Distinctions
While they refer to the same era, "old time" has a different connotation than the term fin de siècle (end of century). The latter evokes images of sophistication to the point of decadence, a connotation opposite to that suggested by "old timeyness".
Old timeyness overlaps somewhat with aspects of popular culture intended to evoke Victoriana or the Old West. Often, however, the three are distinguishable.
Evocations of Victoriana (and Edwardiana) typically highlight class differences, featuring (for example) aristocrats and gentry who are dandified or eccentric, in contrast to working class and poor folk who are Dickensian or exaggeratedly rustic in their costume and manner.
Old West themes differ from old timey themes in that they emphasize elements such as cowboys, firearms, horses, and drawled speech. However, aspects of Old West city or town life can overlap with old timeyness.
Read more about this topic: Old Time
Famous quotes containing the word distinctions:
“...I have come to make distinctions between what I call the academy and literature, the moral equivalents of church and God. The academy may lie, but literature tries to tell the truth.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)
“I will not allow mere names to make distinctions for me, but still see men in herds for all them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Mankind are an incorrigible race. Give them but bugbears and idols—it is all that they ask; the distinctions of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of good and evil, are worse than indifferent to them.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)