One theorist by the name of Frederic Jameson argues that the postmodern world longs for a time when society cohered around a unified cultural identity², and in many ways I think he’s right. Retro ads and posters, for instance, come off with a certain naïve bravado that calls to us and makes us laugh at the same time: they evoke in us a certain incredulity, a simultaneous disbelief in their propagandistic format and a willingness to believe, a kind of historical verisimilitude.

World War propaganda makes a great analogy, but back to antiques. In the end, I do feel that contemporary products too often come across as cheap and ephemeral, especially compared to quality antiques. Take movies, for instance: what pulls off opulence better than luxurious antiques? (Think Batman’s mansion.) Obviously, our popular consciousness responds to antiques positively because they are beautiful, but also, I believe, simply because they are old. I think the idea that any concept (isn’t style a concept?) can survive the Darwinian meme grinder for a hundred years or more lends a certain credibility to that concept (assuming it hasn’t survived through infamy), not to mention rendering it timeless. And this last may lie at the heart of our attraction to antiques: perhaps, in some small way, we gravitate toward the spectral icons of the past, as if it lives on through them, escaping time and death, and we find this marvelous.