seems like not much stuff earlier than the 1890's has survived?

[green papaya]

most of the antiques I run into are usually never much ealier than around 1890's turn of the century?

most of the stuff from before that time didnt survive

except maybe some antique furniture

but it seems like the most common stuff is late 1890's - 1920's

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Depends where you're looking, i would imagine. Maybe more older stuff on the east coast and eastern midwest than on the west coast, simply due to a greater population size in the 1700s and earlier 1800s.

bk

 

[Midnight Palace]

I agree it depends on where you look. I went to an antique show last year and they had things from the 1700s! Of course they had everything after it up until the last years where things are still considered antique

 

[Tomasso]

Go East, Young Man!

 

[Michaelson]

I recently acquired an 1884 Elgin 15j Grade 50 convertible pocketwatch in perfect running condition....It came out of Texas...so they are out there.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Tourbillion]

I've seen a lot of stuff from the Civil War period, and I know a few guys that dress in it sometimes.

I see earlier stuff out there, but the cost is usually prohibitive, plus most of the best items have already been sold to collectors. The population was smaller and owned less clothing too, so there isn't enough Regency vintage for everyone who wants it, even if it hasn't rotted completely.

Early items usually show up at live auctions, or through more exclusive dealers, rather than ebay or your local vintage shop. Also, pre-Revolutionary items are extremely scarce.

Anyway, if you do find something you want, be prepared for moth holes.

 

[Starius]

There is indeed a lot of older stuff out there, but since I'm in the midwest I rarely see things older than that 1850s period.

The US is a fairly young nation though, just watch the British episodes of Antique roadshow and you'll see a lot more items from earlier times.

I did once see a collection of occult books from the 1500s - 1700s, secret society / free masons type of stuff. Absolutely beautiful to see but WAY out of my price range.

 

[Foofoogal]

I would like to comment on this thread if I may. Though I am an antiques dealer I find the whole business and the way it has changed quite fascinating.
Once upon a time (before ebay) you would of course find different stuff in different areas. I have quite a few things from earlier time period than 1890.
Anyway when people traveled they would get so excited to see stuff they never saw before.
Since Ohio had alot of earlier pottery companies one would see alot of pottery around the area commonly. I was fascinated from being a dealer when I went to Charleston South Carolina to see so much flow blue stuff. In Indiana everywhere I went I found green depression glass.
Generally one will find the older items up near Conn. Mass. etc. and then along east coast as mentioned.
Texas is really a baby state compared to these places.
When ebay started people started dragging stuff out of attics and everything old seemed rare to someone if they had never seen it before till others started dragging out same things. Drove prices down. Now there is so much repro stuff in every area of antiques hard for average person to know.
I am never in a hurry to sell my old stuff though the market is so fickle. I figure if it all gets shipped over the country sooner or later mine will go up. Supply and demand. I love the history of it all. For something to last 100 years it should be worth something.
This generation doesn't seem to have the same love for antiques or appreciation anyway except of course on the FL.
I started as a collector and still find stuff that blows my mind. I wish I could mention particulars but cannot. Sandy

Antiques are considered to be 100 yrs. old except in automobiles.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's plenty of 19th century stuff in New England, but it's getting harder to find prime goods -- I can remember going to junk barns as a teenager where I'd have to push aside big stacks of 1860s-1870s books, weekly newspapers, and farming magazines to get at the 1930s era stuff I wanted, but most of that stuff is long gone now. Victorian furniture and household accoutrements are still very common in estate auctions, though, and you still might get lucky at the occasional backroad junk barn if you're in the right place at the right time.

 

[Starius]

fftopic:
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but the comments by Foofoogal and Lizzie made this come to my mind.

In Harry L. Rinker's book "How To Think Like a Collector", he makes the following statements about the nature of antiques:

An antique is anything made before 1963. - This proposition is not going to be popular, even among some of the more progressive thinkers in the antiques and collectibles trade.

Car collectors define a vintage car as a car that is between twenty-five and forty-nine years old. An antique car is fifty years old or older. A 1955 car is now an antique. I like the way car collectors define their category because the date constantly moves forward.

For the moment, I am defining a collectible as anything made between 1963 and 1980.

A desirable is an object made after 1980. Desirables have a speculative secondary market.

I really agree with Harry's line of thought on this matter. The fluidity of time keeps it all in perspective. But also, I think it helps compensate for regional differences keeping the "playing field" even. If you look at age, the US could hardly compete with the likes of England, France, German, etc. in collected antiques. Yet I suspect the antique and collectable market is stronger here in the US by the general population. I think perhaps it is because we are a younger nation this is so, that we have some kind of fascination or attraction to a past - idealized or otherwise. I also think that is why many people here in the US are fond of tracing genealogy back to other countries of origin.

At any rate, I think because of all of this that it will only continue to get harder and harder to locate the really old items here. Anything that hasn't been destroyed through time is going to be all picked up by collectors. Also why I tend to have my best personal luck finding things through estate sales than anywhere else. As morbid as it sounds, you kind of have to wait for someone to die before you have a chance to collect it yourself.

 

[Foofoogal]

An antique is anything made before 1963. - This proposition is not going to be popular, even among some of the more progressive thinkers in the antiques and collectibles trade.

This made me laugh. I do love to read Rinker stuff though. Try telling this to some silver haired lady at the antique show.
The last show I did a one of these ladies huffed at me when she saw some of my vintage items. "I thought this was an antiques show."
Though stuff had to be earlier then 1970 for this particular show which IMHO it should be I asked her. "Well, let me ask you. If you were a dealer would you rather get $100.00 for this Jadite bowl or maybe $20.00 for this EAPG bowl from 1910?"
Pure and simple people generally want what was on their tables as a child or what they played with. I have an old, old dealer whose brain I pick. She has been in business for 60 yrs. and her mom for 60 before that.
Antique dealers, experts etc. are as varied as types of restaurants I have found.

 

[jeep44]

It is very difficult for something breakable like dishes,or even furniture, to survive even 100 years. Unless it was of such quality or rareness that it was always cherished and protected, It got chipped, dropped,or thrown out. What we call "antique" now was once just an old chair or plate to someone. Most houses were not all that big that the accumulated possessions of several generations could be stored without someone becoming irritated at the clutter and pitching it all out.
Wool clothes are not going to survive for long unless they are well-protected against moths. As an example, the DAR has a quilt in their museum that once belonged to a relative of mine. It was made in the 1840s, by a female ancestor who decided to make a quilt during an extended snowstorm. She took her Grandfather's Revolutionary War uniform out of the trunk it was stored in (may have started getting moth-eaten), and cut it up, and used the blue wool as part of the design of the quilt. We cringe at the thought now,but she probably thought nothing of it at the time.
That said, there really is quite a bit of very old stuff still floating about-it just has to be very durable, like firearms or swords, or hand tools, that always had some use and value to sucessive generations.

 

[green papaya]

firearms & swords

firearms & swords have a very long life if stored properly