Early Retirement Extreme Forums

The Christmas /Hanukah / Holiday shopping frenzy is on steroids this year so, inspired by Jacob's 2008 blog entry that popped up today, I'd like to see if we have some really old items that we use daily, or almost daily. I'd love to hear what others are using daily. Here are the questions from Jacob's original post:

1.So what have you worn out recently? A 1970's dishwasher

2.Did you decide to replace it or did you already have a “backup”? replaced it

3.Bonus question: What is the oldest thing you own that you use daily? Our 1961 kitchen, which is 11 years older than myself. It's strong, solid, ugly but perfectly functional.

.... probably my passport

i'm a career expat and my life reduces to a 20kg suitcase every 1-2 years

My house dated 1916.

1. My salad bowl that I lovingly repaired a few years ago. The rest of it failed catastrophically which is a sad but ultimately satisfying way for things to wear out. They were several decades old.

2. Replaced.

3. My bicycle which has a ~40 year old frame. Alternatively, my weight rocks are about 2.1 billion years old, from when free oxygen was still a new and exciting concept.

This one is just begging for someone to be a smartass. Boyfriend/girlfriend? Gravity?

3. That I use daily, probably my old Sony Dream Machine alarm clock, bought in the 90s as my college alarm clock. Still going strong.

I have this tri corner Nambe bowl I toss my keys in daily. I inherited it from my parents. 60 yo?

I own a home built in the 1920s. A lot of the hardware is still original. Door latches and door knobs are old. Up to 2019 it was used daily.

Dream of Freedom wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:37 am

This one is just begging for someone to be a smartass. Boyfriend/girlfriend? Gravity?

Junk.

Some 1960s kitchenware: Dansk Kongo utensils and Arabia Ruska bowls.

The bricks of our house are from around 1790, it was torn down and re-build with those bricks sometime in the last century.

I almost daily use a fork my grandma owned and used (she was born 1919).
Also, a frying pan that I was not new when I was a kid, so it's at least 45 years old.
Lots of my kitchenware are hand-me-downs from my gran or my husbands' gran. These things are indestructible, as long as you don't overdo it with the dishwasher.

An ancient military horse saddle that I bought for a song when I was a teenager. I have no idea how old it actually is, but we've had it re-padded recently and it works perfectly.

And plenty of other things - we love old stuff in this house.

My wallet was a gift someone gave me 25 years ago. I've been carrying it around daily ever since then.

I have received two more wallets since then which are brand new. I think I'm set for life for wallets and I have never even bought one.

My shiny gold Fitflops were given a burial following a brief funeral attended by my spouse and teen. (Yeah, totally not my style but shockingly comfortable for 10 mile walks around town, it pained me to not be able to repair them. I wore them six summers almost daily.). Not replaced as my Tevas are my next best option.

Our house was built in 1922.

Edit: Corrected autocorrection typos.

I have worn out a pair of cycling gloves from the 1990s. I am still using them despite the large holes in the palms because I can't find another pair that is just right.

Leaving aside pieces of petrified wood that I use as doorstops, I am not sure what is the oldest thing I use daily, but my bedside lamp that belonged to my grandma and was probably new in the 1950s is certainly in the running.

@basuragomi what kind of frame is it?

The 1980s-era hand mixer I nixed from my mom churned its last bowl of mashed potatoes this past Thanksgiving. I’ve replaced it with my biceps and a fork. The oldest thing I use daily is Suo. Bam! Old man joke. Heh heh heh

Most of my hand tools are forty years old or more. The only electrical item close to that was a hand mixer that lasted about thirty years which we just replaced (after several repairs).

@shaz steel road bike frame. Obsolete by modern standards but that just means that spare parts are free!

My house, it is from 1560.

It keeps me young

Aside from my teeth, the winner might be my 1982 alarm clock radio. I have an old drafting brush that belonged to my grandfather I use to dust of my guitars and electronics. No idea how old it is but definitely pre-1982, but I don't use it every day.

i have a cast iron pan from my great great gran ma, which i use daily, also my house is from 1870, but i was bought, not transmited from a forebears.
I also have a victoria chef knife from my grandpa, which i use nearly every day.

I started over on most everyday objects in 2013 after having a fire.

I have several kitchen items that belonged to a great aunt that had to give up her apartment for a nursing home at about the same time. A couple of saucepans get the most use. Her pastry cutter and rolling pin are definitely the most sentimental as she was known for her delicious pies. I don’t use them daily but I used them today. The oldest of those items would probably date back to the 1940’s.