I jumped on ebay to look for quilt panels and jumped into the handmade quilts page. There was a "vintage" section that I spent sometime looking at. I came across one quilt that I know was not handmade as my mother purchased one for me when I was 8. As I continued to look through the various quilts I realized that many of them were from my childhood and they are labeled vintage. Now that official definition of an antique is 50 years or older. I am 51 and the realization came to me OMG I'm vintage! LOL I have the soul of a 30 year old.

i don't need to hear the 50 year thing-----------sticking quilt scraps in my ears!

Just like fine wine, we are better aged. :lol:

DITTO LOL

I love this post. Feel the very same way. Brows through antique stores and am finding our wedding gifts! What is up with that !! "they are vintage" still did not feel any better !

I feel your pain ! hah!

Except I think that I'm turning to vinegar........

:lol:

Seriously Anna, I hope someone can answer and help who has had some ebay experience as to false advertising on ebay?

I think the rule is still 100 years old for an antique and 30 to 50 years old for collectibles and 50 to 100 years old for vintage.

I've noticed a whole lot of ebay sellers don't really have a clue what they're talking about.

I feel so very old when I go to antique shops with DH and DD and see toys that DH and I played with. I feel even older when younger DD doesn't know what a dial phone is. LOL!

I remember the 1st time I was at an antique store and items from my childhood/that era were there. My 1st thought was this stuff isn't old ....

I am a very experienced 39 year old, even though I was first seen as a very young baby about 77 years ago.

Love this thread! I can sooooo relate!
Ebay can be tricky. They will call stuff from the 80's "vintage".
I think that word definition is changing, at least in my experience.

I guess I am vintage too. My soul hasn't caught up with my body yet either. 8-)

I look for scissors every once in a while. Whoda thunk? Anyway, I see the Chinese scissors labeled antique all the time. I have four pairs I paid a buck each for about 15 years ago and you can buy them brand new at Harbor Freight for 3 bucks. Some antique. I even saw some fancy gold handle ones at the sewing expo last month. A little rust does not make an antique.

You are not alone,,,,, I refuse to be any older than 39 forever!!

Oh happy quilters... thanks for the (outloud) laugh!! Apparently, I, too, am "vintage." I've mentioned it before, so forgive me it you've already seen this... but my DH and I have decided to go to what he calls "the 10.0 point age scale." Using this scale, he just turned 5.9... I'm staring down 5.8... somehow, the number isn't as "painful?" And its so much closer to, say, 3.5 or 4.2, or even 2.8!! :-D

I feel your pain. I was at an antique mall a few years ago and found Beatles memorabalia. Right there with butterchurns and old wagon wheels. I felt like an antique myself.

I know what you mean about the dial phone. A friend of mine and I were walking in Gaitlinburg with her 10 yr old and we came upon a pay phone. Gabby say's "So that is what a pay phone looks like." LOL Oh my how that made me feel old.

yeah, but some of that wine turns to vinegar. lol

Re: ebay sellers calling something antique or vintage.
Another mistake they often make is calling old Singers, etc, "industrial" machines. Most are simply the old all metal ones designed for home use many years ago. They are not the same thing as truly industrial sewing machines; they just are workhorses from the day when (my Mom anyway) it was customary to sew one's own clothing, coats, upholstery, draperies, quilts, costumes for kids, wedding gowns, mend jeans, & so on.
These old machines still beat most of the newer models for durability, but technically are not industrial machines that were made for mass production of clothing, etc for retail markets.

This thread is so funny...and so very true. I too am seeing lots of things labeled as antique that are from my youth and vintage/collectible things are from the 80's or so. Fine wine aging - yeah, that's the ticket! I am trying to stay stored properly so I don't turn to vinegar.

*had to edit cause my fine mind went a little off*

Another use for scraps!!! :)

I still have a hand mixer I got for a wedding present in 1966 - April 2 to be exact. Still works....

marje

I found an old lunch box like I had in third grade,DGD says " Grandma, how did that fit in your backpack?". She was incredulous wheN I told her we didn' have backpacks back then, we had book bags. Oh well!

I am not 51 I am 25 with 26 years of experience! :-)

So true about the industrial machines. I worked as an operator for several years. I would not expect an antique machine to function as an industrial type, nor vice versa. HUGE difference. As well constructed as many antiques are, they are not built for speed. The average home machine stitches up to 800 per minute wide open and floored, while an industrial can power out a minimum of 2500. How many people can handle their fabric that quickly and maintain control? ;)

And the funny thing is, I am not sure who that older woman looking back at me in the mirror is! lol

Yes, and I just celebrated the 3rd anniversary of my 17th birthday. :lol:

RE: terminology such as "vintage" and "antique" I do think the definition for vintage is changing, and may depend on where you are selling/buying. I used to sell on Etsy, and the site rules stated that "vintage" could refer to anything 25 years or older (If I remember correctly. I know that it allowed some things from the 1980's to be labeled "vintage").

I think "antique" was reserved for items 100 years or older.

We are not vintage, we are gently aged ;)

As a Vintageer myself, I am enjoying being wiser, and my cute young husband thinks Vintage it just fine.

I realized I was old the day my sis & I were in an antique shop and they had the same exact ice bucket (chrome with penguins around the top) that DH & I had gotten as a wedding gift *L* I knew then I was officially OLD!!! We did just celebrate our 43rd anniversary on March 15th...so I better face the fact that I am old...I tell my kids that I am NOT getting older....they are just catching up to me *L* our oldest DD will be 38 in Sept. DD #2 35 in Nov. and our 'baby' boy will be 28 in May...
YEP I'm old...;-)
Thanks for the dose of reality..Linda B.

The rotary telephone thing reminded me of a friend at work. He and his wife were going through some old albums and playing them. When he took one off the turntable and flipped it over to play the other side his teenage daughter about freaked out. She literally jerked and startled with, "No way!!" (that would be like turning a CD over, I guess :) )

Some ebay terms

Rare: No longer available at Walmart

Patina: rust

Rich Patina: heavy rust with pits

Cleaned professionally: 3 swipes with 60 grit sandpaper

From pet free home: My dog hasn't drooled on it much

From non-smoking home: I quit yesterday

OOK: from limited chinese production run of 150,000

L@@K!!: Couldn't give it away at the flea market

Gently Used: Hideously Disfigured

Like NEW: I wiped the dust off it

AS IS: Doesn't have a chance in hell of operating again

Replica: Cheap Chinese copy of a Korean knockoff

Get it before it's gone: bought overstocks in lots of a thousand

Free Shipping: Just kick me an extra $50 and it's yours

Collectible: Got it from the Micky Dee's drivethrough last week

Vintage: Armpit stains won't wash out

Recent OS: You DO still have your floppy discs, don't you?

Have I got a deal for you: Newbie buyers only

Shipped via UPS: beaten savagely by 2 irate gorillas

Scissor Queen, you are correct. An antique must be over 100 years old and rare to be considered a true antique. Nice job explaining.

Go back and check out Katieranch's avatar... I'm not arguing with her regardless how old / young she is, lol.

Wild in AZ.. Wild I tell ya varmits!

I understand, a few years ago my DGS asked me if I was an antique. LOL!!

I inherited an old Challenge treadle machine from my first MIL. My DH was wondering how old it might be. MIL had that machine when I married her son 56 years ago, and it wasn't very new then. I think that machine and I are both vintage.

Oh my goodness, I had the shock of my life too, when I went to an antique shop and on the shelf was my yearbook.My husband laughed and I cried!

lol - love the visual! i must remember - quilt scraps in my ears!