Today's post is Part One in a new series called "What Not to Buy New."  I've grouped vintage objects into still life compositions to illustrate that the patina of time makes things more beautiful. 

I'm not alone in this opinion. This week, Martha Stewart proclaimed that "old is the new black." The latest issue of Veranda Magazine uses the word 'vintage' ten times in the first five articles. The CEO of One King's Lane says that his company can't keep enough vintage in stock to satisfy the thirst of their tens of thousands of customers. 

What does 'vintage' mean? Technically, it describes an item that is more than twenty years old and less than one hundred years old. After that, the object officially qualifies as an antique.

This photograph is about making a case for you, my friend, to think twice before purchasing a new set of 12 water glasses from Bed Bath and Beyond. 

Every morning, I drink out of vintage juice glasses in my cupboard. I have ten of them, from the 1940s, each etched with spiky ferns. I imagine the family who previously owned the glasses. Did the mom drink her juice with curlers in her hair? Did the dad wear wool pajamas? Who broke the two glasses missing from the presumed set of twelve? 

So 'vintage' also means a connection between the past and the present that is only partially revealed. 'Vintage' means mystery. Daily use of vintage objects fires the imagination. Vintage objects that were used before we were born keep us from becoming too self-important. We are reminded that others came before us and others will come after us.   

Next time you're at the mall, forget about the glass vase at Pottery Barn. Go shop a consignment store instead. Or peruse my shop! I've done the footwork for you. And imagine how much happier your flowers will be in a vessel that once held their ancestors. 

Photo by Renn Kuhnen

If you want to see more in the still life series, "What Not to Buy New", consider subscribing to my Friday posts. The next one is about Millennials, God love them.