How Do You Know If it is 'Vintage Collectible Memorabilia' ?

What is it, Anyway?

According to Michael Flanagan, of the Antiques Road Show, the definition of an antique being 100 years old was decided in 1930. This left a linguistic gap in the description of valuables less than 100 years old, this gap was filled with the term ‘collectible.'

"Everything we handle is really memorabilia and not a collectible," says Leila Dunbar, Director of Sotheby's collectibles department. Dunbar explains that collectibles are just made to be collected, such as Harley Davidson items. Memorabilia, on the other hand, was made for a purpose, such as theater programs.

Memorabilia is defined as "remarkable and worthy of recollection" according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (MWCD). Collectible, on the other hand, is defined as "suitable for being collected."

Adding the word vintage to the equation serves to complicate things further; vintage is generally used when referring to a year in terms of wine, a good vintage, or a successful year. 

According to MWCD, it can be defined as "dating from the past" and its origin is Latin for grape gathering.

When the word ‘vintage' appears on a price tag, in an antique environment, dealers predominantly mean: I don't know the date of this item, but I like it, and I like the word vintage.

Tired of pontificating about meaningless syntax, I concluded that my ‘vintage' 2003 Harley Davidson 100th Show Program, must be ‘collectible' and ‘memorabilia.'