Here are some thoughts on the definition
of a Farb. I find them to be very accurate--if you have a thought
on this or an opinion, please e-mail me, Marsh Wise at mwise@reenactor.net. As
I guess I am taking the mantel of T/A Webmaster for the WWII period.
There seems to be a lot of confusion out there about the definition of a “FARB.” Folks, if you're DOING it right, THINK you're doing it right, TRYING to do it right, or just WANT to do it right--as long as you are doing all that you can to up-grade your impression--YOU'RE NOT A FARB. However, if you have items you KNOW are wrong but don't care to ask, seek info about, or attempt to improve these items, or worse, when a better reproduction IS widely available and you won't upgrade to it, (despite a universe
of peer pressure), then my friend you ARE a FARB.
A FARB will never utter these words: “Say, that’s very authentic looking, where did you get that?” “How do I make one of those?” “Can you help me do that?” Or...“well, if we can't do it right, lets not do it at all.” Rather, Farbs are proponents of that old standard of farbicity, the “ten-foot rule,” “Ahhh, it's close enough.” is their mantra. On the other hand, I have never met a hard-core authentic, in ANY hobby, who would not bend over backwards to help someone who asked for it.
Bottom line: If you're not a FARB (and don't want to be known as one) when you see someone doing it better than you...ASK! And then, don't associate with known FARBS and/or FARB units, because you WILL be judged by the company you keep.
Mike Gonzales--3./J.R. 23 and LSSAH
The above definition of a FARB is the best I've seen! As long as someone is TRYING, they're no Farb. No matter how authentic someone is trying to be, they'll never be 100%, but the effort is what’s important. Ever notice that FARBS always use the 100% criterion as a way of blowing off authenticity: “Oh yeah, well you guys don’t have trenchfoot, so you're not authentic!”
I have seen cases where guys were thought to be FARBS but it turned out they just started-off in one of those ’doesn't matter’ kind of units and didn't know any better. Then however, when someone took the time to HELP them, they did improve. It takes, as others have said, all of us encouraging each other to push it a little more each event and rejoicing in each others’ efforts
Tim Fensch--3./J.R. 63 and Großdeutschland