Vintage

This post is linked to Rhonda's blog at http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ as part of her regular Friday feature 'On My Mind'.

Today I'm celebrating my love of vintage by posting a couple of photos of recent buys.

 A 1930's teacup and saucer bought for £1.50 at the fleamarket.  This is my favourite era and is probably a big influence on the way I live my life now.  People's needs were simpler and they were satisfied with so much less.  They didn't judge the success of their lives on how many possessions they could accumulate.  Family and friends were more important than consumerism.  They had no need to be constantly throwing out perfectly good clothes and household items because they'd seen something newer they wanted - items were looked after and kept for years because they had more sense than to waste what money they had.  Yes, this was a time of great deprivation for some but it's the general ethos I'm thinking about. There was no pressure to spend hundreds of pounds on a childs birthday party or a teenagers 'prom night', expensive Christmas presents or 'designer' clothes.  There was no need for several cars per family, or to spend thousand of pounds on a wedding.  Are people any happier today because they spend money on stuff like this?  Personally, I think the pressure to do so causes a lot of stress.

My next item is from the 1970's. A long necklace made of different coloured stones.

I was a teenager in the 1970's so this evokes a lot of happy memories for me.  It was great time to be a teenager.  We had a lot more freedom than previous generations of kids and yet none of the pressures of consumerism that subsequent generations of teenagers have.  I feel sorry for todays teenagers with their long lists of expensive, and constantly changing, 'must have' items.

So, that's my take on vintage.  I love it because one little item can transport you back to another time.  It can be a time you remember fondly, or a time you fantasise about.  As I drink my afternoon tea or wear my necklace I can ponder over who owned it previously and what their lives were like, and take myself back in time.  I can have the best of both worlds - the benefits of living in the 21st century with nostalgia thrown in.