Things that have withstood the test of time

In a spirit of positivity, how about things that have lasted well?

Here's a personal one: my Olds Super trumpet made in 1934, which I bought from America via eBay several years ago. It warms my cockles to think that it was made before Count Basie went to New York (1937), and might well have been played by one of the swing musicians of that era. It's still an absolute corker to play.




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Comments

  • johngti
    johngti Posts: 2,508
    My Japanese squier JV 62 Stratocaster. Made in February 1983, bought for me by Mrs gti in or around 2004. Plays beautifully although to be fair, it’s due some maintenance now.
  • The internet. Microsoft didn't bother with a web browser for a while because they thought it would amount to anything. Now it's the backbone of business, entertainment, communication and a part of our lives.
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  • My Sony reel to reel tape machine. Made in 1972.
  • The original Star Wars films. They look more realistic than the modern ones.
  • The 747. Fifty years of services and although airlines are retiring them, they are still being used as cargo planes. I can't believe they have already stopped production of the A380! The amount that must of cost via R&D.
  • The 911. Evolved, but completely recognisable in design.
  • The great British Brompton.
  • Charlie_Croker
    Charlie_Croker Posts: 1,696
    edited February 2021

    My Sony reel to reel tape machine. Made in 1972.

    The Compact Cassette hasn’t lasted through my TDK MA-XG 90N’s are still going strong

    Edited: Got threads confused
  • Sir Frank Whittle's jet engine.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687
    Who knows the name Malcolm McClean? No??

    Well, he invented the shipping container, pretty much single-handedly. That's certainly withstood the test of time.

    https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5026.html
  • Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687
    Obviously loads of churchy stuff, but one of the ones that still takes my breath away is the bishop's throne in Exeter Cathedral. I'd always assumed it was 19th-century gothic, but when I realised it was about 1330, my mind was blown: you can still see the chisel marks from the people who made it. Stunning.


  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
    Yeah, its so difficult to skinning your latest victim with a crappy knife.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • Pancakes!
  • elbowloh said:

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
    Yeah, its so difficult to skinning your latest victim with a crappy knife.
    Not difficult so much as messy, I find.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687

    elbowloh said:

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
    Yeah, its so difficult to skinning your latest victim with a crappy knife.
    Not difficult so much as messy, I find.

    Is there a reporting button for 'mass murderer'?
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    The lightweight metal BBQ tongs that we bought in Sydney in the mid-90s for something like 30p - you could buy them in most corner shops.

    Ours are still going strong.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348

    Obviously loads of churchy stuff, but one of the ones that still takes my breath away is the bishop's throne in Exeter Cathedral. I'd always assumed it was 19th-century gothic, but when I realised it was about 1330, my mind was blown: you can still see the chisel marks from the people who made it. Stunning.


    I should know more about that! Thanks.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • elbowloh said:

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
    Yeah, its so difficult to skinning your latest victim with a crappy knife.
    Not difficult so much as messy, I find.

    Is there a reporting button for 'mass murderer'?
    Sorry. I should have said ;)

    Lets you get away with anything.
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,098
    Various bits of Brunel's engineering. Clever guy.

    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687

    elbowloh said:

    Knives - they're great. Been around for a few million years, and still work.


    Oh yes, especially personal ones that one has been honing for a long time (I've got a nice non-stainless one which I acquired, second-hand, 37 years ago, and would easily chop a finger off). I won't let anyone else near them to sharpen them. Frustrates me enormously if I have to work with someone else's rubbish knives.
    Yeah, its so difficult to skinning your latest victim with a crappy knife.
    Not difficult so much as messy, I find.

    Is there a reporting button for 'mass murderer'?
    Sorry. I should have said ;)

    Lets you get away with anything.

    Maybe Trump should have used a few more in his tweets... although having an entire principle-less political party behind you probably helps.
  • QWERTY keyboard
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687

    QWERTY keyboard

    AZERTY's not doing too badly either - since the late 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZERTY
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,921
    Classical music.
    Music fads come and go with each generation but classical stays popular.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,484
    My set of J B Addis & Sons carving chisels. Old when my grandfather picked them up as an apprentice joiner in Chatham Dockyard.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,687
    rjsterry said:

    My set of J B Addis & Sons carving chisels. Old when my grandfather picked them up as an apprentice joiner in Chatham Dockyard.


    It raises an interesting question as to what's the oldest thing that one regularly uses, in either domestic or work setting. I suspect mine would be the trumpet at the top of the thread.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,591
    A 1983 Casio fx-450 calculator would be the oldest in use but it doesn't see much wear and tear. I was wearing my 1992 Timberland leather gloves yesterday morning...
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    Sliced bread, not sure what the best thing was before it came along.

    Fire.