# what's the oldest electronic item in your house that you still use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152 "2011-01-27T04:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/61 "2011-01-27T22:55:58Z")
Probably a vibrator from the 1950s that used to belong to my father. Not that kind, you pervs. This one looks like a truncated football with rubber wheels. Absolutely perfect for heavy-duty backrubs. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/62 "2011-01-27T23:20:20Z")
Some comments are mentioning things that are not [_electronic_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics), but merely _electric_. While keeping and using well-made old electrics is great, their survival isn’t as impressive as that of electronics which tend to have more different ways they can break. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/63 "2011-01-27T23:41:19Z")
Wow, there is some cool stuff listed here. I have an old pocket calculator with an LED display. Not LCD, but LED. In red. It was the first calculator I ever saw and I was amazed. Probably about age 10. No memory that I can recall (heh!) and only +, -, /, and x functions. Not even a percentage key. I’m now 48, so that give you an idea. As far as electric vs. electronic, Mom has a Singer sewing machine that’s older than I am. It looks sort of like the old trundle ones, except this one runs on electricity. Ancient! There’s also an old clock that my dad installed on the garage ceiling (For the cats, duh!) that used to be on the living room wall as far back as I can remember. It’s got gold rays jutting out at each numbered position. I think I saw something similar in an episode of “Mad Men.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/64 "2011-01-27T23:56:34Z")
I have a 1970 Tandberg receiver…still works and sounds great! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/65 "2011-01-28T02:16:51Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I recently got my uncles Zenith radio restored. It was made in 1948. Works great. Wow! I’d like one of those! Do you get old Fibber McGee & Molly, George & Gracie shows on that? ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/66 "2011-01-28T03:02:55Z")
Electronic or electric? I have a Toshiba electric rice cooker made in Japan in 1955. My dad bought it in Japan way back then. It gets used almost every week. This is it: [The Kitchen Revolution - Rice Cookers - Hi-tech - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan](http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/hitech/rice/rice01.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/67 "2011-01-28T03:22:27Z")
The oldest electronics we have and still use are our Nintendo Virtual Boy and my Game Boy Color. The Game Boy was bought by my hubby for our first Valentine’s Day, 13 years ago. I bought him a PlayStation, which has long since expired. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/68 "2011-01-28T06:16:09Z")
My CD alarm clock was a gift for my 13th birthday, so that would make it 1995. I think that’s the oldest. Until 5 years ago, though, I had a giant, fake-wood-sided microwave from about 1800. It worked great, but I got rid of it when I moved to an apartment with a tiny kitchen. The tiny new microwave I bought to replace it doesn’t work half as well. But on the plus side, it does leave me a bit of counter space for the cooking I don’t do. ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/69 "2011-01-28T07:07:33Z")
The light switches I’d guess. They’re around 20 years old. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/70 "2011-01-28T16:12:50Z")
I don’t have any officially “old” electronics…I tend to upgrade often. Well…I do have an original Nintendo, but it is just for show…literally, it’s on the top shelf of my bookcase, and I painted it snazzy colors! 😃 I have a Wii that I bought about two years ago, but I bought it used, so it’s between two and three, if I had to guess… But I know my desktop is a whopping _three_ years old! I built it in late fall 2007. If we go by just individual parts, though, then the LCD monitor is four years old, as it was bought with the previous system, and my keyboard is actually from the first computer I built in the summer of 2001…it’s survived four computer builds! I really do need to replace it, though. For one thing, it’s gross. Seriously. Go tip your keyboard upside-down and see all the shit that falls out…nasty. About once I year I pop off the keys and clean it, but still…and more importantly, though, is _because_ of popping off the keys, the spacebar and left shift broke and don’t “push down” properly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/71 "2011-01-28T17:03:57Z")
My telephone is probably the oldest electronic item I use on a regular basis. I bought it at a Radio Shack over twenty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![seanchai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@seanchai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seanchai)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/72 "2011-01-28T17:08:55Z")
Another GE brand clock radio - bought early March, 1977. The light went out a couple of decades ago, and today the radio stations mostly come in awfully fuzzy - static, y’know? When this baby dies, I will be retired. If I can find one, I want another GE clock radio! an seanchai ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/73 "2011-01-28T19:42:36Z")
My '64 Fender P-bass and '77 Acoustic 370 bass amp. Okay, the guitar isn’t strictly electronic but the combo has been a workhorse for me for 34+ years. The amp still has the original fuses intact. Eat your heart out cheap, modern bass amps - I fart in your general direction. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/74 "2011-01-29T03:30:44Z")
I still have my Pioneer turntable that I bought new in 1975. Still works perfectly. ETA: Yes, I still have the Discwasher (with fluid) too. And the little stylus cleaner (with mirror). mmm ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/75 "2011-01-29T12:41:08Z")
My husband still uses his dad’s electric drill. I’m thinking it’s around 40 or 50 years old. At our lakehouse in Kentucky, we’re still using a window-mounted fan that I think was installed sometime in the 1950s or 60s. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/76 "2011-01-29T12:57:38Z")
I have a Craig tape recorder which I bought in 1969. Still works fine. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/77 "2011-01-29T13:11:26Z")
Of the things I use regularly, my TI-85 calculator is the oldest, though it’s at work. I’m an electrical engineer, but I’ve never felt the need to get a newer calculator. Frankly, anything that requires really complex calculations is done in computer software simulation, so my calculator is mostly used for basic arithmetic. I’ve had it since 1992, so it’s coming up on 20. I do have a Sega Game Gear that is a little older, but I don’t use it any more (it does still function, though). I have some older electric items, but they’re not really electronic. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/78 "2011-01-29T13:43:16Z")
Electronic- probably my alarm clock, only about 10 years old; electric stuff however, I still have and occasionally use my Dad’s old Olympus Om-2 camera, which works great, and dates back to 1975-1979, (certainly pre-dating me) and a Singer sewing machine which was purchased on December 21st, 1940, according to the reciept. I think the guarantee may have expired though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/79 "2011-01-29T14:19:53Z")
Fender guitar amp from 1965 My kitchen radio is solid state but probably from the 60s I have an unused but working TV from 1979 Blender from way back, 60s or maybe earlier. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152/80 "2011-01-29T20:24:22Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > A 1946 Kitchenaid mixer. It needs new blades due to a dumb@$$ move by my Mom a few months ago, but otherwise still serving my family into the fourth generation. My mother hasn’t had hers for as long as y’all have, but she’s had it since the late 1970s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-electronic-item-in-your-house-that-you-still-use/569152.md?page=5)