Whenever people first become interested in antiques or collectibles, they notice that the industry terminology is not consistent throughout the industry.
Many people who are not familiar with the true meaning of the term ’antique’ use it improperly. An antique is any collectible item that is over 100-years of age.
What Is The Difference Between Antique and Vintage?
There are exceptions to this 100-year antique rule when people are talking about vintage or period clothing items. Since clothing styles run in series of identifiable fashions, the cut-off date for antique clothing is the year 1920.
Antique clothing styles that date prior to the year 1920 differ in construction due to the lack of factory processing techniques.
Furniture pieces are often confusing for people to categorize because their exact age is not always readily available. It is common to see print advertising for American depression era furniture and pre-1950’s furnishings marked improperly as antiques.
The period of the 1920’s through the start of World War II is a very popular area for collectors to be interested in, but the items that were made within this time period are not yet antiques.
Pedal car toys, depression glass treasures, and the old kitchen Hoosier cabinets are all simply vintage collectibles and are not actual antiques. Here in America, many of our antique stores and co-op antique malls have very few actual antiques included in their inventories.
These stores are selling desirable vintage items to their customers. A vintage item comes from an easily defined period of time, and the vintage item is not a remake of a style that happened during a prior era.
A vintage item can be an antique if it is over 100-years of age. Since the word vintage is describing a period when a style or item was popular, some people use this word to describe recently abandoned household belongings.
True vintage items are at least 25-years old, and all newer items fall into a gray-zone with names like collectibles, retro items, or junk. In the antique and collectibles industry, it is never wise to rely upon the terminology that people use while they are describing their favorite old items.
About the Author
Kay Davenport writes for http://www.antiquesfurniture.org/, her personal hobby blog focused on experiences related to antique furniture restoration. She helps her family and friends learn how to restore and evaluate their antique pieces.
1 comment so far ↓
I couldn’t help but comment on the pedal cars. I used to have one when I was little, and I loved it so much I bought one for my nephew this past year. I found his at WorldToHome.com and I was very pleased with their service. I was overjoyed at the excitement on my nephew’s face when he saw it, and I’m just glad that such an iconic toy is still loved.
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