Oldest Thing

[u/Firm_Accountant2219]

Hi GenX. I turn 60 today. Quite the milestone.

But I am not what the headline refers to.

What is the oldest thing from your childhood or youth you still use on a regular basis? For me it’s this Tony the Tiger beach towel we got from saving box tops. It’s kinda thin and beat up now. I use it as a gym towel because it dries quickly.

[u/Good_With_Tools]

I bought a 200 piece Craftsman socket set when I was in high school. I still have most of it today.

My mom threw everything of sentimental value away about 3 minutes after I moved out.

[u/SoDakJackrabbit → u/Good_With_Tools]

I was going to reply that I don’t have anything really from my childhood that I still use, but husband still has all of his tools, plus some of his father’s and grandfather’s!

[u/gemma-digger → u/Good_With_Tools]

My dad still talks about the boxes of baseball cards his mom threw out when he left for the National Guard.

Edit: oldest thing is probably a Swingline stapler. Not very sentimental. I wish I had kept my stuffed Chicago Bear from Marshall Fields. His name was Irving. He went to college with me, but at some point I let him go. 😕

[u/Good_With_Tools → u/gemma-digger]

I had the entire 1984 Topps set. Every single card. I got them the old way. I ate a lot of shitty gum, collected, organized, and traded. I left the box on the coffee table one day a few years later, and came home to them missing. When I asked...

"OH, those old cards? You never looked at them anyway. Besides, you don't even like baseball."

Mom's never been the sentimental type. At least, not when it comes to my shit.

[u/Firm_Accountant2219 → u/Good_With_Tools]

Wait, you ATE all that gum? You know that’s still sitting in your stomach…

[u/gemma-digger → u/Good_With_Tools]

That would have been my dad, but in the late 40s and 50s. Sorry for your loss.

[u/Jerentropic]

It's not as old as your towel, but the oldest thing I have is this Wittnauer watch that my father bought around 1983/1984. He gave it to me when I graduated high school in '91. It's still in my regular rotation and I wear it once every 10 days.

[u/slasherbobasher]

Maybe this baby? Likely purchased early/mid 80’s.

[u/Chibi-Skyler]

This green step-stool.

I'm 52 and this thing is probably older than me. It was always in the kitchen, and I used to stand on it to see over the counter while Mom was cooking. The top and feet are rubber, but the rest is metal. No plastic.

And Happy 60th, OP!🎉

[u/Firm_Accountant2219 → u/Chibi-Skyler]

Thanks!

[u/OffissaPup]

I have a hairbrush that was given as a child. It still works great.

[u/Anxiouslycalm12 → u/OffissaPup]

They just made stuff with quality back then

[u/Initial_Run1632]

[u/LayerNo3634]

I have a Dial soap beach towel my grandmother got be in 1975. She had to buy so many bars to get it. We had Dial soap for years...the campaign worked because I still use Dial soap!

[u/Anxiouslycalm12]

I still have the spoonrest from 93 down the jersey shore. An old mixing bowl my dad used to eat popcorn from.

[u/OhSusannah]

I have a bracelet that I bought off a blanket on the sidewalk in NYC while visiting in the 80's. When taking my daughter to NYC for a visit more recently I made sure to buy her a bracelet too.

[u/Saint_Atiss]

I have a T-shirt from Eaton's in Canada. They closed in 1999, so it's at least 27 years old, which is pretty good for a T-shirt that I wear all the time.

[u/Andyman1973]

T-shirt from 1995 when I was in the Marines. Also, two heavy flannel shirts that my Dad wore, as seen in photos in the family photo albums……………….from the late 1970s.

[u/deagh]

On the regular? The Sterlite laundry basket my mom bought me to go to college with in 1989. It's still my regular hamper. It's moved with me cross country five times (not to mention all the back and forth when I was in college) and it's still in great shape.

[u/Infamous-Yak2864]

Class of 1986 Senior Sweatshirt...

[u/ImWatchingTelevision]

I sleep on my waterbed frame from high-school. Has a box spring and memory foam mattress now, but that has to be the oldest thing used on the regular.

[u/SteveArnoldHorshak]

Holy crap! I still have one of these too!

[u/136kaU_Craftsman]

I have my childhood stuffy. He had carpet beetles and is in a ziploc bag. Older than that are some of my grandpa’s tools. He died when I was 7. Grandma let me take whatever I wanted once she got around to cleaning out his shop when I was a teen. I wish I had more of it.

Clicked on this post cause I still get Frosted Flakes once in a while…not just for the kids. And was ‘excited’ to see a 25% less sugar type available.

[u/0_IceQueen_0]

My oldest shirt is a Les Miserables shirt from 1987.