jpolaski wrote:Those hobbies under the heading of The Classic Gentleman include but are not limited to:
Shaving and related ephemera
Knives
Guns and related ephemera
Coins
Watches
Cameras (film, and older at that)
Fountain Pens and related ephemera.
Where there's one of these, there is going to be another.
Has anyone else found this?
They all relate closely enough to indicate a similar mind-set. And you left out tobacco, pipes, cigarette holders, lighters, etc.: the EBay category "tobacciana."
All these collections are small gadgets that women find dull and plain. It's interesting that none of them is bigger than a bread box. For example, plenty of "gentlemen" are interested sports cars or motorcycles or hot air balloons. But somehow those items don't fit the same category as pens and neckties and wrist watches and tobacciana. A man with a mania for, say, power boats, might also appreciate wrist watches, but somehow his interest in wrist watches is less likely to transfer to, say, smoking pipes, even though his interest in power boats most certainly transfers to an interest in obsessing over bulldozers and backhoes.
Or, to put it differently, if an attractive woman were to display a greater than usual interest in fountain pens or in neckties, cufflinks, and gold plated vintage collar stays, I would immediately ask her to marry me, plight my undying love, and then probably be disappointed to find out that she prefers the company of other like-minded homosexual women over the company of men.
If, on the other hand, an attractive woman were to display a greater than usual interest in backhoes or power boats, I would immediately assume she were not interested in men in the first place, and never make the mistake of embarrassing myself before her.
