By Elizabeth Prata
I collect stuff. Usually functional or practical stuff. I do have a weakness for paper and books. For example, just yesterday I found this entire set of UNICEF postcards illustrated by Canadian Native American artists. These appear to be from the 1970s and they are vibrant, fantastic. There are two or three of each piece of art.
And this Liz Claiborne unused box of heart shaped stationery:
Or this set of retro notecards from the 1970s-
Or this box of sweet feminine cards in a sturdy box than can be used after the cards are gone for something else:
Even this vintage Imperial Camera: Cubex IV that used flash bulbs that rotated to face the fresh one after one was used, and used 127 roll film that produced 4x4cm exposures. It was distributed in around 1964. I put it next to my Kodak Junior Vigilant Six-20 Bimat Dakon Lens Camera which was a WWII-era camera- so, almost antique.
All the above (plus more) was from the local vintage store fill-a-bag for $5 room.
I've used the words retro, vintage, and antique. Sometimes these terms are used incorrectly, or interchangeably. They each do have a separate meaning, but the dates are fluid and the definitions somewhat subjective.
I am in the vintage age heading toward antique, lol. I mean, the other day at school I had my Nikon digital camera to take photos for the yearbook. The kids in our building are between 4 and 10 years old. Several came up to me and asked what that thing in my hand was. To one, when I said, "A camera" he put his face near it, looked all around it, then asked "where do the pictures come out?" These children have only seen their parents or other adults use a cell phone to take pictures. I felt not just antique, but ancient!
What is personal near history to me is ancient history to someone else.
The other day I went to the dentist. I asked when the last time I was there was. I thought it was "a coupla years", you know, how as we age time goes faster and we think only a few years have passed? They said "2008". WUT?! 14 years??? (PS- I do not recommend letting that much time pass between dental visits).
So something that is labeled vintage seems like yesterday to me, when I used it, or I saw my ole ma using it.
But Apartment Therapy, a site I like for design discussions, says that "A quick scan of Craigslist, Etsy, or eBay reveals that terms like "antique" and "vintage" are bandied about interchangeably and often illogically."
Amen! I've also seen etsy/eBay use the word "rare" too often. If everything is 'rare' then nothing is.
Apartment Therapy looked into the hard and fast definitions of antique, vintage, and retro. They said-
Ruby Lane, an online marketplace of independent antique and collectible shops, offers a similar definition, explaining, "Most authorities consider the actual definition of the term 'antique' to mean an age of at least 100 years. If an item is not definitively datable to 100 or more years in age, it should not be directly referred to as an antique."
I've seen this often as well. I think it's reasonable. 100 years is beyond most people's lifespans and the item would seem completely from a different era.
Vintage: Here's where it gets nebulous. Apartment Therapy quotes Ruby Lane again of having the most useful definition:
Ruby Lane provides a much more helpful explanation, noting that "an item described as 'vintage' should speak of the era in which it was produced". Vintage can mean an item is of a certain period of time, as in 'vintage 1950's' but it can also mean (and probably always should) that the item exhibits the best of a certain quality, or qualities, associated with or belonging to that specific era.
In other words, for the term vintage to accurately apply to it, an item should be somewhat representational and recognizable as belonging to the era in which it was made." Ruby Lane also suggests that 'vintage' should not be used in reference to objects less than 20 years old.
I've seen people say that vintage should be reserved for items of an age between 50-100. A generation is about 40-45 years so this makes sense too.
Now, retro. It's a term flung about willy-nilly but has less definite meaning than the other two. Something that is retro is old or may not be old but references an older design. I love how older designs 'come back' but not in the same form as the original, but only references it. Yet, you catch the retro reference even though the item is new. That's what I love about design, about art, about style. The postcards from the Canadian Native artists are about 50 years old so they can be called vintage. And that's the rub. So much of the process of dating items is subjective, especially when we can't firmly establish a date.
I just know I like when I see something when it evokes a feeling of nostalgia or sentiment in me. The Imperial camera used to tickle my fancy when the flashbulb rotated. The camera itself isn't expensive or a sought after item. It's plastic. But it tickled me and I like it for that reason. I put it into my %4 fill-a-bag. The postcards are gorgeous. I'll use them, sending them out into the world for its cover art to be shared, combined with a note to be shared with a beloved person. The others will be gifts to people I share a social world with, friends and sisters in the faith. These items' value lay in the fact that they are well designed, or unusual, and may give a tickled fancy to a friend.
Whether retro, vintage, or antique, find items that you like just because you like them, or can use them, or appreciate that they're well made.
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