Oldest material possession, any significance?

[natto fire]

So the Tshirt thread got me thinking about how I really don't have much in the way of relics or typical "generation to generation" type things.

The oldest thing I have, in fact, is from around 1992. It is a figurine that I found in my basement after we moved to our new house when I was 10 years old. At the time there was absolutely nothing significant about it. Now I have moved some twenty times to several different states and more or less lost everything a time or two, but this thing has followed me.

So I am not referring to the age of the artifact, but more so how long you have kept track of it. I know there are plenty of people that have blah blah blah that was used before the civil war, but I am more interested in what random thing might have caught your fancy after you realized you had it a while.

Here is a pic of my shit relic on my lens cap:

 

[skyking]

I have tools I purchased in the 70's.
I have antique tools that were given to me by relatives.

I think the most significant thing for me is a piece of my dad's last boat. I helped him build it in the 80's and he lived on it for a few brief years before passing on.
What makes it significant is how I came to have it.
My good friend who helped us was given this little plug from the hull. Later I sold the boat and really had nothing but photos and memories.
My buddy Bill found it in his stuff recently, and told me to hang it in my shop.

 

[lxskllr]

Personally bought/given to me? Probably tools from the 70s, but I have a bunch of crap from that time period of no particular import.

 

[pelov]

I still have my blankie and my first teddy bear.

Bitches love that shit.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've got older furniture, books, and china from my grandparents. The books are a collection of great literature and have a publish date of 1929. Although some of the furniture might be older, the books are the only thing I can definitely date. They're on a bookshelf behind me in my mancave now.

My mom has stuff even older, so one day, I may own that stuff as well.

 

[MustISO]

My wife is pretty old.

 

[spaceman]

 

[SandEagle]

that looks like one of those porcelain animal figurines that came free in the Red Rose tea boxes back in the days

as for me, the oldest thing that I have is the premier issue of Nintendo Power in mint condition lol

 

[sixone]

I grew up in a teeny tiny little town where random stores would give you a gift on your birthday, if you walked in on your birthday and asked. I have some little ceramic figurines that I've kept ever since.

I have some older things in the house, but none that I've had in my possession for that long.

 

[natto fire]

that looks like one of those porcelain animal figurines that came free in the Red Rose tea boxes back in the days

as for me, the oldest thing that I have is the premier issue of Nintendo Power in mint condition lol

I thought so too, but it is much larger than that. (It is sitting on top a 58mm lens cap in this pic)

And while my Nintendo stuff is probably older than this stuff overall, I have been through 2 stages in my life that I have acquired NES stuff, and both met the same fate that I was hanging on to useless junk that acquired square footage.

I used to own a house with one of my exs and after that split up, I decided I didn't want to own more than could fit in my car. I still have a paintball canister of just the screws I accumulated from dismantling PCs during my packrat phase.

 

[Dirigible]

Pocket watches from the 1800s. Antique furniture, dishes, crystal and silver. Chess board made by my great grandpa over 100 years ago. Couple century old houses.

Whole buncha old crap.

My fave is probably the chessboard. Minor miracle I didn't destroy it as a kid.

 

[lxskllr]

The oldest thing I have age wise is probably a Sir Walter Scott book set from the 1840s if I remember right.

 

[vi edit]

Oldest is probably my cast iron skillet that is 4 generations old.

Next would be a copper space shuttle that you turned the tail burners to make it play music. I got that from my Great Grandma who lived near Edwards Air Force Base when I was 5. I'm 34 now.

Next oldest is a canvas backpack with my last name embroidered on it that I got in 5th grade. It was used for years, went to college, was used for years at work carting lunches and backup tapes to and from the office. One of my kids will probably get it next.

 

[dennilfloss]

Personal stuff: I have my school reports and gold-leaf awards from the early 60s. May still have my rubber kangaroo on which I teethed as an infant. In terms of pure age though, I have a ~495My old trilobite burrow I decided to keep and not given to any museum collection like other trace fossils from my research days.

 

[Matthiasa]

The oldest thing I have by a not so small margin is a fossil that is no less than 250,000,000 years old.
Not counting ordinary rocks or atoms anyways.

 

[mmntech]

Oldest item I've personally owned for its entire existence is probably my blankie from when I was a baby. It's in a drawer in the spare bedroom.

I have a few sentimental items I keep around. Prominently displayed in my office is a half finished plastic model of a B-25, which was the last one my Grandad was working on before he died. Had he lived longer, I would have loved to have introduced him to RC flying. I also have a sketch done by the first woman I truly loved. Not sure why I still hang on to it.

The oldest thing I own age wise is a vintage pre-war radio built by Rogers. It's circa 1937. Back before they were a cable/cell provider, they used to make radios and vaccum tubes. It still works with its original Rogers triodes. I bought it because I love vintage gadgets and art deco styling.

 

[mcurphy]

I have one of my grandpas old toys from the 1920's.

And I still have my favorite toy plane from when I was a kid from the 1980's:

I plan to pass both onto my son when he is older.

 

[cronos]

I've been carrying my victorinox swiss army pocket knife since 1991.

 

[BoomerD]

We have an old Western Electric telephone that was my wife's great grandfathers...

I think we also have a few other trinkets that are over 100 years old.

Otherwise, we both have stuff that we bought, either for each other, or for ourselves in the 1970's.

 

[shortylickens]

Some of my dads junk (in storage) was originally grampas. Theres pocket knives and other nick-knacks in a big jewelry chest.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Only thing I can think of is a computer monitor I bought when I was in high school. Some off brand called an AST Vision. The osd stopped working shortly after I bought it, but you could still adjust it by pressing the selection buttons and sort of feeling out what setting you were currently on. I was a sophomore, so that would put it at around 14 years old. I put it back into use as the monitor for my office computer at work, where it sits currently, serving me faithfully every day.

Another minor thing is a keying that was given to me by a Korean neighbor in the apartment I lived in at college. It had some nifty little wooden bits hanging off of it originally, but they eventually sort of wore away, leaving me with the strangely fluted ring itself as the only reminder. I suppose ive had it for around 10 years now. He was a really nice guy. My roommates and I had many a great time over at his place. I often wonder how he's doing now.

 

[natto fire]

These are great stories thanks. I think we are seeing that it is not necessarily the age of the item but more of how many years in your possession. Hell, my '80 Corolla wagon was probably older than this figurine, and I drove that thing all over the country in '09-'10.

 

[DaTT]

I have old baseball cards from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Lots....and I mean LOTS of Nolan Ryan.

 

[Ichinisan]

Got some old Atari 2600 stuff.

 

[IronWing]

For things I've been lugging around, I guess the thing I've had the longest is a nightstand that I got from my grandma circa 1978. The stand is 1920s vintage.