Antique, retro or junk?

On the 19^th October we are going on a girlie shopping day to Bournemouth Vintage Fair.

My daughters are all into retro and vintage and it totally amazes me as what they think of as retro is the stuff I grew up with and the vintage items are the rubbish my mum threw away when she inherited from my nan!

We are not talking priceless family heirlooms here, no Chippendale furniture or crystal chandeliers … but enamel bread bins, glass cake stands and china tea cups and saucers. Bakelite is really big apparently and the old style GPO phones are all the rage (shows how old these are as the GPO died in 1969) and there is a resurgence in the design now being used for brand new phones. I can remember everyone chucking this design away in favour of the new slimline model of the 1970’s, the one with the long cord that you could hang on the wall and had made its debut in the James Bond films of the day. These were then superceded by the modern cordless models which are getting smaller and smaller so you lose them down the side of the sofa! Let’s see if these are the new retro in a few years.

It is difficult to say what has led to this renaissance as period dramas have always been around and are probably less prevalent than they were and programmes like the Antiques Roadshow have been around forever. Those of a certain generation will remember the late, great Arthur Negus and all the tat that used to pass across his table. The Great British Bake Off has certainly led the way on home baking and the use of cake tins, cake stands and other items associated with afternoon tea but what has started the interest in soft furnishings, G-Plan furniture, 1950’s hairstyles and clothing and even old cars and VW camper vans?

For those of us that grew up with these items there is a certain nostalgia, a trigger of fond memories of people and places of our childhood and the occasional need to slow down and step out for a bit. Let’s face it, how many of us sit down to afternoon tea? We are all too busy rushing about taking coffee on the run.

The anniversary of WW1 may have something to do with it but this is tenuous at best as it seems to be the 1940’s and 1950’s style that is in vogue and the movement is being led by the babes of the 1980’s generation. Perhaps they remember seeing the retro bits and pieces in the homes of our parents’ and are indulging in a little nostalgia of their own.

The only answer I have is that good design will always be good design, regardless of current trends and new materials with which to make things. Plastic derivatives are so versatile now they can look like most things, including fabric, wood and glass so we now have the advantage of new ‘old’ things. The classic designs of a bygone era but with all the advantages of new technologies. This has led to the shops all selling the old designs at new prices, greatly inflated as usual, and this maybe is what is driving the bargain hunting of the old designs at old prices and the popularity of Ebay and Vintage Fairs.

So, what can I buy now that will be worth a mint to my grandchildren?