I have the pocketknife I was given for Christmas when I was 9, so that would be… 27 years.
I have both halves of my baby blanket, which I toted around and slept with until I was (embarrassingly) 12 – 24 years.
There’s my stuffed toy kangaroo, Filth, who is starting to live up to his name now that he’s been around for 15 years.
I have lots of family memorabilia, like my dad’s cub scout ring and my grandma’s fancy china cake plates, but the knife, blanket, and 'roo are all mine, just mine, and after I’ve gone, no one else will probably want 'em. (Well, okay, the knife is going to my stepson.)
I still have a lot of my reels and my View Master, too. I also have a 1950s Model C View Master I played with at my grandparents’ house, and quite a few reels.
I am still using the first stereo receiver I bought when I was 18 (15 years ago). The weird thing is we’ve had other receivers, but this one still seems to work the best.
The first thing to pop into my head is - I have my first and only teddy bear. It was given to me by my uncle on my first XMas, so it is nearly 43 years old.
I just remembered this - I have something that I still use every day, from my childhood. I have been making my cups of tea with the same spoon since the 1960s. It’s from the silverware we had when I was a kid. When my mother passed away, I got some of her things, and at the time I needed silverware, so I inherited it. And it sits in our drawer, 1200 miles from where it started out, 40-some years later. I’ve also got some plates and cups of hers from long ago, and some of the Tupperware bowls and containers from when she sold it in the late '60s.
I have a metal strainer I got for a wedding present 39 years ago. I still use it almost every day.I have an iron skillet my grandfather gave about the same time, but it was in the house I grew up in as far back as I can remember.
I also have a 40 year old hand mixer that the beaters don’t fall out of, *Smartini. Of course, there is a big chunk of plastic missing .
Oh! Its not as old as alot of the stuffmentioned, but considering what it is… I have a plastic picnic fork with “Dec 31, 1995” in magic marker. My present husband took me to the Westin New Year’s Eve. We got all dressed up, and couldn’t find a decent restaurant, so we ate in the food court at he Westlake Mall.
I have a picture of me taken in the hospital after I was born. That’s 21.5 years old, and while I own things that are older, obviously I haven’t actually owned anything for longer.
Oh: except, I guess, for the little pink hippo in the blue “get well quick!” shirt that’s sitting next to me in the picture. That’s sitting on my dresser right now, and I guess it wins.
I have had the same hair brush since I was 18 or 19. I love it, even though I really don’t need it as my hair is short. But 19 years with a hairbrush!
I have a few stuffed animals that were very near and dear to me when I was little ( Blue Boy Teddy, Elly Phant and Holly Hobbie) who are now …uh…locked in a trunk in the basement…
A peridot pinkie ring that was given to me when I was about 6.
Concert buttons and ticket stubbs. Movie ticket stubbs with what I saw with whom and the date written very very small on the receipt. Plus my vinyl. YAY baby!
And, I would like to state that I own a pair of underpants that I’ve had since I was in 8th grade. No. They don’t fit. they are practically see through from age and wear. But I can’t part with them because of semi-mental reasons. They have my name written on the back part under the tag in permanet marker.
I’m only 31, but the thing I’ve had for the longest time is the original 1st edition AD+D books* and the red cover, single volume D+D game. I’ve had them for going on 24 years. I still use them once in awhile (okay, not the PHB, but the other two have actual uses.)
*First printing, before they changed the covers. In addition, they also jiggled around some of the pictures in the DMG, at least, before they even changed the cover, so I think I may have a rarity!
The only CJ ads I have are one for the CJ-3B (1953) and two for the CJ-5 (1955). I do have four WWII Sessions ads, 1943-44: “A Jeep’s-eye view of the Seabees in action,” “U.S. Marines crash Solomon Isles,” “Heroic officers dare death for men,” and “Destination Nettuno.”
Thanks. I have a lot more photos to post, since one of my readers has made more web space available to me. But I never seem to have the time to make the pages. When I started it, I never thought it would be as popular as it turned out to be.
BTW: There’s a link to The CJ3B Page on the main page. Maybe Derek would be interested in getting a scan of your ad?
A Polaroid “Swinger” camera from 1967. It was a 13 year old birthday gift. No film, and I doubt is would work anyway. But it looks cool. The pictures it took were about 2”x 4” in B&W. I still have about 40 pictures taken with it.
A clock radio from 1972. It isn’t digital, but the numbers flip, that makes it look digital at first glance. Still works.
A 13” B&W TV from 1966. Still works.
Almost every Beatles album on vinyl, purchased in the 60s. Most of them probably cost $2.99-$3.99 each. Several other 60s groups/acts in vinyl too.
Some newspapers and magazines from the 40s/50s/60s that I’ve had since the late 60s.
My Mom gave me my birth announcement with a tiny lock of hair a couple of years ago. It is 57 yrs old! :o
I also have a set of kitchen canisters that, if I had any taste at all, would be a complete embarrassment. I made them in a ceramics class about 37 years ago. They are orange with little white & yellow flecks, round and altogether wonderful
Oh, yeah. I have a 9" Hitachi B&W TV from about 1971. Still works, though it needs to be focused. (I posted a thread on that a while ago, but never got around to using the advice.) The cool thing about the TV is that it can run on a 12v battery. It had two cords with it; one for AC, and one for the car’s cigarette lighter. I’ve lost the latter.
Of course, there is a big chunk of plastic missing .