What is the oldest man made object you own?

Growing up with hand-me-downs like most of us did, it's funny to realize at some point that I don't own many things which are as old as I am.

Myself.

I have a Brazilian coin from 1823 that I found on the ground at the Seattle Center.

That is a good question, gotta think on this one... Off hand I believe it's an Edison phonograph from the turn of the 20th century. I used to have a couple arrowheads and a couple recovered bullets from the Gettysburg battlefield but I don't know what I did with 'em.

JohnTiki

Aloha from the enchanted Pi Yi Grotto in exotic Bel Air Maryland!

[ Edited by: johntiki 2005-07-20 09:15 ]

My oldest possession is a Steinway piano from about 1890. This piano is currently the object of a huge family controversy.

My great-uncle bought this piano in 1908 and gave it to his new wife as a wedding present. In 1965 she sold the piano to my father for $300.00. My father passed away in 1969, and the piano remained with my mother, and then I have had it for the past 20 years.

Now my great-aunt's descendants (my cousins) say they want "their" piano back. They claim it was in their family first, and it wasn't actually sold, but just a loan to my father. Everyone involved in that transaction is now deceased, and we all have very clear opinions of what our parents told us.

This has been simmering in the background for some years but recently came to a boiling point because my brother's daughter is going to start piano lessons and we have discussed moving the piano to his house. My cousins found out and are adamant that if the piano goes anywhere, it should be to them.

This piano is extremely precious to me. My most vivid memories of my father are of him playing this piano, and it is my only legacy from him.

My cousins also have a sentimental claim to it. So far we have not found a resolution that everyone is happy with. For the time being, the piano will stay with me.

I'm pretty sure the sand I tracked into the house from the beach this morning is a few million years old...

Actually, I have an 1803 U.S. coin of 'some sort' that I bought at a coin show when I was a kid. It's nearly impossible to tell anything about the coin other than that it is round, flat, and you can barely read the date on it. Once upon a time I knew more about it (well, what the dealer told me about it), but it has been stored away in a box with the rest of my coin collection since I was 11.

I think I have some jewelry from the mid-19th century. But coins are the best...'cause they have DATES RIGHT ON 'EM. Books too. Oh, in fact, that is my oldest dated object: a book my granddad bought in Paris in 1922, dated 1851. It's the novel which inspired the opera "La Boheme" and I think he probably bought it for my grandmother,who was a lifelong opera fan.

My best-friend-in-high-school's dad used to write dates on simply everything. With a black felt-tip pen. Now that I am older I understand why.

I can't resist adding that once, a bunch of us sneaked a peek at his underwear to see if he dated that too.

Yes, he did. :)

I have some shells and fish bones i swiped from a twenty foot tall Viking midden pit.

I've got an Egyptian amulet that's supposed to hundreds and hundreds of years old. I've got a card somewhere around here that has the estimated age on it but I can't find it. I have no idea if it's authentic though. I didn't pay much for it.

I have become the family's "keeper of old stuff" Here are a couple of things that were small enough for me to take a picture of.
The fan is an old Singer sewing machine advertisement fan
then there is my great grandpa's gold pocket watch
and the last little item is my great uncles weekly appointment manger. Must have been a gift to him. It printed Dr. Hall on the front. You release the clasp and 7 "leaves" fan out, one for each day of the week. Then I guess you would write in your patients name and appointment. I know that back in those days he came to the patient.
One of my other fav. items is the big salt glazed crock that our family for several generations used to make either beer or sauerkraut in as needed.

After some thinking and wandering around the house a little I came across these 2 turn of the century tin toys - one guy operates a drill press the other a saw - I believe these were powered by a miniature model steam engine and move when connected with tiny rubber belts...

I sleep in a bed that has been in my family for at least five generations. I don't know exactly how old it is, but when I had to repair it a few years ago, the nails I pulled out of it were square.

I've dated some really old men - does that count? :P

Seriously, my mother has "given" me a really old china hutch - it has to be over 100 years old, that was my great-great (great?) grandmother's dowry. I'm guessing mid-1800's (?) Although, it's not in my exact possession yet.

My Great Great Grandfather, Thomas Wallace Hay (TW Hay) designed these tapestries for The Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory (1876-1890) in 1878 and 1877. These and six others depicted scenes from Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor", and were shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.

Anyhow, I have several of his paintings from around that era. My Grandma Violet Hay had many hung in her house until she passed away 8 years ago. Some are now with Aunts and Uncles, but they are all still in the family.

I'd really like to see these tapestries some day. Apparently they've done a public viewing where they are in Tyntesfield, Somerset.

See the "what item has been in your 'Fridge the longest?" thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15592&forum=13&22

Seriously, the oldest items I own are some antique radios from the 1930s. The following are pictures of some of my radios to show you what they look like, but the ones in the pics aren't actually mine:

I've got some pieces of Moche (pre-Inca) pottery, around 600 A.D. I'm way proud of those. Got them at an estate sale, where my friend/the owner's daughter was selling them off pretty affordably. I had to jump, knowing I'd never have that chance again, even though they weren't exactly in my budget. Got some Mayan and Chavin pieces too. And I'm kicking myself for not having bought more.

They are legal pieces, BTW. They were brought into this country in the '50's, decades before the law made it illegal (and thus confiscate-able).

Hey there Formikahini, I have some similar stuff...Pre Contact brought back from what's now Guatemala.

I have mostly odd little terra-cotta faces that were parts to bowls, and one complete little bowl, which of course is round on the bottom (since there were not a lot of kitchens with tables back then) They were brought here in the 1940s as gifts to a diplomat.

Have you had yours looked at or appraised?

I'm starting to feel like I'm on the Antiques Roadshow - whish is another good idea for a thread.... post all your 'what the heck is this?' finds and have othet TC members appraise them...

On 2005-07-19 21:03, johntiki wrote:
That is a good question, gotta think on this one... Off hand I believe it's an Edison phonograph from the turn of the 20th century. I used to have a couple arrowheads and a couple recovered bullets from the Gettysburg battlefield but I don't know what I did with 'em.

Oh dammit! Jealous jealous jealous, I am!
Does it work? I just bought my first wax cylinder - have no way to play it though....

That's a very nice one...

On 2005-07-21 09:20, Tangaroa wrote:

Oh dammit! Jealous jealous jealous, I am!
Does it work? I just bought my first wax cylinder - have no way to play it though....

That's a very nice one...

Tangaroa - yes it plays the cylinders and it works perfectly. My parents must have had 30 songs/cylinders but when we moved nearly 25 years ago all but 2 were broken. I've got the horn as well but the thing is absolutely gigantic and I don't display it because it takes up all kinds of room.

Every time I play one of the cylinders, which isn’t too often, I’m always impressed at how good it sounds. Sure the sound is blatantly analog but after all isn’t the Edison phonograph the root of analog? The whole experience of cranking it up, dropping the tone arm and watching it work its way across the cylinder while producing that distinctive yet slightly eerie sound never ceases to amaze me! Now if I could only find the audio output jacks on the back of the damn thing I'd rip the cylinders to MP3s! :wink:

On 2005-07-21 12:05, johntiki wrote:
Tangaroa - yes it plays the cylinders and it works perfectly. My parents must have had 30 songs/cylinders but when we moved nearly 25 years ago all but 2 were broken.

Oh man - that's sad....

Now if I could only find the audio output jacks on the back of the damn thing I'd rip the cylinders to MP3s! :wink:

What you need is here.

Come on - $16K is a small price to pay.....

Of course - this guy will do it for free, if you ship him your cylinders that is....
http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/cylinders.htm