Vintage vs. Antique

[iowadoc77]

My grandparents collected antiques.
I like to collect vintage.
Probably many of the same items, I just like the terminology better

[Runscott]

As David pointed out, 'antique' is an easy one;however, 'vintage' is used in a lot of ways by sellers and collectors of a lot of different things (including wine) - most usages being erroneous - so it was difficult to even find a useful definition of the word (that didn't relate to wine).

The best I found for our purposes (from Merriam-Webster): "a period in which something was made or was begun". The problem with its usage generally comes with antiques - you'll see ebay sellers calling something 'vintage' clothing when they really mean 'almost antique', 'almost' being such a variable period as to be useless. Since vintage refers to an actual time period, using the word without indicating a time period as well, is a waste of time. Also, you could say 'vintage 1960s' and be talking about an item that LOOKS like something made during that period, but was actually made last week in China.

[jhs5120]

I've always considered antiques to be items from the Antiquity; so by default, nothing related to baseball can be an antique.

[drcy]

Antiquities is something different. Antiquity means Ancient Greece and Rome, etc. George Washington's walking stick would be too modern for antiquity.

[jhs5120]

Originally Posted by drcy

Antiquity means Ancient Greece and Rome, etc. George Washington's walking stick would be too modern for antiquity.

All true, but I wouldn't really consider George Washington's walking stick an antique either.

I could be mistaken, but I consider antiquity to begin sometime before the middle ages. Those are antiques (ie. from the Antiquity).

Edited to add: I looked up Antiquity and found a similar definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquity

[drcy]

In the end, if someone wants to call his Goudeys or 1915 Cracker Jacks vintage or antique it's no big deal to me. But antique and antiquity are two different things.

[Eric72]

I believe the term, "antique" used to refer to an item made before 1830.

More recently, the definition has been modified and generally refers to an item 100+ years old.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

All true, but I wouldn't really consider George Washington's walking stick an antique either.

I could be mistaken, but I consider antiquity to begin sometime before the middle ages. Those are antiques (ie. from the Antiquity).

Edited to add: I looked up Antiquity and found a similar definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquity

Antique = more than 100 years old
Antiquity = before the middle ages

[conor912]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

All true, but I wouldn't really consider George Washington's walking stick an antique either.

I agree, it sounds slightly off, but not more than calling it vintage
How about "historical artifact"?