There’s a molecule of Carbon in a skin cell on my skin which is a few hundred billion years old.
I have a chair made by a slave, with a woven seat and armrests made from old farm tools. It’s been worn smooth. And the nice thing is, it’s short enough for me to sit in. Because I’m short, most chairs are uncomfortable. I’m not sure of the actual date. I also have an old tack/tool box that’s pretty old. Hand made, hand-forged nails. It has a carving of a star in the top.
StG
Me.
My parents. 
My family has the whole living room filled with old chinese antiques and heirlooms. It’s all old stuff dating back to ancient Chinese dynasties but I’ve never been too interested in this stuff so I wouldn’t know the exact date. Antique Roadshow should film here. Lots of stuff to show off heh.
Oh, shoot, I forgot the chinese stuff we inherited from my great grandmother. She went to China just before Mao took over… I suspect some of this stuff would be illegal, now. Jades and small statues and the most amazing ‘china’ bowl. Art. I can’t even come close to dating it, but if it’s not all fake, some of it is at least as old as the roman coins. Long story involving helping some people get out of the country.
We have; some very old oil lamps from the turn of the century, some furniture that dates back into the 20’s, many old books including a bible that dates to 1850, quite a few fountain pens from the 20’s and 30’s, and me.
Our heater boiler, from the looks of it. The pump is new, though, as of this time last year (keep your fingers crossed).
Okay, seriously, my brother told me last time he visited that a Chinese vase I inherited from our father very likely dates to the 1700s and maybe earlier. I don’t know anything about these things, though, and I don’t know if he really does either, so the oldest thing I could really vouch for is an 1890s camera that belonged to Mr. Legend’s great-grandfather.
A book called “The Phantom Town Mystery,” copyright 1933.
A silver brooch from Burma probably made in the 1930’s since Burma became Thailand permanently in 1941. Another silver brooch from Mexico that is now 40-50 years old.
A 1909 wheat penny, a 1941 steel penny and a bunch of other old coins.
A couple of paperweights and glass bowls around 50 years old.
My Brother Word Processor I that I bought new about 1981. I still prefer it over MS Word. It’s a lot less complicated.
I greatly miss my Remington Quiet Deluxe portable manual typewriter that I left behind on a move. sigh
I think it would be the portrait of my great great grandmother, taken cir 1895 and still in it’s original frame.
Other than the odd fossil or coin, an encyclopedia set (minus one volume) from the 1870’s. They were having great trouble explaining Lister’s germ theory, tuition at Antioch College was around $150 a year, and under “psychology” it says "see philosophy."
Very interesting stuff.
My dad. He’s 80.
…and no, I’m not nearly as old as you think. Trust me. My parents were just getting a little too freaky a little too old. Sorry, tmi.
It might not be the oldest thing in the house, but I have a copy of the Dayton Daily News dated April 25, 1934 with the headline “REPORT DILLINGER HEADING FOR OHIO; ROADS GUARDED”
I found it in the attic of the house. I framed it and hung it in the living room.
We don’t have much old in our house, except for some late-19th century printed books that probably aren’t worth much. My parents have a table in their hallway that goes back to 185- something, having travelled across the plains with my father’s ancestors.
As for interesting odds and ends that I happen to own, however, I can offer my 1923 Los Angeles High School Semi-Annual. I mentioned that in another thread, recently, noting that Strom Thurmond would have been two years too old to have been included in it, had he attended that school.
Four wooden green chairs, from about 1820. A wooden kitchen table from 1830 or so, that has been in my wife’s family for a long time.
As for books, I have an American edition of Jules Verne from 1870 or so, some Mr. Dooley books from 1900, and the very first Tom Swift book from 1910.
A Chickering piano from 1840. Only about 2/3 of the keys play, and most of them are out of tune. But if I replace the strings in it, it will no longer be an antique.
Rocks and fossils would be the oldest things I have. As for man-made items, I have a wall display of a bunch of tools that belonged to my great-grandfather, and coins from the late 1800s.
The wiring. :eek:
Tripler
Yeah, I should know. I’ve worked on it.