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Oldest thing in use in your house? ( Spouses don’t count)

(161 Posts)
Daddima Thu 05-Jan-23 10:42:32

I was just using my chopping board, and realised that, as my parents got it as a wedding present, it’s at least seventy two years old. What other old things are you using regularly?

Callistemon21 Thu 05-Jan-23 23:13:09

And only recently realised that amongst books from my mums house was a first edition Voltaire 1733 😲
That's precious, especially with the family history!

AuntieEleanorsCat Thu 05-Jan-23 23:15:49

I’m wearing my great aunt’s (the original Eleanor) wedding ring, passed down from 1861. It came to me, as the youngest daughter three years ago, when my mum died. I love it.

I also have a candlestick holder she used in WW1 which is a “Wee Willie Winkie” style piece from about 1880. I used it the other evening just to see it lit.

IrishDancing Thu 05-Jan-23 23:17:19

Antiques from DH’s side, my granny’s candlesticks (150 yrs old), a tablecloth embroidered by DM (over 100 yrs old). All in use.

Bigred18 Fri 06-Jan-23 01:04:25

I have a heavy glass disc for milk pan, it rattles when milk boiling over! Also 2 silver serving spoons.

AussieGran59 Fri 06-Jan-23 05:08:43

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AuntieEleanorsCat Fri 06-Jan-23 08:28:39

What a lovely, interesting thread 😊

GagaJo Fri 06-Jan-23 09:04:13

A couple of 17th century bits from my granny. A painting and a wash bowl and jug.

Auntieflo Fri 06-Jan-23 09:25:17

I think our oldest thing is a 1930's stylish, chrome and glass cocktail trolley. It was an engagement/wedding present to my parents.

Unfortunately it is just stuck in a bedroom, as we have nowhere to use it downstairs.

TillyTrotter Fri 06-Jan-23 09:29:54

We regularly use a serving spoon that was MIL’s. I have no idea how old it is but for an idea - if she were still alive she would now be 96.

GrannyGravy13 Fri 06-Jan-23 09:44:55

I have my maternal grandma’s engagement ring, which I sometimes wear.

I have my paternal great grandmas serving platter, which must be approximately 150 years ago which was used on Christmas Day for the Turkey.

I have my paternal Grandmas dinner service which was a wedding present when she got married along with a grandmother clock and another carriage type clock which came down from her family.

karmalady Fri 06-Jan-23 10:03:21

a vintage rappard wee peggy spinning wheel, which can spin the finest of yarn

maddyone Fri 06-Jan-23 10:24:58

My grandparents wall clock, which was a wedding present to them when they got married about 105 years ago.

maddyone Fri 06-Jan-23 10:26:28

Oooh, I’m wrong, I’ve got my great grandmother’s engagement ring from her second marriage, so that would be about 115 years old.

Happysexagenarian Fri 06-Jan-23 12:03:56

We have a very pretty mahogany corner chair that has obviously been repaired several times and dates from about 1750.

Every week I use two solid silver serving spoons that were my grandmothers for making gravy etc. They're very battered and misshapen now, the hallmark on one reads 1780, the other one is too worn to decipher but they're exactly the same. It has always amused our children that I use solid silver cutlery in the kitchen. I also use my grandmother's rolling pins which are at least 110 years old.

I also have my GM's sewing machine, made in 1889 and given to her by her mother in 1910. It still works fine.

We also have a desk that I inherited in its original form as a parlour organ. It was left to my grandfather by his great-aunt. I couldn't bear to part with it as I remembered him playing hymns on it every Sunday evening. When we moved my husband made it into a desk as it had to earn its keep if it was going to stay in the house. I kept the keyboard intact as a decorative wall piece.

I also have lots of small items from my GPs and GGPs including a silver and mother of pearl folding fruit knife barely 2 inches long which lives on my keyring and comes in very useful sometimes.

What an interesting thread this is. I'm glad that some people like to keep things from the past.

HotfootSue67 Fri 06-Jan-23 12:58:47

We tend to like Antiques and Antique furniture so recently bought ourselves a Mahogany Scottish Grandfather Clock with a picture of the " Lady of the Lake " around the clock face and still chimes on the hour. We were told it dates back to 1740 and this is the oldest piece we have..

foxie48 Fri 06-Jan-23 13:51:45

We've got some Georgian pieces of furniture that OH inherited which originally came from his great grandfather and a very pretty Georgian side table that was left to him by his godmother. Nothing from my family because they were poor! However the aga dates from 1975, we converted it from oil to gas and had it reburbished in 2005 and it's still going strong.

HowVeryDareYou Fri 06-Jan-23 14:52:54

The kitchen units, which we had fitted about 18 years ago. They still look good, though.

Kim19 Fri 06-Jan-23 16:48:22

Have just donated my Christmas tree fairy to GC. It was my lovely Mums and is 83.

Callistemon21 Fri 06-Jan-23 16:51:05

Kim19

Have just donated my Christmas tree fairy to GC. It was my lovely Mums and is 83.

Our fairy has been packed carefully away - she is only 46, a youngster.

HettyBetty Fri 06-Jan-23 16:51:51

Bed sheets given to my parents as a wedding present in 1957, fabulous quality which you could never buy now.

An enamel bowl (known as the blackberry picking bowl) which belonged to my great grandmother.

I have a houseplant which is at least 60 years old and another which is at least 50 years old.

Possibly the oldest thing though is our doorstop, a perfectly shaped piece of rock, dated by a geologist friend as approximately 600 million years old.

glammagran Fri 06-Jan-23 16:53:12

I had a breadboard belonging to my grandmother which she herself had owned for a long time. I put it in the dishwasher and it sadly disintegrated eventually. At the same time I was given a set of bone handled butter knives but they too broke (but we’re never put in a dishwasher).

imaround Fri 06-Jan-23 18:33:47

I have my great great grandmother's bread bowl and wash tub. 1910-1920s.

I also have my grandmothers jello mold from the 60s - 70s.

icanhandthemback Sat 07-Jan-23 11:09:01

My sturdy old Singer Sewing Machine which dates back to about 1950 is one of the oldest things in our house. I have newer machines but the Singer is wonderful for heavy materials.

womblekelly Sat 07-Jan-23 11:10:26

Ooh guessing some 19th century teaspoons that we inherited still use them daily

Moggycuddler Sat 07-Jan-23 11:17:02

Rocking chair in our kitchen (with new seat cushion and throw to cover the very tatty and worn back.) Most comfy chair in the world. The woodwork is definitely showing its age! It belonged to my grandmother.