ger,
In my previous post on this subject I said that I had long-ago heard that the
100-year old rule of defining an 'antique' came from Federal tax code, and I
think it probably comes from the importation rule to which you refer. As I
also said in that post, dealers used to assiduously avoid calling an item an
'antique' unless it was demonstrably 100 years old. I don't know how many
people on the board were into antiques 43 years ago, but I can assure you that
back then, that was the way it was done. And ger, you are correct, phonographs
were largely considered junk by the vast majority of dealers because they
simply weren't old enough to be considered antique, and besides that, they were
plentiful back then. I never used to look for phonos in the front rooms of
antique shops -- I'd head straight to the back 'junk' rooms and there they'd be!
re: pet peeves -- It bugs me when an eBay or Craigslist listing refers to a
phonograph (or anything) as a "unit". "This unit works great." Also, "ones" .
. . "This is one of the nicest ones I have ever seen" ("It doesn't look like
the numeral one, it looks like a Victor VI to me," I'm thinking! Redundant, as
well). And "guts", as in ". . . cabinet only, the guts have been removed".
Are those really the best words they can come up with? "Specific is terrific,"
my third-grade teacher, Mes. Norlund, used to say when teaching us how to write.
It took me a moment to figure out what "EAPG" meant right out of the barrel
like that, but, the context and recalling what you had previously posted
allowed me to figure it out pretty quickly. Mrs. Norlund also used to tell us,
"Write like the reader doesn't know anything about what you are writing about."
BTW, it is spelled 'Sumerian', not "Sumarian". LOL! Sorry, just had to kid
you a little there!
> From: ge...@comcast.net
> To: phono-l@oldcrank.org
> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 02:05:14 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] definition of "antique"
>
> For purposes of importation, the govt defined an "antique" as anything older
> than 100 years (an "antiquity" is much older, as in hundreds or thousands of
> years...Sumarian, ex.). This 100 years has been accepted for many moons as
> the definition of antique (everywhere except ebay, of course). I checked this
> definition on an official gov site at least 15 years ago. Obviously this
> involves a moving date of production. And I think that the 100-year mark is
> significant, because...
>
> Interest appears to take off when an invention/item is near its 100th
> anniversary.
>
> I noticed that EAPG (my main collectible) began to get popular 1930-ish,
> because EAPG was near the 100 year mark (first glass pressed in 1825), and
> people became more aware.
>
> Didn't the phonograph also take off on some type of "anniversary" of its
> creation?? How many of the collectors here became more earnest in the 1980's
> or 1990's when the phono was commercially about 100 years old?
>
> Since ebay's appearance, someone added the definition of "semi-antique" as
> anything being 50 years old...not exactly sure where that one came
> from...possibly the govt as well. Hmmmm I think we might have a few
> semi-antique collectors here. ;)
>
> Also, one of my pet peeves: using the word "vintage" to mean something really
> "old." Vintage has to have a year or some reference to a time period added to
> it, as in "vintage 1893," or "Depression vintage," or even "vintage 1993."
> Just my 2 cents worth. ;)
>
> Ger
> PS: In my experience, particularly online watching chat groups, our younguns
> ain't so hot on grammar OR spelling. It used to drive me nuts. But now "your"
> being used for "you're" is becoming common, even in ads on tv! Who's to
> blame...or should I use a youngun's "whose" since they don't seem to know the
> difference between those 2 words either. LOL
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: phonofo...@aol.com
> To: phono-l@oldcrank.org
> Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 7:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] definition of "antique" - was Re: Shipping
> phonographs
>
>
> Anyhting made after 1840 is not an antique, but is considered a
> collectible. Anything antique is usually referred to as an item hand made
> prior to 1840. A least for furniture this date is of signifigance due to the
> creation of the wire nail. Nails were hand wrought 1840 and prior. Also wood
> was being cut after 1840 with a circular saw and no longer by hand. So cars
> and phonographs are more or less collectibles rather than antiques.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Wright <esrobe...@hotmail.com>
> To: Phono L <phono-l@oldcrank.org>
> Sent: Sun, Jan 3, 2010 3:59 pm
> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] definition of "antique" - was Re: Shipping
> phonographs
>
>
>
> ntique is a moving target, and I think it always has been. Regarding its
> legal
> efinition for purposes of insurance claims against shipping damage, Rich is
> ight, it does need to be clearly stated, though I think 100 years is too
> many,
> ersonally. I've also found more than one source saying 100 years is the
> ypical consideration (none of which were wiki-related).
> Seems it's a bit like "unique", another word murdered by popular usage and
> eneral misunderstanding. There are no degrees of unique -- it means
> literally
> ne of its kind in all of existence. That one gets me worse than "antique"
> oes.
> Fun story, Peter. I know people less than half your friend's age who are
> still
> o scared to embrace modern (computer) technology fully, even though in
> their
> outh they were anything but Luddite.
>
>
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