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What's the oldest item you have in your kitchen?

6 years ago

This topic from 2015 was on the side of my page this morning, and I thought we should do it here.


Post pictures if you can. I'll try but I haven't downloaded anything on my new pc so I need to figure it out.

Comments (54)

  • 6 years ago

    Me too.

    Although I do have my moms cooking manual Foods, Nutrition and Home Management Manual dated 1942 from when she was in high school. She would have been 13 years old. My mom went on to get her Home Ec degree and taught food and nutrition in high school for years.

  • 6 years ago

    On their first anniversary in 1938, Dad gave Mother a wooden rolling pin and an apron. I still have those. I have a cookbook from my husband's mother that she got from her grandmother. 19-teens something.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    This porcelain pitcher was a wedding gift to my parents in 1934. It was used everyday for our morning OJ. It now holds cooking tools in our tiny cabin kitchen.



  • 6 years ago

    I’m not sure exactly-either a couple of Pyrex covered dishes from my mother’s kitchen, or the potato ricer MIL gave us that was once hers. Nothing exciting, just recycled to me when they didn’t need them anymore.


    I don’t have any heirloom type stuff in my kitchen, but in my dining room I have a few pieces that belonged to my grandmothers and dh’s grandmother that date back to the 1920s/30s. Don’t have any pictures handy.

  • 6 years ago

    Probably one of my iron skillets that belonged to my mother. I don’t have any idea how long she had it, but as long as I can remember.

  • 6 years ago

    I have older things in the adjacent dining room, but in the kitchen it may be this little Dutch girl pitcher. Serious side eye.



  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    DH's old cookie jar! We use it for sugar and sweetener packets.

    I also have vintage Tupperware, Corningware, and a rolling pin, but since they were bought second-hand, IDK how old they are.

  • 6 years ago

    Probably these 4 items that were my maternal grandmother's - her rolling pin, Red Wing bowl, pastry blender and iron chopping blade. Not the oldest items I have but the oldest in the kitchen.

  • 6 years ago

    This original painting by a well known California artist from the Forties, whose name has totally slipped my mind this evening (LOL). It’s on the mantel above my cooktop.



  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    We are avid "antique-ers" so it's hard to say. I have several wooden utensils from my grandmother and great-grandmother. And old Daisy (glass) churn. Two things I collect (and are in my kitchen) are ironstone and silver pieces, not to mention the old Hoosier cabinet!

  • 6 years ago

    Me.

  • 6 years ago

    The oldest thing I have that gets used for its original purpose is a Wagnerware roaster from the late teens/early 20s. It's a really good pot.


    I had a very fancy long-handled olive spoon from the 1900s but it has vanished. It was perfect for the job, even though serving olives straight outta the jar might not be classy enough to warrant sterling. I really loved that spoon. :(

  • 6 years ago

    The oldest item I have that I use is my Foley's food mill, and I believe it is from the 1940s and is tin plated. The absolutely oldest item is a sugar bowl that my great-grandparents brought with them from Alsace around 1900, and I do not know how old the bowl really is. It is pressed glass and therefore somewhat cheap, and I also had a matching cream pitcher, but it cracked and broke. I am taking better care of the suga rbowl, even though it is not all that beautiful. Still, it is one of the few things I have from my great-grandparents, whom I never met.

  • 6 years ago

    I have my great aunts sifter. She would be 132 if she were alive so I bet that thing is 100 years old. It says Bromwell’s Measuring Sifter Guaranteed on it. It works like a charm!.

    Bromwell’s sifter

  • 6 years ago

    Probably this jar. I keep dried pasta in it. I also have a wonderful spatula that I bought when I was in college. Ca. 1985-ish, but that's pretty old for a spatula. It's sturdy and just the right amount of stiffness. I had to fight my ex-husband over it when we were divvying up the household goods.

  • 6 years ago

    You guys have been busy! I haven't had time to go to the kitchen yet but since DH and horses are snoozing I might go there now. :)

  • 6 years ago

    This. My father, his father, and HIS father were builders. My dad remembered this from his childhood home, so, 1930s.



  • 6 years ago

    I honestly don't know. My first thought was my mom's cookie spatula that I grew up using when I learned to bake cookies. Then I realized a pressed glass pitcher that was my grandmother's was older. Older still is the Dom Perignon bottle (never opened) from her wedding -- during prohibition. But I also have a Delft plaque that belonged to my grandparents on the other side and I think it may have been in the family before that. It might be the plaque.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    My mother has a huge collection of Quimper pottery and when I saw this tureen for sale, (for $75) I jumped. The man told me it was his great grandmother’s and dated back to around 1915. The mark on the bottom confirms it. There is no ladle, but it’s just decorative for me anyway.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Henriot Quimper pottery! I’ve got so much of it. Received over the years as gifts. My mother has the older pieces however.



  • 6 years ago

    Bpath, what a fantastic picture with memories! Where do you have it hanging?


    I've always admired Quimper pottery but I didn't know the name of it. Michele, do you have your pottery displayed?


    I have a lot of vintage glassware handed down or bought, but I do have two items which are pretty old. Although my grandmothers died before I was born, my dad gave me three items belonging to his mother, which is all he had left of her other than the box of greeting cards she saved. Dad was born in 1924 so I'll assume DGM was born around the turn of the century?


    There's a short, tie in back, crocheted or knitted apron in almost perfect condition, which is cream colored with pretty pastel trim. It's the type that should be framed. I'm thinking it's crocheted because of the thread.


    One Watt's pottery mixing bowl (yellowish with burgundy apple) that says "It's better with butter." From that one bowl I now have a nice collection of them in my kitchen.


    The other is a cedar chest that I doubt I could even give away because of the style. lol



  • 6 years ago

    Ded, I also have a Bromwell sifter. In 1988, I bought my first house in upstate New York and found it in the attic. The house dated back to 1880. I’ve been using it ever since.

  • 6 years ago

    Me.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    This is most of it. Really I need to do something about this. I feel it’s not me.

    Tell you the truth, we moved to this rental apartment 15 years ago in March. We bought the table and hutch in haste. I’m repenting in leisure over it (Jan Moyer’s line). I want to redo this. It’s on the list. I think it’s item # 50 something. Haha.


    No rhyme or reason. A bunch of stuff we’ve accumulated over the years.

  • 6 years ago

    You mean besides my DH???

    :)

  • 6 years ago

    I also have a lot of my grandparents' stemware. Think "Fancy Feast" cat food and you'll know the pattern. Actually, when I think of it, I have a lot of my grandparents' service ware, including china place cards and some fancy salt cellars. Oh, and some pretty pie and cake servers.

  • 6 years ago

    I was going to say the same an Annie - DH! However DH’s grandmother’s cast iron skillet is even older than he is.


    When his mother died, he found his grandmother’s cast iron skillet in a shed in the backyard. It took some cleaning and reseasoning, but I love it!

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hard to say...we have a few old things in the kitchen, but the wall clock is probably one of the older ones...circa 1876.



    We saved the shimmer glass from the old house to put in our glass fronted kitchen cabinets, but no idea how old the glass actually is.



  • 6 years ago

    My mother's Sunbeam Mixmaster - circa 1940. It's the mixer I use - no KitchenAid for me.

  • 6 years ago

    I inherited a lot of stuff from my MIL. A similar chopper to the one above and two poultry shears, one of which fell apart this year. I think my MIL inherited them from her mother, and they must be well over 100 years old. I still use both items frequently.

  • 6 years ago

    I have my grandparents' stemware too. They received theirs as a wedding present, and I guess that must have been around 1935 or so. It's so thin and delicate that I'm almost afraid to touch it.

  • 6 years ago

    This clock, which belonged to my late parents hangs on the fireplace in our kitchen:


    These mixing bowls were my mom’s. I have the fondest memories of time spent in the kitchen with her. We baked lots of goodies using these mixing bowls:


    I’ll bet some of you have these. Circa 1950’s.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Bonnie, yup, but just three. These were in my husband’s family, the big yellow one was broken before he met me.

    I forgot my clock earlier (New Haven Clock Co) — this was my great-grandparents’ — it’s over 100 yrs old. They bought it new, then it went to my grandparents, then my dad, now me. I was looking in the little back door of it a while back and came across this piece of paper (2nd pic).

    When I was a kid, late 1970s, my Mema had a garage sale and sold a lot of her antiques (they were downsizing). I’m so thankful this clock didn’t sell! $10!!





  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Jojoco, how funny that we have the same old sifter. I use it whenever I bake, which isn’t very often. Love that you found it in the attic. I found an old straw hat in my attic and it’s still there.


  • 6 years ago

    Oh, and my great-grandmother’s first set of china, Johnson Bros’ Malaga pattern. I have the complete set. 1895.


  • 6 years ago

    Lots of granny and gt. Granny things in this house, including some in this kitchen cabinet . this old rolling pin with the loveliest patina.




  • 6 years ago

    Oops. Couldn't cut extra pic out.

  • 6 years ago

    1979 Red and white plaid Better Homes and Garden cookbook. Sorry, I'm not home so can't post a picture.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Love looking at these pics. I still love antiques even tho vintage is the word of the day.

    My slate chalkboards are technically on the dining room side but they make me happiest of all my old things - DH excluded.

    We still have the message my DD drew for our December holiday party But we do change it a few times a year. Sometimes when the kids friends are here late at night, they change it and I’ll come down in the morning and find crazy pics.

    ETA: the most memorable teen generated pic, was a field of flowers by a very artistic boy. If you looked closely, some of the flowers were actually parts of the male anatomy. He even had the b@lls (pun intended) to sign it.


  • 6 years ago

    I also have a wonderful spatula that I bought when I was in college. Ca. 1985-ish, but that's pretty old for a spatula. It's sturdy and just the right amount of stiffness. I had to fight my ex-husband over it when we were divvying up the household goods.

    Jakabady, you can never underestimate the value of a spatula with just the right stiffness. The last time I was at my mom's, I jokingly asked her to leave me her spatula in her will.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Love seeing all the family pieces, and I have always been about vintage. The oldest thing in our kitchen is an antique cake board (baking board) from Germany. On the back, in German, is "Wedding Gift From the Helbig Family, 1894" (Don't judge me on the leggy plants. LOL They are over a year old and need replacing, as they get no direct light on the island.). I needed something large and it is 24" diameter, 30" with the handle.

    The oldest family piece in the kitchen is the candy jar with hinged tin lid. It was in my paternal grandparents' basement. I have no idea how old it is and have been using for dog treats for the last 14yrs. I enjoy seeing it multiple times a day.

  • 6 years ago

    Bonnie--I loved the picture of the pyrex bowls! In our family, the small blue bowl was "Dad's ice cream bowl" and the large yellow one was the popcorn bowl! Our son (now 47) has many fond memories of that popcorn bowl. BTW-my dear dad ate a heaping bowl of ice cream every night--yes, that blue bowl full. He lived to be 92, did not have an extra pound on him and never took a pill other than a multivitamin each day! Good genes, for sure!

  • 6 years ago

    what a nice stroll down memory lane!

  • 6 years ago

    Tvq1, Too funny! When I was a child we used the yellow bowl for popcorn too. My dad ate ice cream every night also, but he sliced it. That was back when ice cream came in rectangular cardboard packaging. He would open both ends to lie flat, then slice the ice cream with a knife. He lived to be 87 and ate his nightly ice cream right up to the end.

  • 6 years ago

    I found a couple of old pictures I took about 8 years ago and I'd forgotten just how much glassware I have. Much of it is in storage except for the pieces from family.




    I have a lot more Watt pottery (top shelf).



  • 6 years ago

    I have my mother's old Mouli Grater from the 40's or 50's. It says on it that it was made in France. I still use it to grate cheese.


  • 6 years ago

    Bonnie, I have the yellow Pyrex bowl that was my mom's. It was a popcorn bowl then and still is!

  • 6 years ago

    We also had a yellow Pyrex bowl that Mom used to serve popcorn in, mix cake and brownie batter in, etc! Many years later, when I saw one like it for sale on Ebay, I snapped it up. I still have mine and use it a lot. It always brings back such happy memories!

  • 6 years ago

    I'm trying to think what is old, a lot of things I still have from wedding gifts in the 80s. I have an old Griswold #10 skillet that I think is from the 40s. I love it and use it several times a week. My favorite peeler is an old wedge shaped thing that is likely from the 50s. I also have two sets of those primary color nesting bowls from Pyrex.

  • 6 years ago

    This thread sparked some fun dinner table conversation at my home when all tried to figure it out. DH’s dad painted and we have a very silly family portrait he did back in 1965. My father-in-law had it in a stack of garbage paintings when I found it and asked for it. He didn’t know why I wanted it since it’s not “good”, I told him it made me happy. Now everyone wants it, but it’s not the oldest thing. We think that honor goes to a cookbook I got in a box at an auction when I was 9 or so, it is dated 1936. I also have a couple of old Griswold pans