If you want to know if your old, rusty tricycle is antique or not, you must check its age and dates. Well, the easiest way to do that is to check the printed dates on its frames. But if that’s not there, you can even check the patent numbers on its pedals.

As a result, most tricycles manufactured after the 1930s are considered "vintage" rather than antique. For the purposes of this article, we‘ll define an "antique" tricycle as one made before 1930.

It was really in the early 1900s that mass production of a whole range of tricycles began. Antiques are considered to be those objects which are more than 100 years old, while anything made between 100 and 40 years ago can be classed as vintage. The greatest proportion of tricycles on the market today are technically vintage.