V is for ...

VINTAGE

I was recently looking up ideas for my letter “V” blog post since I certainly wasn’t going to do a blog on many of the other “V” words that exist, and I was really struggling with an idea of what to post since this blog series has to have pictures of things that relate. I decided that “V” was simply just going to be a challenge. I asked several of my friends for help, and even their brains were stuck. I pondered doing a blog on “Voting” but I’ve already done one of those in the past, and I am really not ready to go political again! So, I was just about ready to throw in the towel and skip on to “W”. Yesterday, I was having a really, really down day and one of my friends texted me trying to cheer me up. I am not sure what it was about the text message she sent me because it had nothing to do with the topic nor blog, but the word “Vintage” just popped in my head while I was talking to her. I immediately started perusing through some recent photographs and found a few that I thought might be appropriate. So props to my friend for helping me though she really has no idea she did – and she certainly isn’t vintage, she is classy!

Anyways…

When you think of the word “Vintage” what comes to mind? Maybe something antique? Something cherished? An old dress or a piece of jewelry from many decades ago? Countless things can come to mind when thinking of vintage items. I loved one of the descriptions of the word vintage that I found online: “vintage is used to describe something that is not new but that is valued because of its good condition, attractive design, etc. or something that is made or done by a particular person.” Some vintage items may not look that attractive or appealing to the eye, but everything is in the eye of the beholder, right? Everything is special to someone in so many different realms – items that could bring back memories from your childhood or some ancient artifacts from history or eras gone by. Vintage items bring out a feeling of curiosity in a lot of us, so looking through the many photographs I have taken over my life, it was hard to select just a few to display.

Now for me growing up in rural North Carolina, I was accustomed to seeing many a tractor driving down the highways and many hard-working, dedicated farmers plowing and tending to their farmlands. Tractors of all sorts and kinds exist – from small lawn/garden tractors to large ones used to disk up the hard soil in preparation of the next planting season or destroying of the after-harvest. I was always intrigued by tractors and just how many different brands and sizes there were. I will never forget my Grandfather’s ancient Cub Cadet small tractor. He used to drive that thing all over our family land. I used to dream of driving the thing because it always reminded me of him. After he passed, we continued to use it, until we donated it to someone to use for parts. It was sad to see it go. Going to a recent Agricultural Festival brought back a lot of those memories. There was a countless array of old tractors on display for many to see. Beautiful tractors that are still in pristine condition and some that show some wear and tear from hard, labor-filled days in the farm fields. The smell of fuel and the sound of those antique engines just brought a sense of my childhood back to me seeing all those tractors in the fields. Sadly today many of those fields no longer exist because they are being overtaken by shopping malls and housing developments. I suppose it is just a sign of the time that the old farming days are becoming a vintage item in and of themselves.

There is also just something about old bottles that I find to be quite alluring. When you go on walks through the woods or even occasionally along the shore of the beach, you will likely run across some bottles of some variety. It makes you truly think how or why those bottles are in the places where you find them or how long they have been awaiting for someone to discover them. Message in a bottle, anyone? Back in their day, these precious bottles were brand new objects that carried joy to whomever was using them; now to us, we are intrigued by them and want to keep them on a shelf to cherish their unique design. I often wonder what item that we throw away today might be cherished and considered vintage by generations that follow us? We have a collection of bottles at home that my Dad loves to collect and clean. Some we leave in the condition that we found them, while others we like to clean up and display. I often ponder if there is any monetary value to any of them, so I can sell them and get some extra money (ha!). But in reality, they do make a nice display, too.

And then of course one of my ultimate favorites is the sound that comes from an antique piano. Wait, what?!? Pianos can sound different, you say? Absolutely! I have played the piano since I was a wee little thing and I have played a variety of pianos and while they all have the same note connotation, each piano can contain its own unique sound. My Great-Grandmother had a very old piano in her home and I used to love playing on it as a child. It was massively out of tune but none-the-less just the way the reverberations came out the piano had a very distinct sound that stays with you throughout your life. Sometimes the older pianos are much more entertaining to play on. Their sound makes me think I am in some far away, small country church in the mountains or in the valley playing to a congregation as they sing along to the old shape-note music. I love the touch and feel of the older pianos. Just think of the heritage and history that has used those pianos for entertainment. So many memories live within the bodies of the beautiful instruments.

Days gone by should be cherished. However our society today has almost gotten to the point where they mix vintage and nostalgia together as one in the same, when in reality they are not. Vintage items have a history that extends deep within. We should not forget the history behind each vintage item that we encounter. At one point they were brand new items to someone, and equally someone worked very hard at crafting those items. Vintage should be respected and revered. Let us not forget where we came from and where our history resonates.