Vintage versus Antique? Terms, terms, terms!

Over the past few years, both terms are being frequently used interchangeably, but really, what are the differences?

Purist consider the term antique to only be used on items over 100 years old. However, nowadays items described as antique can be as young as 50-75 years old.

Another way of defining an antique is through the use of generations. 1 generation more of less equates to 1 generation. Hence, an item which is 80 years old would be equivalent to 2 generations, making the item an antique.

The use of the term vintage on the other hand, actually derived from identifying the year when a wine was made and the correct usage of the word vintage must be used with a year. I.e. This clock is vintage 1956.

However, these days, the term vintage is commonly used to describe something that is deemed relatively old and can be as young as a few decades old.

Hope that I made these two terms clearer for you!

Mimi