What's the oldest, low value thing you own?

[FruitPolos]

I've finally managed to sort out a drawer that has been bothering me for ages and have decided to depart with the No 7 make up set I got when I was at university... at the turn of the century (I rarely wear make up, maybe once a year?).

What low value items are you holding onto out of laziness / stubbornness / a belief that it will be "useful" one day?

kitchen utensils that we bought when we moved in together in 2000, most probably

I think my husband also has clothes from then too

The scientific calculator I bought to do my A levels with in the mid 80s. It still works, I think I've only changed the batteries once.

Oh I thought of another one - my dress making scissors are from 1943 and have the broad arrow on( government/military made, probably for the war effort) They’re still as sharp as the day they were made.

This is so like my family, I completely identify with accepting toot off my parents and having to keep it til they're no longer around. It's very sweet really, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I put on a pair of fluffy socks for bed yesterday which I remember buying for my hospital bag ahead of DDs birth 16 years ago so they've done pretty well. I got them in primark so top price no more than £1. I'll probs give them another 20 years then pass them to DD and insist she treasure them 🤣

A vest top with the really low armpits so you flash your bra. Bought it on the last day of a holiday 17 years ago and haven’t worn it yet, I’m currently pregnant but maybe this year is the year!

A tablecloth that used to belong to my grandmother. She died over 60 years ago.

I've got a china dressing table set which belonged to my great grandmother (so around the turn of the last century). I haven't even got a dressing table on which to put it, so it lives on the landing window ledge. It's worth nothing but it's pretty.

I've got a Tesco value iron from when I first started living independently. I refuse to upgrade. Does the job.
Paid about £5 for it all these years ago, I think.

I have baby towels that I use for my hair they are at least 30 years olds probably older. I also have some wedding present r
Towels that are on rotation.
A glass chopping board that I can't remember where its from but I've had it years and years. Some Pyrex dishes from late inlaws house.

Original copy of watership down from the 1970's, its been with me through every house move. A bottle opener which I "pinched" from my nan about 20 years ago......she pinched it from her aunt lol.🤣🤣

An old fish slice that was my father's when he was in University. My dad is in his mid 70s. It has lasted longer than any fish slice I have bought.

A knackered old book from 1912 that my Great-Grandma was given at Sunday school. My Grandma was going to throw it out, but I saved it! I'm sure my children will end up throwing it out when I'm dead.

I also have my Grandma's prayer book that she had as a child - it's even more knackered, but filled with all her little doodles so I love it.

An Ikea Apple Wedger I bought 25 years ago to encourage DS's to eat more fruit

I was going to post this exact thing!! I still use it regularly, the top/handle part is a bit wobbly but otherwise it still works perfectly. Think it was £1 when I bought it! I also have 2 storage jars and a mixing bowl bought on the same shopping trip, still in use 26 years later.

DH

I have my grandmothers rolling pin which DM took when she died - when DM was terminally ill she insisted I took it before she died to make sure it wasn’t overlooked. I think of them both every time I use it .

Bread knife I was given in 1987. I have used it pretty much every day since and it is still as good as the day I was given it. I did buy a new one but I have to hide it because it is too sharp and I’ve had some scary cuts when I’ve used it and it’s slipped on crusty bread.

Slightly more valuable is my Kenwood Chef. Inherited from my DM. Had to have it repaired a couple of years ago but it still works perfectly. It’s 50yrs old this year.

It scares me that people think things from 1999 are old. Most of my stuff come from less than 5 years after that, plenty wasn't new when I got it.
My guitar is older than that. Most of my piano music came when my dad first bought his piano in the 70s.
I have a bowl that was part of a set my parents' got from my grandparents at some point around 1970. My cousin has a cup, another cousin has a plate. I think all the siblings were given the same crockery set that Christmas. It was referred to as the cat bowl until the early 90s when it stopped being that for sad reasons.
I have an egg cup I was given as a child (by the same grandparents, they must have liked crockery) and it has my name on. Nothing came with my name on in the 80s so I treasure it!
I don't really like getting new things. I consider it a grim necessity!

A shawl that was my granny's, it's early 1900s

I've got a Biba top of my mums from the 70's..it's basically a rag.

I have a towel that was a present when I started my nurse training. I started in 1982. I still use it.

A large bottle of Donna Karan kaos perfume I bought in 1996 - the original formula not the crap one it uses nowadays.

it still smells fine and I’ve got 3/4 of the bottle left!

So much stuff but what instantly springs to mind is:

Two little bars of soap with a picture of gambolling cats on them that I won in a primary school raffle and cherished too much to use. They look quite bad now!

And at the weekend I thought I should probably get round to throwing away a flannel that was in a gift set an ex boyfriend gave me from the Body Shop (and I split up with him in 93).

Edited to add on a babycham deer ornament of my grandma's, but he only comes out at Christmas. His fur is a bit mangey now.

Loads from the past 50 to 100 years.

A stapler and ruler I bought in the mid 70s, sheets and pillowcases given to my parents as wedding gifts in 1956, some books my mother had as a child in the 1920s, Woolworths Christmas decorations from the 1950s, my grandfather's trowel.

The oldest thing we use regularly is probably the utility room doorstop. A perfectly shaped piece of rock, approximately 600 million years old.

A runner bean slicing contraption. I used to sit in the garden with my Dad and help him slice the beans that grew at the bottom of our garden. I was aged about 7 and the contraption had a lethal, exposed blade on it, no such thing as health & safety in 1973. It was held together by elastic bands even back then, so it really shouldn't still be kicking around in 2025.

I've kept it thinking I might use it one day. I won't because M&S not only grow my runner beans for me, they're kind enough to slice them too.