I still use an electric can opener that had been in the house when I was growing up. It is at least 40 years old.
I just remembered our beat-up old radio that I bought here in Bangkok in June 1994. I can date it exactly because I bought it just as we moved into a new place that month. We still use it, because our present condo has terrible reception, and for some reason this old radio picks up stations better than newer radios we’ve bought.
A couple of things have popped to mind since this thread began that should be added to my list.
- a 19 inch stereo color tv purchased in Jan 1987. 23 years for a TV that still works great. I had no TV when I was living in DC (had no money either, right out of school) and the Redskins were in the Super Bowl. I stopped at a Sears outlet to see what they had, and I got a great deal on this thing. It’s a Sears off-brand (can’t remember the name off-hand. Maybe LXI or something?) Anyway, the TV has rabbit ears, the circular antenna, and a remote with about 10 buttons. It’s so old, the TV cycles through channels 2-13, then has to be switched to UHF for 14-83. Fortunately, it had a cable hookup in the back, so, when I hooked it to the cable outlet in the wall of my apartment, I got all channels up to 99. I used that TV so long, that when cable companies had 200-300 channels, I still could only see the first 99. I watched that TV exclusively until I met my wife (girlfriend at the time), who hated my 19 inch TV (hey, it was stereo!) and bought me a massive Sony that weighs so much that I’ll leave it where it sits before moving it again. I use the TV now for dvd and vcr viewing when the need arises. Which isn’t often, anymore. But it still works.
I also have one of those radios that has AM/FM TV Channels 2/13, and some other bands as well (maybe CB bands? short wave? Don’t remember). I also don’t remember what brand it is, although I want to say magnavox. I saved it from the trash in the early 90’s and it is my garage radio. It works fine, for the most part. It’s been dropped from 10+ feet, kicked numerous times (always an accident) and taken other abuse, but still works. The only thing I need to fix on it is the antenna, which I broke off a while ago. I can still insert the two ends together and get reception.
I’m amazed at how many times I’ve looked at the TV and radio and can’t remember the brand names. I’ll have to check these tomorrow.
I have a microwave oven that my parents got in 1974(?). It has a metal interior, and will boil water in under a minute.
A Wurlitzer 720A from sometime in the late 1960s (I guess), a Rhodes piano from 1976, some Dynaco speakers from sometime in the 1970s. A Pioneer turntable from the mid 1970s. I use all of the above every day. A couple of reel-to-reel units also from the 1970s, but not used very much.The oldest electronic thing I’ve ever owned has been a 1956 (?) Hammond A100 organ, but I no longer have it. I guess I don’t have much old stuff. There some “ancient” (pre 1950s) microphones hanging around, but I wouldn’t know how old they are exactly and they don’t sound good to me, so I never bothered to find out their provenance – still use them for going all Travolta in “Blow Out” once in a while, though.
:smack:
OMG, please replace the 'fridge and freezer. New units will use about one-third of the energy as those old units, maybe even less.
My sister gave me one in 1976 and I still use it and enjoy the results!
The OP really struck a chord with me - I still have my old clock radio - and have even tried to replace it, but have gone back to the oldie that still works. It has never let me down.
Now that I think about it, our toaster is pretty old. Can’t remember when we got that. We use it maybe once a year, no kidding. It stays covered up and squirreled away most of the time, so we even forget we have it.
Up until a few months ago it would have been the 28 year old GE dishwasher. Now it is the 21 year old Sony receiver and the KEF speakers I bought at the same time. I still love the speakers and will probably keep them when I finally get a real home theater system.
I think I still have the toaster I bought in 1988 but seldom use it.
:bump:
This guy on reddit posted a picture of his Grandmother’s dishwasher from 1967. Good for her for still using it. It’s hard to find a dishwasher that lasts a decade, I thought.
I have an elderly Sears drill that I still use.
I don’t know the exact age, but a friend gave it to me in 1995 (he had two; I had none), and it looked old then. It’s corded and avocado green, and works great (though it is kind of loud). I haven’t bothered to buy a cordless drill – the old one does the job nicely, and I have a dedicated heavyweight extension cord to use with it.
Ooh, interesting!
Probably something in the kitchen, actually. My microwave was second-hand when I moved into my apartment, (in the spring of 2001,) and the fridge and oven haven’t been replaced. I think I got the toaster that christmas.
For actual electronic gadgets I got myself, there’s the Dell Axim, which I think I ordered sometime in late 2002 or early 2003.
My toaster oven dates back to the mid-1970s. If an iron counts, I use one I believe to be from the 1940s, but might predate WW 2. We just recycled a 23 year old TV which was beginning to have problems.
Of course, everything was 3 years newer when the thread was begun.
We’re using a Sunbeam automatic toaster from the 40’s… My parents had one when I was growing up, and I found a restored one on eBay years ago… Still works great - lowers the toast automatically… after all, why would anyone actually hit a lever!?
Does anything electric count?
I have a Toshiba electric rice cooker that is the first electric rice cooker model ever sold… not the first cooker, but the first model.
My Dad bought in Japan in 1955. I used it last night and it still makes perfect rice.
My mom gave us her Sunbeam mixer that she got in her wedding shower 1953. Still has the original beaters and bowls.
Similar to this.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/food/files/2012/03/DSCN5161.jpg
I recently used my Sony micro cassette recorder that I bought for college in 84. Recorded all my lectures with it and then did my written outline and notes from the recording. We had a trainer come in at work. I dragged out my micro cassette recorder, put in batteries, and a blank tape Recorded the training session. . Works perfectly.
I use what were my grandparents’ big living room speakers every day. They were manufactured around 1947, I think, and they work great – awesome sound. I had to buy a little amplifying unit a couple years ago so I could play music from my laptop (that’s when we finally stopped using the 1988-made CD player and tuner/amplifier units).
I use a Panasonic transistor radio from the mid-60’s every day. It’s reception and sound are both excellent. It’s an AM-only radio rather than having AM added as an afterthought. It has a nice big solid ferrite rod antenna inside.
