Words such as pre-owned, vintage, antique are bandied around constantly these days. Most people will have a vague idea as to what each term is referring. But what about retro? Where does it fit into the "timeline"?

In the 'murky underworld' of antiques dealers there is a generally accepted "timeline" where items are grouped in blocks of years. So to be an antique, an item has to be over 100 years old. Vintage items are usually between 50 - 99 years old, and anything 50 years or under is retro/modern.

As time marches on we find that items from the 1950's & 60's are now vintage, and it's all the consumer goods from the 1970's that have replaced them at the head of the retro chart. And those of us of 'a certain age' now cry into our porridge in the morning when we realise our beloved Sony Walkman is well on the way to becoming vintage in a few years time. When it comes to using these terms to give an idea of an items age, we do strongly suggest that you don't use them to describe family members!!!