Is it an Antique?

While an antique is supposed to be at least 100 years old, many of the items for sale in antique shops are not that old. To many folks, antique is something no longer used. With that definition, a record player made in 1970 could be an antique. No one ever plays records on a turntable unless they have an old record. Do they? But 1970 is only 41 years ago, which doesn’t even qualify as semi-antique.
Semi-antique is a term often used with oriental rugs signifying that a rug is 50 to 75 years old and of an earlier vintage.
We have the other category “collectible” which describes something that people value because it was either made in limited quantities and now prized, or because it is a good example of an item that people like to collect and also limited in availability.
Some “collectibles” are part of a created market, for example collectible Christmas plates.
With the advances in technology, certain items are going out of fashion at a faster rate than in previous centuries. Typewriters, eight tracks, VHS tapes, slide rules, cameras with film, transistor radios.. the list goes on and on. Will they be collectibles? Well they are not something you are likely to want to display but the old LP covers are nice. The advertising posters for some of the aforementioned items are future collectibles can be attractive. And yes when any of the above mentioned items or a game from our childhood reach 100 years old they will be antiques.

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