my love affair with vintage

There isn't a single moment that I can recall when I decided to fall in love with vintage.

When I walk into an estate sale that is a direct reflection of the past, my heart begins to race. Although it sounds maybe a little odd, I have a physical reaction to these vintage wares. Excitement, a burst of energy, goosebumps and they especially touch my soul. Let me tell you, I don't have this same reaction at Target. While I appreciate what they have to sell, it just doesn't do anything for me.

Even Anthropolgie, which I have gushed and gushed about in many previous ATG blog posts, does so little for me. I want authentic aging, a darkened patina and an old energy to what I buy and place in my home.

I want to fully surround myself with vintage (except necessities of course like my Mac, iphone, Tivo :-) I want to walk into my home and feel the vintage energy that these objects radiate. My couch, desk, table, lamps, artwork, decor, kitchenware and clocks are decades old. I feel so at home here surrounded by these.

When I walk into a faux vintage home, filled with Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, I can admire the style but I can't feel anything from it. Just appreciate that these brands are attempting to copy authentically vintage items. Very cleverly so, but nothing can replicate true age.

My childhood home was filled with lots of vintage oak furniture from the 1920's. We even have a secretary cabinet nicknamed "The General" that supposedly came out of a general's office at the capitol building in Sacramento. It's those stories that my parents shared with me that sparked my interest. Their "old stuff" arrived in our home with stories and history. In my opinion, particle board junk made in China mostly has sad stories attached to it.

Why do I adore selling vintage? I want to continue those stories and delight associated with vintage items. Although most things that I purchase don't include the story of where I got them when I sell them to the next owner, they still will have the enchantment of knowing there is history behind their 50 year old Danish Modern glassware. It's the unspoken tales that our subconscious is aware of.

It's that drive to love vintage that wakes me up at silly hours of the morning to go and wait 3 or 4 hours for an estate sale to open. I want to be first in the door in order to have the opportunity to see the house as it was left. It's often a nearly perfect example of a vintage past. These time capsule homes are rarer than your average sale but when do I uncover them my soul is filled with absolute pleasure. Kitchens filled with 1960's food packaging, 40 year old toiletries in the bathroom and 1950's Sunset Magazines on the coffee table. These homes are truly a gift to those that adore and honor vintage.

How long will my affair with vintage last? I don't really know. I do feel that day to day I am much happier than the old me who would feel so much satisfaction from spending money in a retail setting. Or the old me that actually was defined by what I owned. While I now love what I own, I don't need any of it. I could sell it all if the price was right. My living room in fact is beginning to look like an eBay showroom with items listed but on display in my home until they sell. A part of me is purely content with this ReSeller's lifestyle. I wouldn't change a thing.

How deep in love are you with vintage?

Comments

[Cassandra]

Such a lovely post. I've only been doing the vintage hunting about a year and a half now...thanks to you. I love it, and I've started to feel those feelings you described. I get giddy with excitement.

I love the history and warmth some estate sale homes have. They ones who've passed on held onto items and in some cases really took good care of their items, and being decades old the most tell tale sign of their age is their design.

I'm not a big jewelry wearer, but at one sale I was going through some necklaces, and as I was focusing on a couple of pieces the cashier told me the necklaces were hand crocheted by her mother back in the 60's. I looked at the necklaces closer and did realize it was a single crochet chain using maybe a heavy thread. That story sold me on those items and bought them.

Since then I've tried to duplicate the necklaces myself by hand crocheting thinking it would be so easy, but it so much more difficult then I expected. I'm use to standard yarn and could quickly bust out a single chain strand, but with thinner thread/yarn it is soooo much harder to work with. I give huge props to the lady who made the necklaces, I bought, 50 years ago. :-)

[Stephanie]

Love this post! I admit, I wasn't into vintage when I was younger, not even 15 yrs ago. But I've really grown to love it over the last several years. I agree with you, I just don't have the same feeling walking through Target etc. as I once did. I now find myself thinking "I could make that" or "I saw a vintage version that was nicer the other day!".

Stephanie
Fresh Picked Vintage

[Bee Balm Gal]

Welcome back.
I, too, love vintage, for its look and feel, and for the sake of frugality, and for quality.
I have a dresser that my parents bought - second hand! - in 1948. It still looks great and there's not a speck of plastic or particle board in it anywhere.
Our 1920s upright piano was free. "Just move it outa here and it's yours," the previous owner said. It has real ivory keys and still sounds great. Our now-grown kids learned on it and when the young grandchildren visit, I don't care if they bang on it a bit. It was free!

[Heidi German]

I've always loved the past, history, and old things. My first two years in college, I was an Archaeology major even! I still have the ring that my mom bought for me at a yard sale when I was a very tiny girl! My first 'junk'. ;) In high school, I pored over copies of Victoria magazine and wanted to dress like Anne of Green Gables. I didn't start going junking on my own until I was in college. One of the first things I found was a Lu-Ray creamer at a thrift store, and I remember that my mom and my then-fiance (now-DH) teased me for it! I didn't even know what Lu-Ray was, I just knew that it 'looked old' and that was enough for me. So glad I followed my instincts even then!

[Shabby Vintage Junk]

Hello Selena....SO HAPPY to see a post from you Lovey....!!

....hmmmmm....Where & HOW to start....I;m driven by an urgency within to protect the pieces I find from being thrown into landfill....

A LOT of the Treasures I find come from the side of the road....Put out by homeowners for the council garbage collectors to take to the tip....

When I drive past & see a vintage piece cast out like no-one cares any more I see it as MY responsibility to give it a new home so it's 'soul' can continue to feel cherished & wanted....

Now that probably sounds odd but basically what it boils down to I guess is that I have a fear that when I'm GONE it won't be like I was ever here & I won't have mattered....So when I see that chair, cupboard, WEDDING dress what have you I stop & pick it up hoping I can keep pass it on to someone else therefore perpetuating it's 'relevancy' for a bit longer....!

When I sit in an old chair, try on a piece of clothing I imagine I can FEEL the life the piece has lived before....Like whispers....

I don't & won't EVER feel that way about mass produced 'stuff' coming out of China....Don't get me STARTED on the whole 'off shore' manufacturing thing....!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers for now,
Tamarah :o)

[Selena Cate]

Oh I completely can relate to what you are saying. I wrote a blog post called Saving Vintage. I too try to save things from disappearing forever. I think its wonderful that so many of us are loving vintage this way. We each are doing our part to keep a part of history alive.
xoxo Selena

[StacySix]

I think that when an object survives the test of time, passing from hand to hand, it can take on some of the same qualities that handmade goods often have. Vintage items have a humanity (for lack of a better word) to them that modern mass-produced goods do not. There's a solidity to them. Maybe they're a bit like the Velveteen Rabbit - love and use makes them "real".

[Amy Stark]

I could ditto many of these wonderful comments. For many years I was drawn to items that women before me had stitched, crocheted, knitted, etc... I wanted these items to be cherished for the love that had been poured into them. I also feel that way about dishes and kitchen items. One of my favorite items is an old stand up mixer that I got at an estate sale, a note was attached. "This mixer has made many many batches of delicious cookies, hundreds of cakes and loads of other goodies. Who wouldn't want to own such a special mixer. The cord needed to be replaced, its enamel is a bit chipped, but it makes me smile everytime I use it. Can the new red mixer that everyone seems to now own share the same joy? So estate sales, garage sales and thrift shops are my modern day treasure hunts.

[Maria (Magia Mia)]

I couldn't agree with you more. My soul goes a little numb when I walk through a retail store like Target. I feel a bit like I'm in autopilot.

The second I walk into a thrift store, I can feel my soul come alive. Anything I can buy in a thrift store I do it, whether for selling or to keep.

And I, too, live "inside" my Etsy shop, with treasures for sale all around me at all times. Allows me to enjoy looking at them before passing the storied object on to the next person.

[thriftshopperforpeace]

i think i've always loved vintage... i just love the feel of old things, the history and stories they must know... great blog. all your blogs are great! your blog is what inspired me to also blog - so i gave you an award. check it out here. http://thriftshopperforpeace.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/one-lovely-blog/

[Marla]

I feel the same way especially about handmade pieces like embroidery,quilts, and crochet/knit pieces.When I see them in the bins at Goodwill,I want to save them.I think,'Look how much work was put into this.It must've taken someone hours and hours to finish.Why would they just get rid of it?'
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

[Sharon S]

I can't get enough. I love rescuing treasures. I always feel like someone's Grandma in heaven is smiling when I do!

[Pat]

You say it so well, I wish I had your way with words. I didn't grow up with vintage stuff all around me, but my Mom used to take us thrifting, then my folks started going to auctions and collecting old stuff. That's when I started appreciating it in my teens. How I wish I had money back then cause I had to pass up (they didn't take charge cards then!). I have bought reproduction stuff in the past, and I've never been happy with it, so I quit buying it. It's that real patina that gives me the satisfaction of owning it!

[Julia@a-living-space]

You say it so perfectly. That's pretty much exactly how I feel about surrounding myself with wonderful vintage that is all so beautiful, in large part because you can feel the history in each piece. There are very few new things in our space and they are mainly the electronics like you mentioned. It feels so much more like a real home to me, even though some of the stuff is for sale in our shop. In our space, we like to mix and match vintage items so it doesn't feel like a museum, but I do love walking into an estate sale that is such a symbol of a time and a person. Anyway, I couldn't say it better than you... I always love the way you talk about vintage love!

[Eva]

Deeply. I think it began as a little girl growing up in Vermont hearing my parents talking about how there was a fight to keep the old covered bridges from being torn down. I couldn't believe they tear something like that down! Today I adore anything old, with patina, and AUTHENTIC. I always pick up left behind treasures on the side of the road. Today I got a vintage Remington typewriter for $15 :) I just can't even believe it, I almost cried when I got it to work!

[nfl jerseys from china]

The second I walk into a thrift store, I can feel my soul come alive. Anything I can buy in a thrift store I do it, whether for selling or to keep.