"Vintage" Patterns?

There's this whole 'society', of sorts, that delights in 'vintage' patterns. There's even a website devoted to donating your old/unused patterns to so that someone else may wonder in them. I used to go there and have SO much fun requesting patterns, having them arrive, and getting to sit with my fellow sewing mama and share what we got. However, now, they are VERY big and it can be tough to get what you request. Even if you have ten chosen for a back up!

All is not lost, however! My sewing mama pal and I go to a local recycling center when we need a 'pattern fix' and get lost in a sea of drawers upon drawers of patterns. Some are 'vintage', some are crafty, some are recent, and some just make us belly laugh! Did we really wear stuff like that in the 80s and 90s?!?!

Well, last time we were there, I came upon a 'vintage' pattern. What makes a pattern 'vintage'? Is it the yellowed envelope? Or the primitive sketches of models in clothes? Or is it the date stamped on the back of the envelope?

The pattern pictured at the beginning of this post struck me. I love bubble suits, that bonnet is FANTASTIC and the pinafore is now 'retro style'! Patterns of old only were for one size. This one was a size 2. This one was made in 1972. This one would have been EXACTLY something I would have worn at age 2!

Wait a minute. Does that make me vintage?

(sorry for the poor quality pictures but try to enjoy my enterpretations of this pattern below anyway)