What to do with old stuff.

I gave it all away, before checking there was anything I wanted. I intend to get rid of my stuff before long as well. Ive had my use from it and if it helps other not so fortunate so much the better.

I would send most of that to auction

Box some items up.

Trawl around a town which has a few auction places.

Did that with some items I needed to dispose of][in a voluntary capacity].
Auction house did not want to know.
Was able to tell people.
Suggested they either try themselves somewhere, or could we have another idea please.

Have just gone through this with an elderly neighbour I cared for, for over 13 years.

When she died we had to put her personal belongings into storage, as we only had a 2 week turnaround to get out of the property.

Over the past month we’ve emptied it but still have photos. She had no family left. The photos mean nothing to us.

We’ve decided to burn them, and put some of the ashes on her resting place.

I don’t want to throw them in the bin or give them to charity, and can’t think of any other way to dispose of them.

She also had done a lot in her life and we contacted some of her clubs to offer badges, photos of the past taken in those clubs, and CD’s and marker pens to her music and bingo clubs.

It’s a difficult situation to be in.

Got as far as buying the Swedish Death Clearance book about a year ago and still haven't read it. It's another thing that I know I should do to make things easier for my son when the time comes. So much stuff to get rid of and still haven't felt able to take the last of my late DH's clothes to the charity shop let alone start on the rest of the house or the office or the garage.

Suzieque66

Chuck it all away ...

Horror of Horrors...definitely not!

You sound like you have some real treasures there. Think very carefully before you bin anything.

At the very least talk to an auctioneer about valuation for some of those precious items.

old linen is very collectable; check prices on ebay for an idea of the price
things like the painting i would suggest an auction house
first day covers there are internet sites that buy them or again ask an auction house, they might know someone locally.
btw if you have old photos you do not want i buy and sell old photos though keeping a lot for myself! i would be willing to buy old photos and same for anyone else who has some to spare

Allira mine had a choice, collect within 3 months or it goes to charity shop/sale/tip. They collected or decided they didn’t want it after all!

The first day covers, stamps and linen designed by your in-laws may well be marketable, or of interest to a museum with a relevant collection.

If the younger members of your family are interested, then hand the stuff over to them. If they are not, there is no point in keeping it for putative future generations of the family.

Photos of unknown people are only interesting if they clearly depict the fashions or manners of their day, and if you can find the archive or museum that wants them.

So you start by finding out if there are libraries, museums. archives or private collectors that want the good stuff.

At the same time, you dispose of the rubbish, and take the better, but uninteresting things to the local charity shops.

When my MIL passed away, we sold a lot of it on Facebook Marketplace - ao if you use the platform, I would suggest it. Take photos with your phone, upload and away you go. The rest I would take to a charity shop and items not suitable foe that, to the dump.
If you have any valuable things, perhaps send them to auction.

Gran had managed to get rid of much, but mum threw the rest away (I cry about the Claris Cliff that got thrown in the dustbin). She also gave away/threw away things I might have kept before I even got a proper home of my own.

I kept her MacIntosh dining suite after a big fight with DH, and now it is worth a lot more than the £8 the auctioneer gave me for the other bits that he pushed me into getting rid of. each generation hates what went before, but will love the older things. If you have room, box up the future antiques and the precious stuff they designed and made, with what it is, add the descriptions, and if you have photos, to your will, and they can decide after you have gone.

After all, your own furniture is now a "modern vintage" if you bought it in the 80s <lol>

Skydancer

DotScot

Thanks for your responses. Most people seem to be in the 'get rid somehow' camp.
What if I decide to hang on to these things though 'for posterity'? After all, lots of people on programmes like the Antiques Roadshow seem to have held onto less significant items.
I guess a labelled box, one only, with the significance of the items labelled as well, stored with the others is as good a solution as any.

I agree. One of my children is very interested in our ancestors and the other one isn’t. As I have got older I have a real interest in family history which I didn’t have when I was younger.

I have recently started to sort through items I have accumulated over the 60 years since I left home to get married and things given me by my mother. My mother always said she wanted our younger son to have my father’s medals, he was a police officer for 30 years, they have stayed in a box since my mother died in 1994 and I recently honored my mother’s wishes and passed them on to my son. The medals were in a sorry state but my son has cleaned them, got new ribbons and put them in a display case with a picture of my father whom he never knew as he was born two years after my father died. He also has my father’s police whistle and is going to get a display case for that as well. Next year he wants to visit some of the places where my father was stationed, we moved around a lot as every time he was promoted we had to move house. As you say people’s interest in family history can develop over time, I don’t think our son would have been so interested 30 years ago but I am very glad that he is now.

I have managed to sell some items on gumtree, ebay and Facebook market place.
I check their value first against other similar things.

I have also had valuations from a couple of auction houses but though they were kind and helpful, nothing much that I own is in the right price bracket to make a lot of money.

It is hard and time consuming and a little emotional. You have to be in the right frame of mind.

Otherwise a Charity shop.

If you decide to keep them or some of them, be sure to label everything carefully.
Now to follow my own advice 🤣😂

Try selling on eBay. It's free to sell. Mention vintage in the heading.

Maybe look for something similar on there for ideas on pricing.

sell them on a site called preloved, its free

Some of the more useful items could be advertised on Facebook Marketplace. Many are grateful for things like this.

I have recently been trying to sort out loads of ?rubbish? - photos, collections, old memorabilia from parents, as neither offspring will be interested, DH can’t understand my efforts, but as I have a terminal illness I know someone will end up having to do it.
There is a collection of Lilliput Lane houses no one will want, too many and too good for charity shop, I have no idea what to do with them. Many excess ornaments, clothing, unused gifts, etc I have already given to charity shop. Still to sort through books, CD’s, and DVD’s.
I have quite an extensive Swarovski collection which has annual Christmas stars from 2000 to present. I have identified 6 for the GC birth years and each of D and S wedding years, clearly written with a photo, each for a Christmas ornament on their tree in my memory and attached to copy will.

BlueBelle

Oh please please don’t chuck them away as the first answering post suggests that’s awful the poor lady sounds very very talented with very artistic leanings if any have local interest (paintings etc) try a local museum maybe or art group
If her designs were used commercially maybe the company who commissioned them would like them
We are not talking about a bit of old tat your mother in law sounds very artistic and clever
Please don’t just chuck until you ve looked into alternatives

Yes agree with BlueBelle.
If you have the original designs along with the stamps and pillowcases they would be well worth saving …for future family or if family uninterested they would make nice Auction lots. A lot of interest in original artwork as said above.
MOST first day covers fetch little nowadays, tho there are exceptions… worth checking.
First …ask family if interested. If not take to Auction house and ask for advice. Mind you there are Auction Houses and Auction Houses! If you can research them find ones specialising in the arts …take pics of the items and send with info on the designers…. See what they say?

Suzieque66

Chuck it all away ...

That's harsh 😕

1. Buy a powerful shredder (Amazon £90).
2. Hire a skip.
3. And now breathe……

Absolutely the worst advice ever goldieoldie how can you just chuck someone's life away without a care, very harsh way of thinking just wipe someone’s life out in a shredder
Hopefully your advice will fall on deaf ears

If you follow the "Chuck it all away" and "Shred it" advice you might as well also give up right now (or preferably much earlier, at about 5 years old) and do absolutely nothing with your life. Don't learn any skills, get a boring job where you will never achieve anything, don't tell your children/grandchildren anything what they did and said as babies, about your childhood or how you met your one true love, what you know about how your parents and grandchildren lived, why you keep the things your mother valued, nothing at all about any existence before this very minue - and don't have any opinions about this very minute either! Just shred yourself as soon as you can after you are born and don't go to all the trouble of living.

What a dismal view of social history, family continuity, and emotional attachments! A country that forgets its history is doomed to repeat it, and a family with no group family history (with tangible, viewable evidence, if possible) has shallow roots.

Should have been " how your parents and grandparents lived" not your "parents and grandchildren", of course.

Posted from the keeper of the Family Annals. Just yesterday I received two interesting messages - one to tell me that my cousin's daughter, a writer, could be heard on Ch 4. The other was thanks from a different cousin I has passed that info onto, who added that she now has another grandchild to be added to the family tree.

A dear DIL with a love of vintage would like the large china tea set left to me by an aunt. The remainder of the family are delighted. They viewed this set as the booby prize in a raffle. Youngsters today don't want all the clutter and knick-knacks that their parents accumulate.

Well done Elegran
But is anyone poised to take on your role when you go?
I have inherited not only the contents of DM house, including her university notes and artwork but my late DH's library, research, objects galore and some of his DP's stuff as well as the paraphernalia from a cousin who left everything to him!

She used to give illustrated talks on Edinburgh's history, as had her father before her but what should I be doing with their old cameras, their handwritten notes and so on?
It's weighing me down.
I've tried asking other cousins but they don't even reply.

I'm desperate to downsize.

BlueBelle

Absolutely the worst advice ever goldieoldie how can you just chuck someone's life away without a care, very harsh way of thinking just wipe someone’s life out in a shredder
Hopefully your advice will fall on deaf ears

I suppose goldieoldie can shred her own life if she wants to, but not someone else's.

Not everyone has a family to pass the history on to or anyone who cares a jot. Perhaps goldieoldie has no-one. ☹