Why Repop?

[Dan Hadley]

How & why did "Repop" become a descriptive term for a reproduced item? I just wonder why every time I see it used, since "Repro" sounds much more logical. Okay, on to other stuff....

Dan Hadley

[JimKindred]

Re: Why Repop?

It is just slang, it has been around since I started in reenacting and that was 29 years ago.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Why Repop?

It just gets goofy when folks shorten it from RePOP to Repo. Hey, some of my stuff is used, and most of it was a bargain, but not a bit of it was repossessed.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Why Repop?

It's rePOP because people who make "reproduction items" keep popping them out. :tounge_sm

Gee, Haw....

[Jeffrey Przewozniak]

Re: Why Repop?

Hi everyone,

I'm glad there are more than at least of few of us who think that said practice is strange... I've been curious about this too! Not that this has anything to contribute to authentic reenacting, by the way. :D I am in earnest,

[Robert Braun]

Re: Why Repop?

It is just slang, it has been around since I started in reenacting and that was 29 years ago.

I concur with Jim... I first heard it in 1978, from reenactors longer in the hobby than I was at the time.

Back then, "repops" were considered lower-echelon reproductions... like those crimped-bottom tin cups and the like. It became reenactor parlance for the stuff you might think twice about purchasing at "Sutler's Row." When a chum held up a particularly poor item, and you replied "Hmmm... looks like a repop to me," the chances were good that he set the item back on the table again.

Nowadays, I've heard the terms use much more broadly... to include most any reproduction regardless of quality.

Regards... Bob.

[Boyd Miles]

Re: Why Repop?

Heard it from at least 73 or 74, Original gear was still cheap and so there was a negative spin to the word. "It's just a repop" was pretty common to hear and somewhat dismissive.
You could at that time go into JCPenneys and buy everything you needed to reenact. They had zouave rifles, cartridge box with strange construction, odd flat cap boxes, US and CS plates, cheap belt, blue or gray work clothes, cheap cap of some sort. I being young couldn't afford such things so I had to learn to make it myself.

[1stMaine]

Re: Why Repop?

Comrade Miles,

This is a bit off-topic here, but I wanted to comment upon how well-made and comfortable your "smoking" caps are. I purchased one from you made of a light blue brocaded silk some 20 years ago. It's still wearing well, and has kept my poor head warm on many a field. I hold it as one of the best investments I have ever made.
Thanks for the good work.
Respects,

[Charles Heath]

Re: Why Repop?

Dan,

The term "repop" may have morphed its way from the automotive world to this hobby. I remember hearing it 30+ years ago in terms of reproduction parts versus NOS (New Old Stock) when folks would get picky about nickel plating versus chrome and where replacement fenders came from, and substitutions like that. "Repop" was not a term of endearment.

Yep, people split hairs and count rivets in other hobbies. Perhaps J.C.Whitney was the C&D Jarnigan of that era in the classic car avocation! (Never thought I'd use those two firms in the same sentence.)

Charles Heath
I miss the old DeSoto and the little Ford Coupe