around the homestead. I would honestly like to go back to those days & never return to this modern world we live in.

[@Cryo837]

When I was a kid in the late 50's/early 60's those duck and cover drills scared me to death. I had multiple dreams that Seattle was nuked. And I knew going under a desk was useless....because I was a SciFi fan and I knew what the blast would do.

[@MrMenefrego1]

@@Bigskyguy56 100% AGREE! My childhood was far from idyllic, but I'd trade this 21st-century mask-wearing BS for those days in a second!

[@oldtrucker672]

Very well said Don. Here is a little story for you about the times we grew up in. I bought all my models from the Thrifty Drug Store near my home. This store had very thick glass doors. One day after buying a new model I was looking at the picture on the model box as I was leaving the store. I assumed the door was propped open and proceeded to walk through, not paying any attention. (It was common place for the doors to be propped open in the summertime in Bakersfield, CA where temperatures often reached 100 degrees in summer.) Well, the door was not propped open and I therefore walked full speed into the glass. It knocked me out cold. I remember coming to, laid out on the floor and looking up through the stars and seeing all these employees and customers looking down at me. I was OK but I'll tell you I never made that mistake again. I was 10 then, 1960. I know I must have built at least a 100 plastic models. My favorite models were WW1 airplane models. I had every one they ever made. I would give anything to return to those times of innocence. Those were the good old days for sure.

[@donaldteuber8588]

@@oldtrucker672 Donna.... If that happened today it would be the lead story on every news program.... "store owner sued for negligence, depraved indifference and child abuse". Child welfare agency experts would be raving about the dangers of children being allowed to have access to toys that glorify war and violence. I'm only half kidding.... anyone under 30 will never understand...it was a different world back then .. but in many ways we have only ourselves to blame. If enough of us continue to speak out maybe...maybe s spark of enlightenment will catch hold. We can only hope.

[@GProArt]

Ours was Smith Brothers Hobby Center back in the early 70's in Northridge CA. And it's still there today! Looks exactly the same! I love to visit and reminisce.

[@dalethelander3781]

I was there just yesterday. And worked there 1996-98. I'm glad Jason bought the place.

[@brianmarak9689]

The plastic kit industry is very much alive. The standard of what is available is truly amazing. State of the art for sure.

[@richardschindler8822]

Those were the days !! Many a day spent in hobby shops.

[@prsearls]

Ours was a tiny store crammed with all kinds of wonderful things to delight a young boy or man. My strongest memory of these was the smell of balsa wood from all the model airplane kits. Many of these were "stick" models covered with tissue paper and flown with a rubber band motor. I built some of these and left them uncovered and hung them from the ceiling in my bedroom. Their die-cut balsa sheets, some Testor's glue and paint dope was happiness. I could spend hours cutting, gluing and sanding my next "masterpiece." It was a fun hobby that developed various skills and patience that have been useful all my life.

[@Brian-jm2xr]

Nankin Hardware & Hobby in Westland MI. Its still there. I spent a lot of my lawn cutting and snow shoveling money there. A model car was 99 cents in the 60's. The same model today is 29 dollars. Thanks for the great videos.

[@deborahpellerito6117]

We live in Livonia and spent many hours in Nankin Hardware

[@jeffpeelman2627]

Lived in Michigan for 20 years and loved going to Nakin. What a great retail concept - hardware and hobbies! Also hit them between Xmas and New Years to score on the model railroad sales.

[@johngallagher2313]

I built many models when i was a kid. I was not real good at it but had great fun anyway. I had model planes all over the room. I went and bought another one whenever I could scrape together enough the next model. Much more productive way to spend time than the cyber era.

[@ds70bonneville]

and lets not forget, most of these items wern't even made in china...so another american worker producing these parts could even make a living. weird time we live today were everything goes down the drain...

[@franlooving4203]

Love hearing that. Thank you

[@stevepowsinger733]

And if you complain about China you might be called racist.,🙀

[@MrMenefrego1]

Sadly, it has all been done on purpose.

[@paulj6756]

A lot of them were made in Hong Kong though

[@capmidnite]

Even Tamiya has stopped making a lot of their stuff in Japan.

[@tomj528]

I grew up in the 70's/80's and caught the tail end of the hobby store heyday. I built several planes, ships, cars and even helicopter models. I used to love going to hobby stores, it was always a good time. Unfortunately during this time store after store would close until their was only one left by the time I got my drivers license but I would still stop by occasionally to check out what was new and since I was really into cars to grab a new model. As a younger kid I remember buying balsa wood for models, getting an H.O. scale train set, slot car set and having a lot of fun with paper kites for several years that my father had bought (about 20 or so) for 10 cents each when one of the stores closed. Great memories and I'm glad they were still around when I was a kid as nothing now even comes close.

[@andyvonyeast332]

I’m 46, but I grew up building model cars by the hour. Going to the hobby shop was a special treat. My Mom waited patiently while I took forever making a selection. These videos bring back many fond memories when life was so much simpler and easier.

[@dancalmpeaceful3903]

All the more reason you should love your mother......mine was patient too......

[@andyvonyeast332]

@@dancalmpeaceful3903 Thank you, I have the most wonderful Mom in the world!

[@dancalmpeaceful3903]

@@andyvonyeast332 Whenever we'd go to K-Mart she'd find me by the Matchbox cars or Hot Wheels (For some reason, she liked little die-cast cars too...which resulted in a large collection that I still have to this day (I'm 56 by the way). Anyway, IF there was two I REALLY liked....she'd say, "Well....you buy one....and I"ll buy the other one". So often, I'd belly up to pay for the one car and then I'd get the 2nd one from her. My best Christmas was in 1973 which was the year she got me larger Corgi "The Batmobile" and the "James Bond" Aston Martin - which I still have. But, regarding models (she was never too big on those)...but yeah, I built the Tijuana Taxi, Red Baron, Paddy Wagon, Dragon Wagon, Beer truck, etc....(I was a Tom Daniels Monogram model junky).

[@robertmiller5258]

Thank you. In England they were often ‘Bicycle and Wireless Shops’ - they had Dinky Toy model cars and lorries, Hornby trains and Airfix plastic models.

[@Marcg-b4n]

The Batmobile, James Bond, F1.... I still have alot of them with the boxes.

[@Marcg-b4n]

Love those 1960s and 1970s Corgi cars!!!

[@JPee-x4you]

I was an Aurora kid building Hollywood monster models , Batman Robin and his vehicles. All the rest of the superheroes. Those were fun times. Thanx for the memories.

[@buddyclark5507]

Thank you for your page, sir. I’m 51 years old, and nearly all of your posts bring back great memories. I can’t thank you enough for some of the memories you’ve brought back!

[@RM.....]

Miss the old days of going to our local Hobby shop and looking at all the awesome stuff they had

[@situated4]

Fucking video games addiction (and porn on demand) killed the hobby.

[@moparlover1968rr]

My last memory of Hobby City was in Stanton California and I’d go with my older brother, this was in 1970-71, they had a slot car track inside the store, coin collecting interested my brother, and we both loved collecting stamps. They had everything from balsa wood planes.....

[@Wa3ypx]

I have two Hubley Model "A" Fords at mom's house. I know one looks like crap, I really would like to take it apart and redo it. Dad showed me how to build plastic kits then balsa/paper airplane kits. He would say "Here buddy, this is how you follow the plans. Take your time, I know you can do it" Funny thing, he was right! At 60 years old I remember that part of Hobby Shops.

[@Petemonster62]

The Hubley classic car kits, with the metal & plastic parts? You could use Easy Off oven cleaner, & an old toothbrush, to strip the paint from metal & plastic parts. But be careful - it is very caustic - wear eye & skin protection! You may also want to keep the oven cleaner away from chromed plastic parts. Drop parts in a pail of water to neutralize the oven cleaner.

[@Wa3ypx]

@@Petemonster62 Hey thanks for the tip!

[@stevenospam4216]

In Tampa, FL in the '50s + '60s, we were shopping at CHAN'S HOBBY + TOY STORE on Henderson Blvd. I got 90% of my plastic airplane and car kits there; they also sold filler putty, model cutting saws, and spray paints for customizing the cars. I got some of my HO-scale boxcars, track, and switches there. (I got a new one for each Scout patch I earned.) And Chan's was where I got all my Hardy Boys books. Man, what a treasure trove of a store!

[@robt5818]

Thanks for this! I loved walking past the hobby shop in the 1960s, stopping in and either buying a model kit or making a mental "must have" list.

[@davidwhitney1171]

I'm 63, and grew up in Midwood/Marine Park Brooklyn; after a brief period collecting Matchbox cars, I started building model cars (at first the "easy, quick, fun to build" 1/32 scale Pyro "Table Top" series of Fords and Chevys) when I was nine; I was hooked after buying and building my first such kit before "graduating" to "real" 1/25 and 1/24 scale AMT, Revell, Monogram and other model kits when I was ten. It was pure joy and I loved model building, later planes, ships and tanks as well as cars (actually I still build model cars, and I think I'm a little better at model building them now, chuckle). As to hobby shops, they were wonderful places, better than Disneyland to me at least, not only fun places to be but places of refuge and escape for me from an often very unhappy childhood. There were several hobby shops in my neighborhood alone, within walking distance, along with the discount shops ("Thrift Town"), Department Stores, Five and Dimes, and even neighborhood luncheonettes or "candy stores" which also sold models, but the hobby shops were the best, but mostly extinct now. Get all my model stuff on the web. But back then- once in a while I'd be taken into Manhattan ("the City") to the famous Polk's Hobbies near the Empire State Building- five floors of models and hobby stuff- pure heaven to me back then! Does anyone out there remember Polk's? Hobby shops were the stuff of dreams- what more can be said?

[@Chudhole]

I was fortunate to have an independent model shop by my house through the 80s. Got my clear V8 kit there. They also had D&D lead figures to collect and paint.

[@derekbessie5453]

I feel so blessed to live close to one of these old school hobby shops still. People come from a long way off to shop there.

[@nscalestation]

Thanks for the memories. As a life long model railroader I really miss there being at least one hobby shop in every town. I am lucky to still have one left about 15 miles from home. My childhood hobby shop was Vine's Hobbies on Atlantic Ave. in Lynwood, California. That was for trains, I got most of my car / plane / ship / monster models at a Sprouse-Reitz that was only 2 blocks from home. Hey ! Sprouse-Reitz could make a good subject for a future video.

[@RC-Flight]

I remember fondly the stick, tissue and dope days. As a kid I would build some nice little elastic wind up airplanes. Since 1982 I has been flying Radio Control. Still like to hang out at the local hobby shop and see all of the fun RC toys. I Still enjoy scratch building larger balsa airplanes Balsa flies better!!

[@libslayer4280]

Wonderful days. I had two older brothers , model building was ongoing. They let little sister, me help. We also had trains and slot cars. I miss those days.

[@TheMotorick]

As a child of the 60's, I spent a lot of time in Hobby Shops. It was more exciting than anything else in my life. I'll never forget the delight in seeing the rows of model airplane kits, model rocket kits and a multitude of other wonders to a 10 year old.

[@user-mv9tt4st9k]

My father had an amazing slot car set with 50 feet of track. We used to go to a hobby shop where he would buy little electric motors for the cars. Old-school hobby shops are hard to find now. There were some into the 2000s, where I used to buy craft supplies for Sunday school. 🙂

[@htnaku4947]

Happy Times of the 50s and 60s wish we can go back to those years when Life was Simple and Happy. I also made Model Airplanes and Ships.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I miss Bill's Hobby & Collector's Shop on Main St. in "uptown" Park Ridge, IL. Right across from the C&NW train station. In the 1960s it was a one aisle hobby shop, but packed with everything from model trains (even those expensive brass model trains) to plastic airplane kits to Matchbox vehicles. Not one foot of space was unused in the somewhat dark interior of this classic hobby shop now long gone. Nice to recall those days and thanks for sharing this subject!

[@Marcg-b4n]

Hi from Milwaukee. I used live in La grange and Hinsdale in the 1970s. La grange had a nice Hobby shop.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@Marcg-b4n Heck, I remember La Grange Hobbies on La Grange road in downtown La Grange! That was one of the last old time hobby shops in the Chicago area that finally folded about two years ago. I know Milwaukee lost a number of good Hobby Shops over the years.

[@RobSwan1948]

I'm 73 now - remember the hobby shops very well - 1950s and early 1960s - great times during a much better era. I used to build a lot of scale model cars.

[@cwulfe1]

No hobby shop in my little town. But stores like Kress, Newberry's and Woolworth's had model planes, ships, cars, and Sci-Fi kits to build. Many had paints and glue as well.

[@88SC]

It seems like every type of store sold plastic model kits back in the day. Drug, grocery, toy, convenience and department stores. Hobby shops were/are extra special though, because when you walked in, you became totally immersed. There used to be nothing like peeling the wrapping off a kit and opening the box to behold the thing full of sparkling clean potential, waiting for paint, glue and your imagination.

[@jimmyjames6267]

Boy do i miss going to hobby shops, i built model cars, and I'm 58 and still build them and slot cars

[@oldhick9047]

I am 65 and still go to the same family (4 generations) owed hobby shop that got me started 58 years ago.

[@garymcaleer6112]

Growing up in the 60's we had a hobby shop in Annandale, Virginia. Between that and Toys "R" Us at Bailey's Crossroads (where old stonemason homes once stood). we kids relished every moment. But the most indelible memory was at Woodward & Lothrop during the Christmas season. My mother always got her hair done there. While she was busy, I wandered the store. I came across this huge display of toys. To me, it looked like the finest treasures on Earth. While time travel is a blasphemous concept, memories are not.

[@jonathanng2390]

Still have my model HO trains from the late '60 and early '70s. Have them in display cases on the wall in my home office.

[@sonhuynh8222]

What a great era to be alive …. America was truly GREAT back then !

[@roddmatsui3554]

Loved buying and building model kits of all kinds in the early 1970s, usually Aurora monster models but a few Star Trek ships too! Eventually became a special effects artist/filmmaker, still doing it today.

[@lesleydecker1015]

I loved the model shops. I’d go with my brothers . They had airplanes, cars, just everything you could think of. I had a few cars myself. So much fun

[@gilly551]

The hobby shop where I live is still open. I use to go there with my dad. He liked building HO train model kits. I still have the metal locomotives he built.

[@stischer47]

At 7:39, the guy is looking at a train passing a two-story farmhouse. I remember buying that farmhouse kit and assembling it for my HO gauge railroad at the age of 14. It was one of my pride and joys of my railroad setup I built myself.

[@prestonjustis5547]

Zephyr Miniatures in Norfolk Virginia! Bought many control line model kits and glo engines from them back in the sixties and early seventies. Thank you for the wonderful memories!

[@isleman9473]

Brought back great memories of the hobby shop in the small Long Island town I grew up in. Got models, trains and Dinky toys there as well as Model Railroader every month. When I got older, I took the Long Island Rail Road (yes, that's how you spell it) into Manhattan for Polk's on Fifth Avenue. Spent hours there, and coupled with an Automat lunch, was a perfect day. Kids today are missing so much--I feel sorry for them.

[@rickbecker3239]

I am grateful for having been able to grow up during the 50s and 60s. Great parents were a huge part of that experience, of course. My hobby shop was a terrific place to learn and spend money made from my paper route. Speaking of paper routes, perhaps a video could be made about those hard working entrepreneurs and the skill it took to hit a porch with a folded newspaper from your moving bicycle. I loved those days. Sorry they are gone.

[@lucabrasisleepswiththefish77]

Nothing made my young heart race like a quaint hobby shop with all the hobbies duly represented. Good times!

[@h.thomasgeorge6651]

I grew up in the 70's. I spend many hours building model Battleships. I was nine or ten and these models contained hundreds of pieces to paint and assemble. I wonder if a nine or ten year old today would have the attention span and/or patience to build some of those models? I did the Titanic... It was a beast and took me three full weeks!

[@ugaais]

Nope

[@stephenmusch56]

They might if they would put their smartphone down long enough!! You know, they have to check their Facebook and Instagram posts. All though, I don't understand why parents would give a 9 or 10 year old a smartphone anyway.

[@crazybenzy3426]

There's still a few here in southeast Michigan. As a matter of fact they have a toy show in Macomb County that you can't even find a parking space that's how crowded the show gets. What do the vendors sell model car kits mostly. They come from all over the place to attend the show. So the hobby is still alive and although some of the stores are closing there are a few within 10 miles of each other that are still open and are still selling model cars airplanes boats whatever. Hobby shop nor the hobby itself is not dead

[@johncassidy2381]

That picture of Reginald Denny's Hobby Shop in Hollywood brings back memories - I was a very young boy going there with my dad all the time. They used to have a train layout in the back that they would run for me. They moved to another location sometime in the early 60s - but that small store I remember very well.

[@wavedaly]

Reginald Denny was the name of the truck driver that was beaten during the Rodney King riots. I wonder if he’s connected to that shop?

[@Petemonster62]

@@wavedaly - Reginald Denny was a movie actor who developed a strong interest in flying model airplanes & decided to open a hobby shop!

[@johncassidy2381]

@@wavedaly no not at all. Reginald Denny was a silent film movie star who transitioned into talkies. He had an interest in radio control modeling and during WWII worked with the government on radio control systems.

[@mikehook4830]

Was always into model building when i was a kid in the 70's and it carried over into my teens and early 20s - through the 80's and early 90's. Some friends were as well. One in particular was a guy I worked with at a gas station. He and I would go out a couple times each week to the local stores and buy stuff, but he fell ill and passed away in 1991. His mom knew that he and I used to do that, so she gave me the kits that he bought and didn't get to build after he passed. I kept them since, safely stored away. Just this year, I decided to get back into the hobby, and these kits were the first things I thought about. There's about ten of them in all. My skills were a little rusty at first, but I remembered a lot and learned about some of the advancements that have been made over the past 30 years in this hobby. Best part is that if you have a question on how to do something, somebody has likely made a video about it. I've got two of those kits completed now and starting on the third soon. Honestly, it was hard for me to even open those boxes...in some ways, those thirty years seem like yesterday....the pain is still there. But I decided that the best thing would be to finally build them and to do the kind of job on them that would make him proud. I'm doing my best to do that for him. And yes...I still love the guy and miss him every day.

[@Cryo837]

When I was a tween (early 60's) we lived in an area called Skyway (south Seattle). There STILL IS a hobby shop there (I was amazed it is still there) that I went to for model ships/airplanes, tester glue/paint, model monsters, gliders, and Big Daddy Roth creature roadster kits. They also had electric trains and gas powered/radio controlled planes (the big ones). I spent hours assembling and painting my models. So glad the store is still there.

[@mediclimber]

When I was a kid there was a hobby shop in our town, Charlotte and King St that carried everything from chemistry sets and supplies, plastic models, RC planes, boats, cars, model rockets, wooden models, HO trains and all the goodies. Great store. I really miss stores like that and the old hardware stores with wood floors, hardware, guns, fishing gear and knowledge.

[@franlooving4203]

I didn't have a family that made these but I appreciated my friend's brother's hobby stuff & the hobby shops in town. I like these old shops & seeing boys who create them or grown men who do. Thanks

[@idartist45]

I am 77, and some of the happiest times in my life was hanging out at RAYS hobby shop in Twin Falls Idaho. I love you pages, all of them. Times back then WERE better!