Sometimes it's the weirdest things that smack me in the head

[elrhiarhodan]

And make me realize just how fucking OLD I am.

I was straightening out my desk and some of my craft storage, putting stuff away, and I found I had my long, yellow-headed quilting pins in two separate boxes.

That was no biggie, but as I was transferring the pins into one box, I realized how old these pins are. I bought them in 1986, with every intention of teaching myself how to hand-quilt. I bought the pins, a good pair of Fiskar fabric shears (which I still have, as well), two yards of fabric, a package of needles, and a spool of thread recommended by the saleslady. I was in grad school, and I remember that those shears cost me a LOT of money (probably my meal money for a week).

That night, I made a pin cushion out of the fabric, which I decided was too ugly for words. I may even still have it, amongst my sewing things. I never made any progress with the quilting. My sewing adventures were always more practical - lots of straight seams for pillows and window coverings.

The pins? They are most useful for me for my beading - they have lovely sharp, narrow points that are essential for picking out knots from all kinds of threads without destroying the fiber and long enough to hold without cramping my hands. I keep a few of them on my working tray at any given time.

But today, looking at the box of pins, I realized I've had them for the best part of four decades - I was 21 when I bought them. I'm 57 now, and for thirty-six years, they've been a quiet and indispensable companion in various desk drawers, for all those years I've never used them for their intended purpose.

Anyone have any similar story? A long-owned item that is patiently loyal, like an old hound?

Comments

[minoanmiss]

That is a beautiful tribute to the pins!

I have a handful of books, most notably _World Tales_, that I've held onto since my childhood. I note WT because last year I wrote a fanfic based on one of my favorite stories in it, so I had the old faithful book open across my lap just like I used to as a child.

[elrhiarhodan]

I can write paenes to the old books in my small library - the copy of Bulfinch's Age of Fable that had been my mother's (complete with lovely modernist line drawings of naked men, women, creatures and gods) - you would greatly appreciate it, I think. Also my father's copy of The Agony and the Ecstasy, read so many times that the covers are falling off. My set of Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization. Georgette McHugh's Stoneflight, my original copies of The Riddlemaster Trilogy from junior high. The books of poetry. The heavy art books that I pull out for inspiration. I love them all - some have travelled with me from home to home since I first left home. These are the books that I will always want to touch and smell because they matter deeply.

Like the pins.

Like the little jeweler's pliers my father bought for me when I was 14 and told me if I took care of them, they'd last me a lifetime. I still use them almost every day.

Things with meaning do matter. Even if they are ordinary things.

Especially if they are ordinary things.

[krait]

Also my father's copy of The Agony and the Ecstasy, read so many times that the covers are falling off.

Substitute "mother's," and I have this, too. :)

[seleneheart]

When I got my first apartment after college, I bought a cheap set of glass, nested mixing bowls and a small cast iron skillet. I still have both things, and they both get heavy use in my kitchen to literally this day.

This was a lovely post, and nice way to think of possessions. Thanks for the memories you've evoked.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you for sharing your things that matter.

I still have my mother's Mixmaster and mixing bowls. I don't use them but I will never part with them. I think part of her soul is within the atoms of those glass bowls.

[dariaw]

First of all, I only come on this site very sporadically and miss most people's posts often, so it's so nice to "hear" your voice!!

Books I've had since I was young make me feel happy but yes, also old. Those are the main things I managed to hang on to best through the years.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

I'm just somewhat younger than you, and I've many items that long held. And ones that others had and I've gotten second hand.

Now if I can just get the next project started before I can't find it. ;)

[merelydovely]

I can't replicate the time elapsed in your example because I'm only 32, but I've definitely been feeling that whole "oh my god look at this old craft supply" feeling recently: this Christmas I finally made a scrapbook for the first time, using a scrapbook I bought way back when I worked at Michael's and kept spending my paycheck on random scrapbooking supplies because I was convinced I could turn myself into the kind of person who scrapbooked. That was about a dozen years ago, if I remember right!

I also recently attempted some mending, using vintage thread that I bought from a garage sale, clearly owned by someone's deceased grandmother and stored in an ageing tupperware. Since I finally organized all the old thread, I can now see that there are several spools of the same color, as if someone had bought it for a project they never finished. It's cool to see such old thread finally getting put to use :)

[krait]

I still regularly use a hairbrush that I owned as a child (late 80s - early 90s), and sometimes when I get it out of the drawer I'm reminded of how long it's been with me.

When I first got this brush, I wanted to brush my hair 'by myself' but couldn't quite reach all of it, so my mother would periodically have to lean me over the sink and detangle the parts I'd missed with a comb and handful of conditioner.

The dog whose teethmarks are in it has long passed away, and the friend whose dog it was has dropped out of touch and I haven't heard from her in over a decade.

My parents were buying their first house around the time I received this brush; I've owned my own house for the past six years. I've moved six times - possibly eight - with this brush, and it's come through every move safely, even when other things didn't.

[elrhiarhodan]

::hugs::

There is almost nothing more personal than hair, speaking as someone who's lost most of hers, gotten it back, and has a love-hate relationship with it.

That brush is a touchstone to such lovely memories it seems.

[krait]

There is almost nothing more personal than hair

It is, isn't it? I definitely have a love-hate relationship with mine, too.


That brush is a touchstone to such lovely memories it seems

Heh, well, yes; lovely - in retrospect! The 'detangling' was certainly painful at the time. :D

[binary_sunset]

I'm personally not super old yet (although, I'm slowly inching my way towards 30, which FEELS old), but I do have a favourite sewing item that has followed me around.
My late grandfather was an attorney who helped people, among other things, with their estate planning, which meant that he often ended up with sundry items after his clients passed away. One such item was a mid-century sewing kit, which he gifted to my mother. There is a set of needles in there that's definitely older than she is! I use the threader that came with the set every time I need to thread my sewing machine.

I was actually able to find an identical set for sale on ebay, but theirs doesn't come with the threader. I'm glad they're not super valuable collectors items or anything, because I love using them. They're still good even after all these years!

[lessonsinescapology]

I have a small wooden box that I bought when I was 15. It was used to store bracelets made of semi-precious stones. It's garish because a teenager bought it but I can't bear to throw it away. I keep thinking if I had a daughter, she'd be even older than this box. LOL!