The oldest item for me is a butter knife Had this knife for 49 years, hope it lasts 'cos you can't get a straightforward butter knife now - and they're 'huge' compared So what's the oldest item you have ? .............
Some black & white photos my wife has of her family from 1915. Most of our Western attire was bought in 2000 and still fits us.
I have some antique Zsolnay porcelain. Biggest piece is the size of a planter and it dates back to before 1900. Inherited it from my Great Grandmother in Hungary ....bought it out with me when we came back in 2003. I have one out and have a fake palm in it. It's my favorite thing in my house. Priced it once on eBay and it was worth in the thousands. Have some other stuff ...odds and ends all from the late 1800's and all from Hungary. Most are put away except for this one piece. Might as well enjoy it.
The diameter is I'm guessing about 12 inches. Not the clearest pic because I was squatting I also have some very old photos from Hungary of some relatives of my father....
Here's a shot of it in my living room. This is the one piece in my house that always makes me happy...don't know why.
Nice photo CC...your white fireplace looks like mine..and I have similar leather couches except mine are dark burgundy.. apart from one money plant which can go weeks without watering, all my plants are fake, for the same reason that we were always working or away, so real plants would die...I have a similar tall plant in my hallway Apart from photographs of when I was a child, and of my parents before I was born.. ..the oldest physical thing I own is a wooden handled Carving fork. It was second had when I got it, 42 years ago..it's a real heavyweight solid utensil, and will probably last another 40 years.. Of course I also have my daughters' baby teeth and some baby shoes and clothes too..all around 40 years old..
That would be a couple of Widow's Mites, bronze coins circulating in the Holy Land a couple of thousand years ago. Here's the significance: "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him, his disciples, and saith unto them, "Verily, I say unto you, This poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury; For all they did cast in of their abundance, b ut she of her want did cast in all she had, even all her living." -- Mark 12:41
When my Dad passed away in 1972, I inherited the WW-I Colt .45 Automatic Pistol he had acquired around the time of my birth. Years later, I learned via serial numbers that it had been made in about 1916, having a 5-digit serial number. It is marked "Model of 1911 U. S. Army", but not "U.S. Property", as most such Colts were marked. Dealers have given conflicting stories about that. I prefer to believe it is original. By age 10, I had handled the firearm many times, even figured out how to field strip it's workings. In the 5th. grade, my Dad allowed one shot to be fired at my grandparents' farm. What a thrill it was! As he became more and more disabled with a crippling brain disease, I kept the old Colt locked up in our home. Now, knowing that I have no children as heirs, I have prematurely bequeathed it to my Great-nephew Danny, whose own firearms are safely locked up in our co-owned safe, he being deployed currently with the Marine Corps. in Japan. He was thrilled when I handed the old Colt to him, and vowed he would cherish it forever. He never had the opportunity to meet either of my parents, but is surely glad my Dad was a gun fancier! Frank Edit: This is exactly how it looks, even including the loop lanyard at base of grip. Patent dates identical. Below, showing inscription "Model of 1911 U.S. Army. Note this one has 6-digit s/n, mine is 5: 58119.
Good looking weapon. How is the barrel. In 1955, back from Korea , before I accepted a platoon sgt's job I a smll arms training course for army reserve officers and ROTC students at Ft. Lewis in Tacoma, Washington. Before I started training these officers I checked out forty-eight Army 45's took them to the range and fired them, five at a time, trying to find one that was accurate to my specifications. When I drew a bead on something I hit it. The officers were issued a weapon out of supply, most for them really not accurate. The officers couldn't understand how I could be so accurate and they, most of them, miss so often, butmost army issue 45's were not that accurate, due dto worn rifling and pits in the barrel.
@Bill Boggs Bill, I had a hunch you might find my post moving. Our other Vet having recently passed away, I so regretted he was not still around to cuss/discuss this one. I really should clarify, i'm not a Vet, having been spared going to Viet Nam at the last minute due to "inheriting" two children due to a murder/suicide. My Dad's .45 early on became my "shooter". As such, being young, and not too knowledgeable, I fired many rounds of WW-II govt. ammo which we had lying around, including much of it made of STEEL casings instead of brass, those being made only in 1943, copper being in short supply. Sadly, those rounds were corrosively-primed, probably with Mercury Fulminate, which "ate" gun barrel rifling if not promptly washed out with soapy water. Our .45's rifling was in terrible shape by the time I became even aware of such things (I was just a kid, after all!), but barrels were a dime a dozen, so I figured why not shoot with a replacement barrel? I kept the old, "shot-out" barrel, still have it, but must admit that our venerable old Colt is now likely not as collectible a piece as it once was. Values of old Colt .45's of this vintage ran into the $5000 + range several decades ago. Today, I have no idea. Can one place a dollar value upon a vintage item which affected his childhood, early adulthood, and familial standing regarding military service, as a prized token was handed down to yet another generation? As I recall my Dad's expression, when I was about 10, as he handled and showed me the details of the old gun, tears now come to my eyes. Few amongst the gun-fearing public could comprehend this. Frank