Things That Last From The Past

[lacono]

Is it me or are things that are made today more "disposable"? I know we live in a disposable society and all, but really.
I notice that many very old things that I thrift are just much better quality than anything made today. My wife and I bougth 3 different inferior blenders from department stores before we thrifted a just fine, perfect quality, 25 year old blender, go figure. We had looked for a good one at thrift stores for months but just were'nt lucky.

Keep On Thrifting Folks!

[Ava]

Manufacturers have it all figured out, they know just how long their product must perform for it to be sold successfully.  

There's lots of products that could last dozens of years, your example is perfect!  

One must buy an expensive product most of the time to get that quality anymoew, ie. most taxis in Europe are Mercedes.

[Troy McClure]

Unfortunately, we live in a disposable society. Most items we own  are produced with built in plans of obsolence.      I have a 20 YO VCR that still works..cost me $500, takes up  lots of room and doesn't play work with my other remotes..but works.  I can replace it for $29... The new one will last
probably 2 years or less..but what do I do with the old one?  I can't bare the thought of my $500 6 head vcr in the land fill...  I may just leave it on the doorstep of some unsuspecting VCR repair shop..it can be come replacement parts and give other VCRs a life they richly deserve..

My oster kitchen center is 20 years old, also..notlikely replacing it

[Rainbow]

My aunt had one of the first Microwave Ovens. It lasted her ever so long. I had three different ones (that conked out) in about 5 years. Haven''t had good luck with televisions that have the built in video players...lasted until right after the waranty was up. I have my suspicions that obsolence is built in in a lot of things.
  My aunt only had those old ceramic floor heaters that just went on year after year. We hadto have  something done to our automatic heating system most every year.

[Mattie]

Sad but true.  Everything is made with cheaper materials these days, so things just don''t last.  I bought a GE iron in 1979 that worked for 10 years, then thrifted a similar model that worked another 10 years.  Since then I''ve purchased THREE new irons.  They break within a couple years, and they''re so cheaply made that there''s no point in trying to repair them.

[alexandra]

We have an old fridge from the 50''s.  A tenant used it for a while and spray painted it using a blue/teal color (using an airbrush or compressor, so it turned out really cool).  We use it as a beverage fridge, but it''s often just sat in the garage unused.  We''ve had four fridges die in the time we''ve had it, so we fall back on it a lot.  The same repair guy always comes out and continually tells us to keep the thing -- because it will never die.  Back then, appliances were built to last.  Now they are designed to break or become obsolete -- so we will continue to upgrade or buy more.

We could probably sell the thing on Ebay, but can''t bear to part with it.

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Because of the disposability everyone''s been talking about, I''ve often wondered what it is people will collect in the future from this time period. Today people look for, for instance, antique furniture because of it''s great craftmanship-- but going forward, we have prefab stuff, appliances that don''t last, etc.  Will folks collect Ikea furniture still in the box? We do have a lot of TV and movie associated merchandise as a trend, so possibly that might be something-- though it may not survive the years well. Maybe it will be stuff done by folk artists or local craftsmen?

It''s interesting to think about, anyway. (Or maybe it''s just my cold medicine talking...) :-)
--Jenn

[junk_queen]

I think furniture is a biggie when it comes to quality thrift finds! Today''s fiberboard furniture is crap! I thrifted an old solid oak desk with HUGE surface top and drawers for $7.99. I''ve also picked up a three-drawer oak dresser with old brass pulls for $17.99. One drawer is a bit off kilter, but unlike today''s furniture, I''m pretty sure I can repair it.

Another thing from the past that lasts is kitchen tools and gadgets. I prefer to use the older aluminum baking pans instead of the crappy new steel ones that rust out. And teflon coatings just flake off after so many years. The great thing about aluminum is that it is lightweight and sturdy, and you can scrub the bejeses out of it with a little steel wool. Old pans are great! I especially like the ones with the starburst and waffle textures.

[alexandra]

The old aluminum pans work just as well as the newer "nonstick" if you give a good coating of crisco and a dusting of flour.  I also often line my pans with wax paper anyway.

I scored the coolest old aluminum cake tray with lid recently.  I love that stuff because it is lightweight, and if you drop it, nothing bad happens.  Besides, my cakes rarely turn out picture-perfect, so the homemade effort looks good in a "grandma" style server.

Our latest cat loves to jump up on counters and tables to eat my baked goods -- so it was nice to find something lidded!
 
Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Mattie]

Alexandra, I have a 1947 GE refrigerator that keeps going and going and going.  I bought it from a used-appliance store 20 years ago and the dealer assumed I wanted it as a beverage fridge for the garage.  No-o-o-o, this baby''s in the kitchen.  It looks great - curved top, glass shelves, little thermometer in the door - but it does have a few drawbacks, namely a freezer the size of a lunchbox and virtually no energy efficiency.  But I love it anyway!

[alexandra]

We had hoped to keep ours in the kitchen -- not only is the tiny freezer a problem, it''s the fact that there are  no shelves on the door.  It is a beauty, though.  I don''t think we''ll ever let it go!

We have a few friends who are designers, and when they first saw the thing, they nearly swooned.  Rachel Ray has a new one which you can see on her show -- but it''s not vintage.  It''s a modern appliance made to look old.  Hers is yellow.  I kinda do wish that ours was still white -- but at least the blue paint job was really well done.  We had an old stove too -- but we couldn''t keep that... it was not particularly safe anymore.

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Jay2TheRescue]

I agree with the Oster blenders.  The blender I use every day is a stainless steel Oster I purchased from a Salvation Army for $7.  The machine is 1,200 watts.  Most "high end" blenders now boast about 500 or 600 watts like its really something special.  My Oster tears through everyting I throw at it with no problems at all.  I even recently discovered that mason jars fit on the blender if you put 2 gaskets on the blade assembly.  Over the past 2 months I've thrifted about a dozen mason jars with handles so now when friends come over I mix the drinks right in the mugs, and everyone gets what they want.  I know the "Magic bullet" machines advertise the same thing, but a friend of mine purchased one and it broke after 3 months.  This Oster is about 30 years old.

I also like the old Sunbeam toasters as they work much better than the new ones now, and who can forget about the fantastic Western Electric telephones.  Back then you leased the phones from ma bell.  It cost them money to put a guy in a truck and drive to your house to fix your phone.  The MTBF (Mean time before failure) for a western electric telephone was 25 years.  That was 25 years of average use before the unit was expected to require any type of repair.  It was cheaper to put a good phone in your home than to keep fixing cheaper ones.

-Jay

[ChrisMiss]

I think comparatively the prices are much better than they used to be though.  The older generation had to save up the money to buy things and if it broke they took it to a repair shop.  Even shoes used to go to the shop.  My father-in-law used to make some good money reweaving for people.  Does anyone even know how to do that anymore and who could afford it now. 

They weren't as affected with styles and keeping up with the neighbors as future generations.  Nowadays credit is too easily available and consumerism keeps telling you to buy buy buy.  Many items aren't as well made as they used to be but manufacturers want you to buy again and again.

I remember when I was a kid if it said "Made In Japan" or "Made In Hong Kong" it meant it was cheaply made.  Now things with that label are collectable.  Some of the items from today won't be desirable but there are many that will probably be highly collectable.   

[Jay2TheRescue]

I think comparatively the prices are much better than they used to be though.  The older generation had to save up the money to buy things and if it broke they took it to a repair shop.  Even shoes used to go to the shop.  My father-in-law used to make some good money reweaving for people.  Does anyone even know how to do that anymore and who could afford it now. 

They weren't as affected with styles and keeping up with the neighbors as future generations.  Nowadays credit is too easily available and consumerism keeps telling you to buy buy buy.  Many items aren't as well made as they used to be but manufacturers want you to buy again and again.

I remember when I was a kid if it said "Made In Japan" or "Made In Hong Kong" it meant it was cheaply made.  Now things with that label are collectable.  Some of the items from today won't be desirable but there are many that will probably be highly collectable.   

I know from my experience as a drycleaner that reweaving is a dying art.  There are only 2 shops that I know of in the entire DC area that do it, and it is very expensive.  Unless the garment is worth over $1,000 it generally isn't worth the expense of reweaving.

-Jay

[Scott]

Because of the disposability everyone''s been talking about, I''ve often wondered what it is people will collect in the future from this time period.

This is an interresting thought. I'm of the opinion that the things from today that will be collectable will have one of these things going for it:

1) If it has a designer's name attached to it. We already do this as a culture. "Designer" items are more likely to be saved and cherished ... even if they're inexpensive now. Some of the Phillipe Starck and Michael Graves items produced for Target stores are/were inexpensive, but I believe that a select few will retain value into the future just because of the designers' name. Same goes for Karim Rashid products. They all will be the next generation of Charles Eames's and Russel Wright's.

2) If it is of high quality. Again, we already do this. Think of Tiffany Studios lamps, Gallé glass, etc. These were all artisan made items. There are still artisans working and making high quality ceramics that one day will be collectible. On the mass produced end, look at people/studios like Jonathan Adler. I'd venture to guess that his ceramics will be collectible as time goes on.

3) If it spoke to us as a society. For a long time in the early 1990's I collected Atari 2600 games. I liked to play them, and they reminded me of my youth. I sold the collection a few years back to fund other interests, but there were plenty of buyers willing to part with good quantities of money for a rare game. Why? Because it reminded them of their youth.

There are probably more factors at play than I've touched on, but I'm rambling. Anyone else have thoughts on this subject?