Just wondering what passes the test of time? I personally have an old Casio watch and if you count fruit trees, those are pretty old too.
- My house was built in 1960
- My car was made in 1974 (A land rover series 3)
- I go to sleep listening to podcasts on a Sansa MP3 player from 2000 that I’ve used every night since.
- My body, issued in 1971.
My violin was made in 1614, but to be honest I use my practice violin daily and use that as my concert violin, and tune and play it weekly.
How paranoid are you about dropping it or falling while holding it? That’s literally what I think every time I hear about instruments like this.
That would be among the few things left over from the age of knights and the black death (or the end of that period, anyway), and even modern instruments can be unbelievably valuable.
Not particularly. The wood sat in the harbor nearest to Brefchia to age for two years before Magini ever even touched it. It’s pretty sturdy all things considered. The violin held up better than the original bow and wooden case. We fumigated all of them because they had become infected with bow mites. The original case and bow are in the attic, mostly she currently lives in a crushed velvet lined climate controlled case. Not playing her would do more damage than breaking her out and keeping her in tune.
Lol, it looks like that particular dude died in a plague outbreak.
Are all the previous owners known? I can only imagine the stories such an object might tell us if it could speak (as well as sing).
Not exactly. There’s a break in the chain of ownership, when it came to the new world in the late 1700s. We’re not entirely certain how my great great great grandfather came into possession of it, but we believe that he either won it in a game of poker, or he possibly stole it during the commotion of the last quarter century of the 1700s.
Thanks for the info on Magini. I just knew he made my violin, or more likely one of his apprentices. And that he and another dude in Florence
arewere simultaneously credited for inventing the thing independently of each other.Edit: there’s a fuckton more info on the guy than I could find back in 1993 when I looked into him
Glad to help!
or he possibly stole it during the commotion of the last quarter century of the 1700s.
commie
I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, lol.
That right there is one of the stories I’d love to know the details of.
Expensive piece of kit! I assume you’re a professional musician?
Sadly, no. I was told by my cousins, who are professional violinists, that I had the ability, but they didn’t inform me of that until I was already 25 and a chef.
I inherited the thing because I found it in my grandma’s closet when I was 6 and helping her clean her room. I asked her who owned it, and she said it was my dead grandpa’s violin. So I asked again, then who’s is it? She thought about it and said “I dunno, I guess whichever of you grandkids learns to play it first.”
I inherited the thing because I found it in my grandma’s closet when I was 6 and helping her clean her room. I asked her who owned it, and she said it was my dead grandpa’s violin. So I asked again, then who’s is it? She thought about it and said “I dunno, I guess whichever of you grandkids learns to play it first.”
Have you had it insured? I see they go for roughly 20.000 to 150.000 USD, so I assume it’s an ‘of course I have’ moment, but you seem to be quite nonchalant with it so far :D
Got it insured by Lloyd’s of London when they authenticated it’s age and tag. That’s the source of my nonchalance.
Edit: I will say their insurance policies are astounding in what they cover, but they are pricey.
My ass. No way. How do you know it’s authentic, let alone date it to that time period? Secondly show us!
Lloyd’s of London authenticated the tag inside, and the age. If I remember to, I will post a picture when I pull it out this next week.
Probably my legs, or something 😜
The foundation of the building I live in is from the 1880’s. Does that count?
1640s here!
.uk
What, it’s not built on a Roman wall? Boooring. /s
It’s crazy to me how commonplace truly deep history is over the pond. Like, there’s been multiple different cities in the same place at different times, basically.
The old, big chest we store stuff in under the stairs is from 1883
‘Stuff’.
No questions please.Yeah, stuff. You know - stray boxes of Lego, some shoes, keys nobody knows what opens any longer…
I think there might be some pillows in there? Probably spiders.
A stove spatula my mom had in the 1940s. Not daily but I use it routinely. I hand wash it instead of putting it through the dishwasher.
We also have my wife’s grandmother’s old, completely out-of-tune standup piano. Nobody in our house plays piano. We use it to take up space, accumulate clutter, and make sure that area of the room is unusable.
I read that as “stone spatula” and thought that thing was ancient
Cow tools
About 15 years go I had to go somewhere that was much much colder than I anticipated, so we made an emergency drive to the closest town, and I bought the warmest jacket they had. It was like $300, but I never regretted it. Its the most practical, comfy, jacket ive ever owned and doesn’t look half bad - even has a hoody you can clip on and off. Got me through snow as well, but its not water proof.
Love that jacket.
House is 123 years old, I have a couple of cast-iron pans that are civil war era, still get regular use.
I live in a refurbished barn on a farm. Age unknown but the imperial bricks and timbers used hint at Victorian. Love it. I have to accept Rats in the exterior walls, attic and the first floor cassette, and the house being cold even in summer due to the stone floor, and the related heating bill. Regardless, it’s a better place to be than any modern house and I’m happy here. It provides inspiration. That might be the radon slowly killing my brain cells though.
Ugh, I grew up in a house of similar age. It’s amazing how outdoors a nominally indoor space can be. The layers of history those places have can be neat, though.
My brain (since 1990), or at least I have been trying.
Your mom
I have a drip coffee maker that’s gotta be almost 40 now. It was given to me by an older family member when I moved into a new apartment. It still works fine as far as I can tell…
I put a little string of fake pearls on my daughter about every day, and they were mine and my sisters’ when I was a toddler, so they’re about 30. I don’t know how they’ve survived so many toddlers cause they’d break with any real pulling. She loves them though and is very careful with them. She also uses tiny baby sized silverware from my mom’s babyhood(early 70s) It’s cute and funny to watch her use miniature stuff that’s just her size
I think that’s the oldest thing other than furniture (we use my great grandfather’s bedroom suite)
My back. Its getting creeky though.
For me, the house I’m in was built in 1912 but it’s still holding strong. My parents have me beat though, they got the original governor of south carolina’s front doors which were from somewhere in the late 1700s
Physical item: LL Bean Laptop Bag. Was designed for laptops much bigger than the one I have now and it’s held up well… except for the buckles.
Digital: Rollercoaster Tycoon got it in a cereal box and I still play it today.
