Ask Lemmy

We have a formica dining table made in the 50s, I think. It looks cool, is in great shape, and I love spotting them in older movies.

My dining room table was originally owned by my great grandmother and was passed down through the family and transported almost 2000km to it's current location in our house.

Not sure if fruit trees would pass the “use daily” criteria, at least not in the generally acceptable sense.

I have a workshop that was converted from a barn quite a long time before I was born.

My Laptop from 2009 still works like a charm

I've got this little blue plastic cup I've had for almost 30 years. Use it for my toothbrush. Got it when I was a kid and it's the only toothbrush holder I've ever had since.

Oldest thing I use frequently may be a 100~ year old ring.

My car and also my scooter are from 2009. I use them (for commute) alternately depending on which season it is and if it's raining or not.

I have a Grundig radio my grandparents bought in the fifties. It's completely restored and I had the aux changed to a mini jack, so I can play stuff on it over Bluetooth.

A Mackie mixer and two nearfield speakers I bought 25 years ago still see hours-daily usage. When the fancy Kenwood tuner died 2-3 years later, I replaced it with a Boss 50w/chan 12vdc transistor amp that still never even gets warm.

Speaking of Casios, I have an F-105 [1572] 'Illuminator' that's 20 years old and still using the same battery. It gains about 1 minute per year.

My teapot probably from the 1940's

I wet shave. Ordered a vintage Gillette Fat Boy from the 70s. Definitely my oldest personal item. I've had it only about 10 years though.

Still using my microwave from my wedding. It's from 2009 and it's a Panasonic. Also my Kettle is from around that same time too and still chugging along, it no longer beeps though.

I have a teeny tiny screwgate carabina from about 1997 that I use as a key ring.

In terms of actual daily use the oldest thing that I can actually date would be the table my computer sits on - that's been in the family since at least the 60s (when one of my uncles scratched his name into the drawer). It's just a basic solid wood desk, still holding up fine and unless abused will continue doing so for quite some time yet.

Aside from that some of my dinner plates are over 30, the motorbike I usually commute on is a '97 model, and the butter knives I like are not dated but I believe could be anywhere from early 1900s onwards (faux bone handles, made in England with various Sheffield makers marks).

I do have a few tools, cameras, and telescopes around which are also reasonably old but they aren't daily use items.

I have several vintage film cameras I use pretty often, oldest are probably my Nikon F or Leica M3 from the late 50s.

A great-grandparent's dresser.

I think the apt. building I live in is from the 1920s or so.

I have my grandma's speed square I use it every day, it's from 1987

My mom bought me a little Leatherman squirt on my birthday in 2010 and I've been carrying it ever since. 15 years on it's still my most consistent EDC Carry.

I have the metal 'polenta spoon' that my great grandparents brought to the US from Italy in 1896. I don't use it, but it sits in the utensil bin by my stove. No idea how old it is or why it was deemed important enough to bring on a boat.

One of my bike's is 30 years old, and I use it all the time.

But as far as oldest stuff I still use, probably things like certain furniture, tools, and kitchen stuff, which would have been inherited from grandparents who have long passed.

My house but it isn't really that old, around WW2.

Although I have some games that are 100s or even 1000s of years old, but that is a set of rules rather than a physical thing.

Until last year I used a ski coat from 1940 as my winter coat

I have a washcloth I got when I was like 6.. I’m almost 40. It’s a really nice mesh washcloth and somehow it only has one extra hole that shouldn’t be there, as well as a seam for the edging that needs to be fixed.

I’ve used it almost daily for my face that whole time.

But the oldest thing I have that I sort of technically use is a wheelchair from WWI. It functions as a chair in my living room. I don’t really think it counts, being furniture, though.

Hmm, probably cookware from the 1960's. Furniture too, if that counts. It's possible something in the kitchen is actually a generation older, although I'm not sure.

If you include decorations as opposed to just tools it goes back almost arbitrarily (I have 19th century heirlooms, pre-settlement arrowheads and Cambrian period fossils), but I think the spirit of the question is more about things finding a totally pragmatic application.

Edit: I also have a touch-sensitive lamp of a similar age to the cookware. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I'm guessing the entire exterior is one big capacitor, and it must have a very early transistor inside to switch it. It's not quite used daily, but it's sure interesting.

Probably my Ron Jon Surf shop beach towel I got while on holiday in Florida in 1997 (I live in the UK). Still in great condition and I wouldn't say I've looked after it particularly.

Also honourable mention to my oldest tech which is an HP touchsmart 600 PC I use for youtube in my bedroom, it's from 2011 and still just about hanging on.