What does vintage really mean? Well if you are a smarty pants, you have probably figured out by now, I have been misusing the word vintage all week.According to Richarde13 on Ebay, "The correct usage of the word vintage must be used with a year: ie. my car is vintage 2001... , this WWII item is vintage 1943... " In fact, vintage in the purest sense of the word refers to wine. When I write vintage sewing machine I am using the adjective form, meaning it is of or relating to a vintage: like it is the best of that group.
Is it wrong then to call a machine from the early to mid 20th century vintage? You tell me. I think it is not the correct use of the word, but it has become part of the vernacular. Ah, semantics... what will we mess up next!
Hope you enjoy the collage of 20th century beauties. Next week I am going to attempt to feature (brooding music cue) Men who Sew. I have some good stuff lined up, so stay tuned!
Links to the Machine Photos:
Orange Brother
White and Orange Singer
Blue Morse
Green Zundapp
Green Brother Overloque
In the antiques business, 'vintage' means between 20 and 99 years old, and 'antique' means 100 years old or more. So yes, most 20th century sewing machines are 'vintage'.
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