Things you've had for awhile

I have lots of old things, but there is one that pops to mind that is pretty much worthless to anyone but me, and not for sentimental reasons. It’s a kitchen spoon that my mother-in-law gave my husband when he got his first apartment in college, so it has to be at least 25 years old. It’s black plastic, so I can use it in my non-stick pans, and it has a flat front that can scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir. I know it’s going to fall apart sooner or later and I’ve been looking for a replacement, but so far I haven’t been able to find a spoon with a scraper front on it. How am I going to make scrambled eggs without my scraper spoon?

I have a little clay dish my sister made in grade school (she’s 39 now). I have no idea how I came to own this thing, but it sits on my dresser and holds my wedding ring when I exercise.

I still have a wooden hanger with my name on it and a clothespin screwed to it that I used for hanging my coat and mittens in kindergarden (Gander Amalgamated School 1958).

I have a dark wooden cabinet hanging in my kitchen; there are shelves on either side of a central set of drawers. The shelves are just the right size to hold bottles of hot sauce and spice jars. My mom bought it for me at a tag sale 30 years ago; when I was a kid, it was on the wall of my bedroom and it’s come with me through every move since then.

We use a window fan that my Dad bought in 1965 at J C Penney. A Penncraft! It clangs a little at high speed, but we’re still using it.

I carry my great-grandfather’s pocketwatch. His son (my granduncle) gave it to me twenty years ago. I plan to pass it along to my daughter someday.

In 1989 I bought a brand new 286SX computer with an EGA monitor, 5 1/4 and 3 1/2-inch diskette drives, and a whopping 20-meg hard drive!! I never really bought another computer, I just kept upgrading that one. Today (three cases, five power supplies, who-knows-how-many hard drives, six motherboards later) I have a P4 with a couple hundred gig of harddrive space…and the original 3 1/2-inch floppy drive.

I’ve got a teddy bear given me by my grandfather when I was but a babe in arms (somewhere around 30 years ago).

As far as everyday stuff…I still use a leather key ring that my high school girlfriend gave me, about 15 years ago. I’ve also got a mug from an open house my dad’s company held in 1982, and a few of my hand tools (pliers, an adjustable wrench, a hammer) were my grandfather’s and have been in my tool box since he died in the late 1970s. (Yes, I had a tool box when I was a little kid.)

I have a jacket I got when I was in 9th grade (about 25 years ago or so). Originally, it was yellow with an iron-on transfer on the back which said, “Touch of Class” and it had a rose. The yellow is so faded it’s almost white, and the iron-on transfer is almost completely gone. I still wear it around the house when it’s cool outside.

I have a ceramic bowl with a lid that my mother painted and gave to me. It now holds my earrings. It’s about 25 years old.

In an old chest in the attic, I have all my original Barbie Dolls, including the oversized Barbie doll I got when I was about nine (almost 29 years ago). The Ken doll was old when I got him at a garage sale when I was about seven, and he’s stuffed into the chest with the other assorted Barbies. No telling what they’ve been up to all these years. Oh, and many of the original clothing is also there as well.

Odd that this thread should come up. This past weekend, I was dusting my furniture, and was thinking, “Oh, I’ve had these end tables for almost 20 years. And the diningroom table for about 12 years. And this chair my great grandmother gave to me–it was made before I was born.” All are second hand antiques, and it already seems like I’ve had them forever.

I’ve got the first two books I bought with my own money, a couple of Time-Life coffee-table books called The Wonders of Life on Earth and The Epic of Man. They must be from the mid-1950s, since I remember my father helping me fill out the order form.

Maybe even older, but only recovered by me when my parents moved in the early 1980s, are the three wind-up cars from one of my favourite toys, a stamped metal road setup with levers on the front to direct the cars at intersections and a branch in the road. The road part finally got stepped on one too many times, but I still have the cars.

Most of the other stuff I’ve had a long time came from that move as well.

Hayfever :stuck_out_tongue:

Off the top of my head I think one of the oldest things I have that was personally acquired by me is my stereo, which I bought in 1986. I think it’s time for a new one …

I have quite a few things given to me by others that are pretty old.

I have the first letter my husband ever wrote me in 1985.

The dresser in the guest room is the same one my parents bought for my room when I was around 10, so that is over 30 years old now. It’s Ethan Allen, though, so you can’t tell its age.

I have photos of myself as a baby, taken in 1962 and 1963, portraits taken of my Dad when he first joined the Army in 1946, and some photos of grandparents and great grandparents that don’t have dates on them but are obviously pretty darn old.

I have my great aunt’s engagement ring from her first husband, which she willed to me when she died (she was widowed twice). I don’t know exactly how old it is, but I’d guess it was made in the 1920s. I also have my Dad’s high school class ring and a set of sterling silverware that he purchased in Japan when he was stationed there after WWII. I don’t think it’s ever been used.

I also have some table linens that belonged to my grandmother, which I think were given to her by her mother when she got married in her early 20s. They are white. I am afraid to use them.

A stuffed Santa Claus that was given to me on my first Christmas - this year it’ll be 39 years old. He has a broken left arm, but is still in pretty good shape considering all he’s been through. No, you can’t hold him - he’s mine.

A pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses I got for high school graduation, 22 years ago. People never fail to remark, “You’ve had the same pair of sunglasses for 20 years? I can’t keep a pair through the summer.”

An ink pen that I also got as a graduation from high school present. I still use it every day and once had to chase a man down the street because he had walked out of my office with my pen.

A cast iron skillet that belonged to my great grandmother. She got it on her wedding day in the 1890s, but I’ve only had it about 10 years, so that probably doesn’t count.

I have a small turquoise and silver pinky ring my Papaw gave to me when I was 3 or 4. He died about the time I turned six. I carry it on my keychain with me. I don’t know how long he had it but I’ve almost had it 20 years.

I have several of my old stuffed animals - my sock monkey and my first cabbage patch kid (with a cotton face - not a plastic one) and my Raggedy Anne. I gave away Chuckie, my 3 foot stuffed mouse sniffles because…well he was rather gamey and hard to store. I wish I had kept him. I took Chuckie everyone and even dressed him up in my hoodie and old jeans for show and tell in first grade.

I also have my great grandmother’s jewelry box. My grandma gave it to me for my 10th birthday and I must say I treated it rather roughly. I’m saving up to have it restored. The mirror needs glue, and the wood is slightly damaged but it’s a gorgeous thing from the 1920s. I’ve had it about 14 years now.

I’m sure I have a lot of other things. I’m a packrat who’s very sentimental. One of my goal’s in life is to be a great historical jackpot for someone in the future. I have a wonderful cache of letters and diaries and photos. I must have 8 journals from my elementary school years. :smiley:

And GrizzRich - reading how your dad kept your baby teeth - I got teary eyed. That is very sweet!

After I ruined one of Mom’s skillets making fried-marble jewelry 40 years ago, I bought her a big, deep frypan. After she died, I got it back, and I still have it.

Mrs. Nott bought a big set of Wear-Ever pans and Cutco knives about thirty years ago. We’re still using most of them.

We got married 25 years ago, and we are still together.

About 22 years ago, I bought a book called Do It Now: How to Stop Procrastinating. One of these days, I gonna read it. (Sadly, I’m not making this up.)

My alarm clock is older than I am. It was made in the early 70s, if not earlier. It was my older sister’s when she was growing up. When she finally moved out to go to college, I took over her room. The clock came with it. It’s an ugly brown color that was common back then and some of the gears have worn out to the point that I can only move the hands in one direction, but the buzzer is so damn loud that I’ll keep it until it finally dies. It’s been keeping perfect time for 30 years or so now.

I had a venerable alarm clock as well. It was at least 20 years old and still fully functional. Since I have been gone my wife said it broke in an accident.

I suspect foul play.

I also have all of my LPs and 8 tracks. I have no idea way.

That reminds me of my old vinyl too. I have a copy of the Beatles’ “Second Album” that is probably 38 years old. When my brother or I would have a birthday, our parents would usually also buy a small present for the other one so he wouldn’t feel left out. One year I got that album, and another year I got “Yesterday And Today”. Actually I have all the Capitol Records U.S. Beatles releases, except that I didn’t buy some until the early 70s.

I have a silver egg cup which was a birth present from some long forgotten relative. However, I can’t claim that as I haven’t always had it with me.

What I have always kept is my photo’s dating from around 1974.

Considering I’ve moved around quite a lot, it is surprising that some things have remained constant.

  1. A stuffed toy tiger a friend gave me in 1980. This had languished in my parents’ house for many years, and somehow escaped being thrown out, and was adopted by my son when he was one.

  2. A denim jacket I bought in 1988. I haven’t worn it for years though, it never seems to get cold enough here.

  3. A comb from the Body Shop, also from around 1988. The day I lose it will be a sad one. Over ten years ago I tried to buy a second identical one to have as a spare, but they told me it was discontinued.

  4. Make-up from the late 80s and early 90s. I never really got into the habit of wearing it, so it’s still there. I’ve managed to hold on to the same eyebrow tweezers and nail scissors since I left my parents’ home in the early 80s.

  5. The oldest things I can think of at the moment are some sheets and pillowcases that my Mum bought in the seventies, and are still in reasonable shape.

Books, jewellery and stuff like that should’t really count, but I’ve held on to a couple of books from my early childhood: TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and A A Milnes House at Pooh Corner complete with my youthful scribblings. Early to mid 60s. I also have some cassettes that were recorded in my secondary school and college days (late 70s/early 80s).

Well, I’m not game to refer to Mrs Cicero as ‘an old stuff’. :stuck_out_tongue:

My parents got me a night table when I moved into a bed from my crib, and I still have it, so that is over 50 years old. I have the suit and tie I wore to get married (still fit :slight_smile: ) which is now 26 years old. And I have the sf books and magazines I bought in high school, which are now 38 years old. I’ve got older stuff, but these I bought new.

We’ve got a table and set of chairs that have been in my wife’s family for about 180 years also, which we still use for everyday.

When you get older the number of things you suddenly discover are old gets to be astonishing.

My collection of automotive ads includes 17 Willys-Overland ads ranging from 1906 to 1955. The 1906 ad is from the J.N. Willys Company of Elmira, NY (Willys sold cars before he purchased Overland). They were advertising a $1500 car from the Detroit Auto Vehicle Company; the main selling point was “Engine under the Hood.”

I have a letter from the service department of a Willys-Overland dealer in Buffalo, NY, dated 1916.

My Fiestaware collection includes five small plates, a dinner plate, and three fruit bowls from the late '30s - early '40s. Though they are stored in a special cabinet, I use them regularly.