Long-lasting appliances of yore

[Cloo]

Tomorrow we get our fourth vacuum cleaner since living together (16 years). I think we only had two in my entire 23 years of living with my parents. We also had a freezer and a food mixer that were wedding presents for my parents in 1972 and lasted into the 90s - I think the mixer maybe into the mid-90s, it was pretty indestructible. What were the long-lived appliances of your life?

 

[butcher]

I still use the bread board my gran got for her wedding present in the early 1930s

 

[yield]

Electrolux fridge/freezer. My folks have had the same one since the late 70s or early 80s.

I've had the same fridge, freezer and kettle since I moved in this flat in 2006

 

[kebabking]

My mum and dad are still happily using a Hitachi microwave we bought in Carrefour (yes, remember them) in Reading in about 1985.

(We were living on the western edge of the Cotswolds at the time, we drove down to Reading through the snow (2 hours+). The shop was about the size of the village we lived in. And it had escalators)

 

[Epona]

I bought my Russell Hobbs kettle and toaster (matching set, stainless steel finish) in 1991 and tbh despite looking a little worse for wear now, they still work. I just wish I'd got a 4 slice toaster instead, it will eventually be replaced with one with a larger capacity when we can afford it.

Of course realising that 1991 was nearly 30 years ago is currently fucking with my head slightly!

I have a Bosch food processor that my parents gave me when they got a new one, it looks a little dated, I would guess it is 90s maybe, works fine

My Creda cooker I bought second hand in I think 2002, it think it was manufactured in the 80s. One of the hobs has stopped working properly and only has 2 settings - "Off" and "Burn" and the thermostat on one of the ovens is a little temperamental but it's actually not doing too badly for a 40 year old appliance.

 

[danski]

Had my toaster for 20 odd years. Nothing special but it toasts bread.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

microwave - was a house warming present from mum-tat when i moved in 1994

vacuum cleaner - must have got it some time in the late 90s

fridge / freezer - was new with the flat in 2002

hi-fi - bought second-paw in 2012 when i was in an unemployed freelance phase, it's Pioneer A-Z360 and associated kit, believe from the early 90s. The speakers are unrelated and from what I can gather are early 80s.

have got mum-tat's old (1950s?) GPO 706 phone, but it needs a modification to work on current sockets / lines, and i haven't got round to it yet.

 

[killer b]

My mum and dad use a hoover that they inherited from my grandad when he died in the early 70s, which was far from new then.

 

[Saffy]

I've still got a Breville toastie maker from when I moved in with my husband in 1997.

It's a disgusting health hazard tbf...

 

[petee]

Admiral refrigerator. Have lived with it these 50+ years. No separate freezer, needs defrosting.

I remember the one before that, it was the old style with the motor on top. similar to this but not exactly the same

My frugal father would dry his unmentionables on it.

And the cylinder GE vacuum cleaner I have is older than I am.

i love old appliances.

 

[killer b]

My mum and dad use a hoover that they inherited from my grandad when he died in the early 70s, which was far from new then.

(google suggests it's a Hoover 652, which was first produced in 1950)

 

[yield]

God I hate planned obsolescence

 

[killer b]

God I hate planned obsolescence

The TV I have was made in 2015, and there was a notice on it the other day that I won't be able to get NowTV on it from next month because the device will no longer be supported. Other functions are already noticably dodgy...

 

[Roadkill]

I'm still using a microwave that was a present from my parents when I'd just moved into my first flat, so it's near enough twenty years old and still doing good service.

 

[platinumsage]

All big things new when we moved here in 2014.

Also new in 2014 was a Miele vacuum cleaner which was replaced last year due to a fault with the cable mechanism, and a kettle which was was replaced three years ago due to a lid that wouldn't close.

The oldest is probably the toaster from about 2012.

Very old things belong in museums - lots of appliances like fridges and hairdryers used to have asbestos in them, and are invariably far less efficient than new stuff.

 

[danski]

Admiral refrigerator. Have lived with it these 50+ years. No separate freezer, needs defrosting.

I remember the one before that, it was the old style with the motor on top. similar to this but not exactly the same

petee are you able to tell us anything about the bell/call system above the refrigerator? (You don’t refer to them as a fridge there do you?!)
It reminds me of an old, very basic nurse call system I used to see the remnants of when I was an apprentice maintenance electrician working in a hospital.

Gah! I’ve just reread you post and realised that’s not your photo. Apologies.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I bought some electric hair clippers from Argos for about £8 in 1995 that I still use.
My £250 washing machine from Curry's that I bought around 2000 is still going strong. . . .I keep expecting it to pack up soon, but it just keeps going.

 

[maomao]

I've got a working mid 90s Walkman somewhere. Apart from that everything I own breaks with depressing regularity.

 

[weltweit]

God I hate planned obsolescence

Cars are the worst for this, every year or two they release new styling designed to make your existing model look older and nearer obsolescence.

 

[moose]

The Dualit toaster my folks bought us when we moved here 24 years ago is still going strong, in use at least twice a day, every day.
They're built so you can swap out the elements when they burn out, so should keep going for many more years.

 

[moose]

Cars are the worst for this, every year or two they release new styling designed to make your existing model look older and nearer obsolescence.

Up to a point - if you buy a really old one, that problem goes away.

 

[quimcunx]

I got a cooker fridge washing machine tumble dryer and hoover in 1999. I replaced the washing machine after 18 years and the fridge after 20 years. Still got the tumble dryer hoover and cooker.

 

[weltweit]

In terms of domestic appliances I think German products tend to be longer lasting: Neff ovens, Bosch washing machines and the like, are built to a standard and cost more, while British built stuff like Whirlpool wash machines or Fridges are imo built down to a price.

 

[quimcunx]

Mine were all cheap brands like beko and candy. Except the cooker which is de longhi.

 

[weltweit]

My Henry is still going strong, more than 21 years old now and no signs of slowing down.

 

[existentialist]

I bought a Miele hoover in around 1992, when I moved in with Mrs E#1. That came with me to Wales, and has remained with Mrs E#2, still functioning just fine at nearly-30. Somewhat later in the 1990s, I bought a set of Wahl hair clippers, which are still doing sterling service a quarter of a century later.

One thing I notice is that, as I've got older, timespans seem to have changed, and I can look at something and imagine I've only had it a short while before realising that its decades old: there's a load of IKEA furniture back at Mrs E#2's which dates back to the late 1980s, when Mrs E#1 and I first rented a flat together - I have some of it here, and it's still very much doing the job it's supposed to. I also have Mrs E#2's old Kenwood Chef, in need of some TLC, which dates back to the early 1970s (she got the new one I got to replace it with after it started misbehaving).

And my violin is from 1796

 

[Cloo]

Up to a point - if you buy a really old one, that problem goes away.

My father in law drives a Volvo estate nearly 35 years old

 

[existentialist]

My father in law drives a Volvo estate nearly 35 years old

Oooh, good point. Mrs E#2's camper van (which I may be in the process of finagling for myself) dates from 1997, so is nearly as old as my clippers

 

[SpookyFrank]

My Henry is still going strong, more than 21 years old now and no signs of slowing down.

They're fucking great. The anti-Dysons. I dropped one down a flight of stairs once and it kept on working just fine same as ever.

Still built in the UK too.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Cars are the worst for this, every year or two they release new styling designed to make your existing model look older and nearer obsolescence.

I can't tell this year's designs from those of ten years ago. Compare that to the changes between say 1975 and 1985.