|
Everyone knows, vintage era products reflect history from
the past. Besides being a work of artwork, that helps us peer into the
past, the quality and workmanship in vintage era goods, distinguish them
from any previous time period.
Background:
Originally the Term Vintage was used by the wine industry to
indicate a wine's harvest date. Vint
(indicates type of vine) and Age (time of creation) (Learn more
about Vintage Wines)
The use of the word "vintage" today has is used by collectors to describe an
Original product from an older era. IE Vintage cars, Vintage Clothing,
Vintage Guitars etc.
What Gets labeled a "Vintage"?
The materials, environment and society of pre-1970, took pride in
building hand crafted, detail oriented Quality crafted goods, which is in
contract from today's automated and mass produced / cut corners "made in
china" goods. As a rule of thumb from my standpoint, Vintage is a Product,
produced with skill and craftsmanship intended to last a long time and
perform its function well (to outlive its average useful life)
In the Garment Industry, vintage carries a different meaning, it defines
vintage as clothing and accessories dating from the 1920s through the
1970s. Learn More about Vintage
Clothing
Vintage goes beyond Antique
Antique's are respected for their ability to remind us of a time gone by.
Typically antiques are stored in showcares or collected. (2)They are
desirable because of age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique
features.
In Contrast a Vintage is a daily used product, that is lasting and being
utilized, into daily modern life. It is one of the beauty of vintage goods,
they are all around us.
| "A
vintage item is one that outlives its expected useful life with normal
maintaince and care" |
A "Rule of Thumb" Definition |
An Example
A 1970's Era vehicle, on display in well maintained condition and used
lightly is not vintage, but it IS an Antique
A 1970's Era vehicle that was driven as "normal use", maintained well, and
is able to run Today, is a Vintage. What makes it vintage is that it has
exceeded its average lifetime expected use attributed to its well
thought out design and engineering.
The Inspiration Behind This Site
You would think that buying a consumer product today, would be Vastly
superior than something produced say, 5, 10 and 20 years ago. Wouldnt you?
I would imagine a coffee maker or vaccum i buy today should be better since
we have come so far in techology and engineering better products. You would
Be Wrong. (well mostly)
I am a techno loving guy. I love all
things modern and comtemporary. I also am a educated consumer. I
research.read & compare before i shop. So when I went to buy my new vacuum
cleaner to replace an old dying hoover. To my surprise my new Well known
brand vacuum died on me after 6 months. My old vaccum lasted me 6 years
with No problems!
I have a tape dispenser that was produced in the 1980's. Its job is to spit
out a length of tape in a pre determined size, moisten it with heated liquid
and cut it. I am the 2nd owner, its on all original parts (not even had the
cutter sharpened) and i use it to cut an average of 20,000 pieces of tape a
year. It has been in use and has Never failed yet. No fancy electronics on
it. all mechanical device, and the beauty it, it is completely user
servicable. So any person with a average understanding of machines could
work on it, with everyday tools. Thats what i call well constructed & made
to last a lifetime!
So basically, i noticed that everything "new" isnt always Good. Or even
Quality. It seems alot of products made today are MADE to be Obselete
rather than to run well for as long as possible. This trend actually
started occuring in the late 80's when Japenese Electronics Makers admitted
creating VCR's with plastic gears and parts so they would break down sooner,
and thus need to be replaced/repaired earlier. Which help drive up profits
for these companies.
Where to find Vintage
Where to find - flea market / swap meets / craigs list / pawn shops / ebay /
army navy stores / antiques stores antique shows and estate sales in
your area
|