How old were you when you started collecting?

[KJV]

Hi Guys,

I started back in 1967, it will be 42 years in September, started when my Grandfather gave me some German pieces he got in the War. Mind you, I still have the pieces he gave me. And Grampy is long departed.
Regards,
Kevin

[at714]

Just a quick question, how old were you when you started collecting militaria?

For me I was 15 when my father took me to a local military show. I was hooked and will be going back for my third time in May.

Thanks

-Justin

I was 12. My uncle gave me his 6.5 Japanese Arisaka rifle that he brought back from Japan at the end of WW2. That was in 1954.

The golden age of collecting military rifles & pistols in the USA was from 1958 to 1968, when tons of equipment from all over the world was being imported & sold at very low prices.

[Dimas]

I was 12. My uncle gave me his 6.5 Japanese Arisaka rifle that he brought back from Japan at the end of WW2. That was in 1954.

The golden age of collecting military rifles & pistols in the USA was from 1958 to 1968, when tons of equipment from all over the world was being imported & sold at very low prices.

You was a happy guy, in 12 years became a real gun.
My first gun was a Manlicher/ Hembrug 1917 - which I found in old attic with about 5 cartboard boxes with ammo- I was 13 y.o.

[3mk]

Speaking of kids getting weapons,
My Grandpa on my Moms said was 11 yrs old when the invasion of Poland began he told me stories of stealing Germans grenedes pistals and guns.He took a live motor round from the Germans and after the war a police officer was gonna take it away but my Grandfather forced him to just take out the lighter and leave soo he did
Now i have that shell back in Poland

[soalebm]

I was about 10 when I started collecting. My Great Uncle gave me his enlisted mans Army Air Corps garrison cap and a big photo album of pictures he took while he was with the 8th Air Force in England. He was a sheetmetal worker repairing planes at an airfield. They will always be my most prized possessions.

[Alan M]

like a lot of people , my interest in militaria started because a relative was in the forces ! my father was a signalman in the royal navy and his stories always fascinated me . my first purchases were bayonets which i bought when i was 20 in 1972 , and i still have those bayonets !! the collecting stopped for a while when i started collecting kids ( luv em to bits ) and then started again a few years ago - the bug never leaves you , and of course the internet ( and this forum especially ) has made it so much more educational and interesting , many thanks to all members ,

cheers Al

[visor_cap_collector]

Well, I started collecting 2 yrs. ago, at the age of.........10, yes I am 12 (almost 13) and will continue to collect until i'm gone (hopefully). Started when I got a Soviet cocked cap with all sorts of badges on it in Sitka, Alaska. Traded it for my WWII USMC cap (as some of you may remember(ade)) Hence the name "Visor Cap Collector"...

[LAS VEGAS]

Istarted when i was 10 when i seen an m16 german helmet painted black in a shop which sold many other collectibles.I had to have it ,and when i got it, it was the start of a lifelong collecting bug

[GasMasksUK]

8, not the long for me compared to some of the guys on this forum Started with being given some badges and a folding spade by my Grandad, all of which I still have

But once I reached the age of 12 I began to focus on gas masks for some reason which I still havent established, but the interest in them hasnt died I think I've just temporarily switched to deactivated weapons for the moment.

Thanks

Danny

[jws54]

wow, I can't recall a time when there was not military items all over. Most of the farmers used a great deal of surplus and it was just all over. We wore first pattern sateen Viet Nam jungle jackets as coats. In the winter we wore Ike jackets or field coats ww2 vintage. US field gear of all sorts hung everywhere in rural small Northeastern towns. One attic had a WW1 trench knife with the studded knuckles, triangular blade and skull crusher pommel in a leather scabbard with a metal throat. One friend had an ?mp 44?, the kind that looks like an AK. I saw many lugers, more than walther ppk's. Kids would take them to school for show and tell. The football coach had a german helmet lamp in his office and the principal was a fighter piolet with pics of him in his plane on his office wall. There were wooden shoes full of medals , flags full of medals and tinnies. We deer hunted with Enfields. There was just too much of everything. Or maybe just the common stuff, but it sure seemed like a lot. Most homes still had their son's pics on the wall or on the tv from WW2, even in the 70's.
My real interest took off when I went to a gunshow with my friend and I saw an m-43 cap. That was in the 80's when I realized what a large world there was out there. Except for "Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos" ,I had no real idea of m-43 caps or even what they really looked like. When that hit, I was bit and in my 30's. I fell in love with M-43 caps.