# What thing in your house would be worth the most 101 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728 "2014-07-09T22:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/21 "2014-07-10T14:16:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > People seem to be skipping the “have right now” part - who has a box full of penicillin (or Rubik’s Cubes) sitting around at home right now? OK, I can get by on the two that I have. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/22 "2014-07-10T14:20:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why would they want to? They need me to operate it, initially. Plus, I’m not going to go to the government at first, I’d prefer one of the Societies. Better (i.e. richer) class of person there. Since you know nobody there in 1913 you take a big risk of being robbed by someone who knows what you have. Hey, device from the future. Let’s befriend this guy until we know how to turn it on and do a search. Password? No one knows this guy, let’s persuade him to tell us the password. What you have is enormously valuable to someone who has a grasp of what you have and who you are. You could disappear instead of being paid. It would be akin to showing up in desert with a tank of water and trying to sell it to thirsty dying people, they’d just take it. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/23 "2014-07-10T14:40:13Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Let’s befriend this guy until we know how to turn it on and do a search. Password? No one knows this guy, let’s persuade him to tell us the password. Please elaborate on what you mean by “search.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/24 "2014-07-10T16:33:50Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Since you know nobody there in 1913 you take a big risk of being robbed by someone who knows what you have. Who would know what I have? I’m catching a hansom straight to Burlington House as soon as I arrive, and I’m not leaving there until I’ve sold the thing. I’m not going to be selling it on the street, and I do know my way around London somewhat - well, enough to find Picadilly, anyway. > [@](#): > > Let’s befriend this guy until we know how to turn it on and do a search. Password? No one knows this guy, let’s persuade him to tell us the password. I think you have a way mistaken idea of the level of barbarity of Edwardian scientists. > [@](#): > > What you have is enormously valuable to someone who has a grasp of what you have and who you are. You could disappear instead of being paid. Not if they want any hope of learning to use the damn thing - and _they_ have no idea I’m disappearing in six days, do they? > [@](#): > > It would be akin to showing up in desert with a tank of water and trying to sell it to thirsty dying people, they’d just take it. Maybe in Bartertown. This is London, 1913. If you really think the _Royal Society_ is going to “disappear” me, you’re hopelessly paranoid. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/25 "2014-07-10T16:41:22Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > Please elaborate on what you mean by “search.” Searching the computers database for information. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/26 "2014-07-10T16:49:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > This is London, 1913. If you really think the _Royal Society_ is going to “disappear” me, you’re hopelessly paranoid. And you under estimate the potential of greed and power in what you have would represent. So you enter the society and show off your nifty item. A group of them realizes what you have is a game changer to the global power structure. Are they going to pay you a fortune for it or want you to donate it to the betterment of mankind? When you don’t donate it I’d say there is a good chance that they don’t let you leave and they become the Illuminati. They can get away with this and still appear to be an outwardly noble foundation because no one ever would miss you in 1913 and would most likely figure that you came from the future to do harm or “gasp” make a huge profit off of changing the future. The noble thing would be to get rid of you and let the people of 1913 decide there own fate. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/27 "2014-07-10T16:52:05Z")
A Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR camera, a hundred rolls of color film, and an instruction sheet about how to process color in a home darkroom. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/28 "2014-07-10T17:35:36Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > And you under estimate the potential of greed and power in what you have would represent. So you enter the society and show off your nifty item. A group of them realizes what you have is a game changer to the global power structure. Are they going to pay you a fortune for it or want you to donate it to the betterment of mankind? When you don’t donate it I’d say there is a good chance that they don’t let you leave and they become the Illuminati. They can get away with this and still appear to be an outwardly noble foundation because no one ever would miss you in 1913 and would most likely figure that you came from the future to do harm or “gasp” make a huge profit off of changing the future. The noble thing would be to get rid of you and let the people of 1913 decide there own fate. Hopelessly paranoid it is, then. It is one of the Royal Society’s _main functions_ to spend money on the advancement of Science. They’re not going to baulk at my asking price (which is not going to be in the millions. But it _will_ be in gold.) Plus I’ll make it damn clear to them that only paying me up front also gets them access to the encrypted porn on the HD. That’ll convince them. > [@](#): > > Searching the computers database for information. Please elaborate on what you mean by “computer’s databases” and how you think they’d have any concept that they could do that. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/29 "2014-07-10T17:52:58Z")
Can I tape together my 200/300 level Intro to Solid State Physics, Relativity and Quantum Physics books? They don’t need power, they’ve got examples and really I’m never going to open them again anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/30 "2014-07-10T17:58:32Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > My 2011 World Almanac. I own my great uncle’s 1901 Geography Text Book. To say it’s a bit Eurocentric would be an understatement. Quite a hoot to read. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/31 "2014-07-10T18:21:30Z")
I don’t have anything worth a damn now (that would fit in a DeLorian), much less 101 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/32 "2014-07-10T18:31:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Plus I’ll make it damn clear to them that only paying me up front also gets them access to the encrypted porn on the HD. That’ll convince them. > Please elaborate on what you mean by “computer’s databases” and how you think they’d have any concept that they could do that. Well you would teach them how to do a search of course. They could learn to search by position, by the number of partners, by the mix of the couples and then let their imagination go on from there. You are crafty, they will be so obsessed with your advanced porn device that they wouldn’t even notice (or care) when you left the building. They will be like “please leave us alone now so that we can study this in private”. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/33 "2014-07-10T18:47:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > People seem to be skipping the “have right now” part - who has a box full of penicillin (or Rubik’s Cubes) sitting around at home right now? And the ‘one item’ part as well. I’m torn. On the one hand, I’ve got a 1982-vintage Von Nostrand’s scientific encyclopedia, which is about the size of a small tombstone, and contains a lot of scientific knowledge that they didn’t know in 1913. On the other hand, I’ve got a copy of Barbara Tuchman’s _The Guns of August_, which I’d bet would be a sure bestseller in 1913. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/34 "2014-07-10T19:15:57Z")
A 1970s era pachinko machine. It was a novelty that hadn’t been invented yet, and is an enormously addictive game. It’s completely mechanical, and requires no power, unless you want to run the lights for show. You can duplicate all the parts with 1913 technology, using wood, metal, glass and Bakelite (the first plastic, invented in 1907). The first pachinko machine was invented in the 1920s, so I think people in 1913 would be ready for the technology, and mine would have a big advantage over the early ones (actually the styles up through the 1950s), in that the marbles are self-feeding, and also a mechanism for putting them back into the top tray, so you don’t need to keep stopping to dump the marbles back into the top. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/35 "2014-07-10T20:36:03Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Well you would teach them how to do a search of course. Why on Earth would I do that before I got paid? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/36 "2014-07-10T20:58:55Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why on Earth would I do that before I got paid? For the betterment of mankind! Just think where porn will have advanced by the time you got back. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/37 "2014-07-11T02:23:53Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > I own my great uncle’s 1901 Geography Text Book. To say it’s a bit Eurocentric would be an understatement. Quite a hoot to read. Sounds a lot like my 7th grade geography textbook. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/38 "2014-07-11T12:45:09Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > For the betterment of mankind! If the OP was tasking me with bettering mankind, I’d do that. The OP has tasked me with making more money than anyone else, so that’s what try and I’ll do. > [@](#): > > Just think where porn will have advanced by the time you got back. You must not know a lot about historical porn. There is nothing new under the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/39 "2014-07-11T12:52:36Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If the OP was tasking me with bettering mankind, I’d do that. The OP has tasked me with making more money than anyone else, so that’s what try and I’ll do. > > You must not know a lot about historical porn. There is nothing new under the sun. Holodeck porn. It’s been hinted at by the OP. With your noble efforts and self enrichment in 1913 you could help development many new technologies. The Royal society would know that TV screens were possible for one and they would know that talking (or moaning) movies was feasible and enjoyable. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728/40 "2014-07-11T14:44:57Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Holodeck porn. Holodecks are fantasy rooms that violate the laws of physics. > [@](#): > > It’s been hinted at by the OP. With your noble efforts and self enrichment in 1913 you could help development many new technologies. That’s exactly what I’d be doing by leaving them the resource. Well, until the HD dies, which gives them probably a year or two at most. My laptop isn’t new. > [@](#): > > The Royal society would know that TV screens were possible for one and they would know that talking (or moaning) movies was feasible and enjoyable. Just how backwards do you think 1913 was in terms of technology? Of course they knew TV screens were possible, they were invented in the previous century. And they were no strangers to [moving pictures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am_Abend), or movies with sound (even if the sound was on a separate disk) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-thing-in-your-house-would-be-worth-the-most-101-years-ago/692728.md?page=3)