Downtown Antique Mall

Information may not be reliable

Many history buffs and art collectors become interested in antiques at some point in the development of their interests. But what is an antique, exactly? Basically, anything that is old and collectible can be categorized as an antique. So how old is old? Of course, that is a hard number to define exactly, but generally speaking, objects about 100 years old or more can be considered antiques. And what makes something collectible? Burt the beloved puppet and best friend of Ernie on Sesame Street used to collect bottle caps. Even a collection like this, of an item so prosaic, can turn into an antique collection if those bottle caps eventually make it to age 100 without being trashed one day by Burts mom.
Generally speaking, however, antiques are more often objects that had some intrinsic worth even when they were new, such as a beautiful piece of furniture, or a special handmade dress, scarf or piece of jewelry. An object which was created with care and craftsmanship, especially in modern times when so much of what we come in contact with every day is mostly disposable junk, becomes more valuable and loved over time, rather than less.