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Antique vs. Vintage.

Is there an official definition for the difference between vintage and antique? I see the word vintage a lot, and I often question whether the seller actually knows the differnce.  Or whether it is just used to get people to look at their item/s. Please educate me/us on the difference.

Thanks

LexFalcon 

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Antique vs. Vintage.

most of the folks on these boards use 100 years old or more for antique. Vintage means nothing without a date such as vintage 1900, vintage 2010, ect.  So vintage is essentially anything newer than antique.

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Antique vs. Vintage.

The previous poster covered it, but I'm in an expansive mood, so...

 

Many, if not most, American antiques dealers have used the "100 years" rule for antiques since the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 defined antiques to be that age for purposes of import-export regulation and tariffs.  It's true that antiques dealers in other countries don't necessarily use it, nor do American collectors of cars, rugs, or most Chinese artifacts, especially ceramics, and those who deal in books do not use the word at all.  Most others in the trade in the U.S. use the 100 year demarcation -- but keep in mind it's just a handy number and not a hard and fast rule.

Vintage means "year" (orginally referring to wine) and the word is meaningless without a year.  "That's a vintage 1963 Underwood Typewriter." 

Circa indicates an approximate date.  "That house was built circa 1900."

BUT, as others have often posted, eBay sellers have Humpty Dumpty's take on words; ergo:

Antique = My grandmother used to have one
Vintage = I haven't seen one in a while
Old = Mine's in the attic
Classic = Popular last year
Limited edition = Limited to the number of suckers we can find
Retro = Covered in plastic and price jacked up
Rare = Listed no oftener than once a week
Unique = Only a dozen left
Collectible = I thought it was great, but don't want it anymore
Scarce = I need to get this sold before I misplace it again

Smiley LOL

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Antique vs. Vintage.


@maxine*j wrote:

The previous poster covered it, but I'm in an expansive mood, so...

 

Many, if not most, American antiques dealers have used the "100 years" rule for antiques since the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 defined antiques to be that age for purposes of import-export regulation and tariffs.  It's true that antiques dealers in other countries don't necessarily use it, nor do American collectors of cars, rugs, or most Chinese artifacts, especially ceramics, and those who deal in books do not use the word at all.  Most others in the trade in the U.S. use the 100 year demarcation -- but keep in mind it's just a handy number and not a hard and fast rule.

Vintage means "year" (orginally referring to wine) and the word is meaningless without a year.  "That's a vintage 1963 Underwood Typewriter." 

Circa indicates an approximate date.  "That house was built circa 1900."

BUT, as others have often posted, eBay sellers have Humpty Dumpty's take on words; ergo:

Antique = My grandmother used to have one
Vintage = I haven't seen one in a while
Old = Mine's in the attic
Classic = Popular last year
Limited edition = Limited to the number of suckers we can find
Retro = Covered in plastic and price jacked up
Rare = Listed no oftener than once a week
Unique = Only a dozen left
Collectible = I thought it was great, but don't want it anymore
Scarce = I need to get this sold before I misplace it again

Smiley LOL


 I was taught that vintage is 20 years or older ... Antique is like the other poster indicated 100 years or older

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Antique vs. Vintage.


@springs_2013 wrote:



 I was taught that vintage is 20 years or older ... Antique is like the other poster indicated 100 years or older


Sure, the word is very loosely used now, especially on eBay.  Some say 20 years.  One of the local malls sets it at 30 years.   But the original meaning is still used by many of us, and so it's good to know.

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Antique vs. Vintage.

Other responders are correct that "vintage" was originally a French term used to express the age of a wine, but it has been expanded to mean anything made on an identified date.  This message is "vintage 8/08/2018," but that does not mean it is a valuable  antique- yet. 

 

The Anglicized French word "vintage" combines two French words, "vingt," meaning the number 20, and "age," with the same meaning as in English.  In its original usage, a "vintage" wine would have been a wine at least 20 years old. 

 

I see it as fair to use "vintage" to express the age of any object made at least 20 years ago, provided the date is included. 

 

 It is correct, though overused and perhaps misleading, to refer to a used pair of athletic socks as "vintage 2016", so they would list as "vintage clothing."

 

If uncertain of an exact date, you could say "vintage c. 2016."  "C," is the recognized abbreviation for "circa," meaning "about" "around," or "approximately."

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Antique vs. Vintage.


@vg11 wrote:

et. 

 

The Anglicized French word "vintage" combines two French words, "vingt," meaning the number 20, and "age," with the same meaning as in English.  In its original usage, a "vintage" wine would have been a wine at least 20 years old. 

 

I see it as fair to use "vintage" to express the age of any object made at least 20 years ago, provided the date is included. 

 



 

I'm afraid your etymology is in error.  The root of "vintage" is not vingt (twenty) but the Latin vinum (wine) and the word means, essentially, wine harvest.   Vingt derives from the Latin vīgintī, which means, essensially, two tens.

 

 

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