Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion What does 'vintage' mean?

Serious question about collectibles .... what is 'vintage' supposed to mean when used to describe an item?

It seems the word has morphed in meaning over the past several years and I was curious how you all use the term.

Thanks.

Seems to have become a warning catch phrase for "reproduction"

For me, vintage is a term to describe an item that is between 40 and 100 years old....

Jack Sim, KW Frith, HuskyBob, Morgan, SouperHigh & ME, WE'RE ALL VINTAGE!

In the snowmobile world, vintage is 20+ years old, antique is pre 1970.

Not to be contrary.... But, the above group would fall under the definition "Older than Dirt", if I'm not mistaken?

Of course being a "spring chicken" myself.........

I feel very comfortable with making such an observation!

[/quote]
Jack Sim, KW Frith, HuskyBob, Morgan, SouperHigh & ME, WE'RE ALL VINTAGE! [/quote]


I think Ancient would better describe that group!!! LOL

I think you mean they are antique, HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

Vintage has a meaning that is so different to so many people that you can't count on it to mean anything. Some even think it means an item made today that looks like an old style item.

Vintage can honestly describe most of what we collect. So it is not a bad word, just misused by some sellers.

My dictionary lists wine-related meanings for vintage and this one - "the type fashionable or popular in some season or period as in 'prewar vintage'"

At least WE are Collectable.
Instead of being all that Polished Stainless Steel & Plastic Multi Grade Newer Stuff that needs 4 Hoses to Deliver!
Don't forget that we also have Longer & Larger Hoses & some still have Original stuff on top. Some of us are Over 6' tall & like the Energizer Bunny, WE just keep GOING & GOING & GOING.......

Hope a few of the Younger ones Become COLLECTABLE in the years to come!

Need a picture of DB---VINTAGE..LOL

This a Family site, some pictures are Not Allowed!

Vintage mean that you need a little rascal scooter to Cruz around the shows.....

Yes I agree with Bob !!

vin·tage  (vntj)
n.
1. The yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or district during one season.
2. Wine, usually of high quality, identified as to year and vineyard or district of origin.
3. The year or place in which a wine is bottled.
4.
a. The harvesting of a grape crop.
b. The initial stages of winemaking.
5. Informal


a. A group or collection of people or things sharing certain characteristics.
b. A year or period of origin: a car of 1942 vintage.
c. Length of existence; age.
adj.
1. Of or relating to a vintage.
2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
3. Old or outmoded.
4.
a. Of the best: played songs that were vintage Cole Porter.
b. Of the most distinctive: "Fatalism has coexisted with vintage American overconfidence" (Thomas Oliphant).
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, alteration (influenced by viniter, vintner) of Old French vendange, from Latin vndmia : vnum, grapes + dmere, to take off (d, de- + emere, to obtain; see em- in Indo-European roots).]

The word 'type' is the escape clause. You even see a lot of sellers now include (bury) it somewhere in their description. That being the case, I really have not been using it correctly-although when I use it, the item is actually 'from' the period, not the 'type' of object one would have found during a period past. The cynic in me says the term is intentionally used quite often to muddy the waters. As always, buyer beware-and read the complete ad or description.

I use vintage all the time. Vintage to me means 40-100 yrs old. Antique is 100 yrs or older.

Didn't I read somewhere (Oldgas?), that vintage was up to 100 years old and antique was older?

In my opinion it means absolutely nothing...if you do an ebay search for "vintage" you get almost 5 million items!

I'm with Mr. Frith on this one...
VINTAGE = unintentional warning of unmarked, un-declared reproduction.

Unfortunately it doesn't matter what YOU think vintage is or what the "official" meaning is, what matters is deciphering what your seller thinks it is: over 40 years old, 5 years old, new to roughly replicate something old, exact reproduction, fantasy, etc. Chances are if it will get a sale ANYTHING is then vintage.

In clothing it means your paying premiun for second hand clothes. In auto it means you have running boards. In furiture it is less than 100 years old. In petro it means you better have a good idea of what you are looking at.
WEBESTERS SAYS - the crop of grapes from a certain region in a single season,or the wine from such a crop. & a model from an earlier time.

When I was 20 in 1955, we use to talk about old things that were made in the last century. Now if I mention the last century, it is only 12 years ago.

This question has no answer. It use to be that only the cars recognized by the Classis Car Club were to be called "Classics." And if my memory is correct the newest car they recognized was the 46 Lincoln Cont. Now cars from the 1980s are called classics.

It all depends on your age, someone my age thinks that items made before 1930 are vintage, they were made before I was born, so someone who is now 25 would think that things made in the early 1980s are vintage.

And as for DB description of me, I want to say I am not getting old, but my doctor did say that I'm in the early stages of fossilization. I need to look up that word.

Jack Sim

Jack maybe vintage means when you have more doctors than girlfiends I know that feeling. Mitch

it means "OLD"

We all know what "vintage" means as far as a word in the English language. I think the real question asked was; what has it evolved to mean in our hobby. I'm with Kevin and the others who see it as a "warning" that the sign or item being described or flogged is a reproduction. "Vintage" is the most used world by dishonest sellers on e-Bay to describe reproduction signs and items. Even they don't like words like "replica, reproduction, retro, fantasy,or fake.....".
Even in this thread everyone has their own take on what "vintage" means. It's this duality or confusion that the dishonest sellers are capitalizing on. My advice is if you are new to the hobby and are still learning and you see the word vintage in a e-Bay listing you may want to be extra careful. For that reason when listing or selling items I try not to use the word vintage.

I think the 50-100 years old stuff should be called "demiantiques." Or semiantiques, to be a bit less twee.
Years ago my working def for "vintage" was older than 1965 but not antique. Now I would call it between 25 and 50 years old, but demonstrating its own era. Vinyl records, road maps showing all the interstates, and clothing of the time=vintage. Only other legit usage of the term is related to wine.
Repro stuff looking like any of the above, no. Today it's definitely a red flag.

I concede to Jack- "This question has no answer."

Dave, thank you. All I said was, it depends on how old you are and how far in the past do you consider anything to to be old.

I enjoy old service station literature, even as far back as 1885, buty I can just look at the literature. My other passion is restorig ECO Air Meters made from 1947 on. This way I can get my hands dirts, enjoy what I am doing, and can be proud of the finished product.

I like them so much I just purchased five more of them from the same person.

Jack Sim

I consider anything before my birth date to be vintage.

(Older than me)