What's the oldest thing you own?

[mack11211]

What's the oldest thing you own?

Some people inherit old things, some people buy them, some people just buy them new and keep them forever.

When I was in high school, circa 1980, I started to carefully shop vintage clothing. It was easier then because there was a secondhand shop within my school (a private school, meaning donations got a tax decuction), so I could begin to get an education in fabric and cut and the history of style.

Now I have things from every decade, including a beautiful dark brown Oxxford suit from 1955 and a glen plaid from 1948, but they're in storage.

A couple of ties seem quite ancient; one has an NRA tag and a red eagle; I think this is from the National Recovery Administration, an industrial reorganization plan from FDR's first years in office; it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1934. Another has a tag from "neckwear progress exhibition," which to my mind evokes the Century of Progress exhibition that Chicago had in 1933. They're very short by contemporary standards, of course, so I usually wear them under a v-neck sweater vest.

 

[AlanC]

I have a 3-button Harris tweed sport coat I bought at a used clothing store in Oxford over a dozen years ago. I suspect it to be of 1970s vintage. It's the time of year to bring it out as a matter of fact. That's probably the oldest thing I have.

 

[TomW]

My oldest clothing items are cufflinks that my Grandfather gave to me when I graduated from college, which were given to him by his Grandfather on the occassion of his marriage to my Grandmother. There are 4 pair, all gold, all very simple in design and all true links. They were made between 1875 and 1893 in London. I wear them very frequently.

 

[jerrysfriend]

I have two coats that I bought at a vintage consignment store in Atlanta; now out of business.They are:
(a) Brown herringbone tweed double breasted topcoat, custom-made in London in 1946 for J. Press, date of manufacture and name of client inside breast pocket.  
(b) Charcoal topcoat, custom-made by a tailor in Cincinnati in 1955, date of manufacture and name of client inside breast pocket.
I get compliments every time I wear them. Thought I might go by J. Press when in NYC this Christmas and ask them how they like the brown herringbone tweed.

 

[Navy09]

I have my grandfather's gold tie pin and his custom made seer sucker jacket from the late '30s. I don't wear the tie pin often but I wore the jacket this summer and got a ton of compliments.

 

[Will]

About a dozen pair of 19th century cuff links, double sided enamel on gold or on sterling dating from 187x onward.

Will

 

[prinseugen]

My great-grandfather's evening studs and links, which he had made by Tiffany, in 1922 (platinum disks with a pearl set at the center of each).

Jack

 

[Vintage Gent]

Let's see. Some of the oldest:

(1) An Edwardian dinner jacket, dates somewhere from the early 20th century, pre WWI

(2) A Suit jacket dated August 29, 1941 made for Jesse H. Jones (who was, at the time, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation).

(3) A 1937 Brooks Brothers chesterfield top coat, owned by Col. T.H. Barton, an Arkansas industrialist of some prominence.

(4) Several suits of formal evening clothes that date from the 1930s.

(5) The requisite set of Victorian cufflinks, exact vintage unknown.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Camel hair double-breasted overcoat:
Lablels: Frostmann
Baker Clothes
Gentree Ltd New Haven
Owned by: C.L.V. Meeks, Yale History Professor

Vicuna three-botton single-breasted overcoat
Labels: Kupperheimer
Hochacheid Tailor Cincinnati

Both are at least 50 years old.

 

[Kai]

I have the braided silk braces my grandfather wore at his wedding.

 

[j]

Pasted from my original post about my find: I went to one of my favorite thrift stores today while kicking around avoiding traffic, and I'm very glad I did. For $12 (and 30% off) I got a black wool morning coat, hand stitched single breasted peak lapels with piping, two buttons (I assume meant to be worn open, but not sure), cutaway front, longer tail with two buttons (decorative) on the back. Inside is stitched a label that reads: Stephen D. Herr 115 So. Dearborn St. Chicago Mr. (written

R. Butterfield Date (written

Feb 2 - 1915 Not sure what the lining is but it's a sort of twill satiny stuff in the body and then a silvery gray with purple and green stripes in the sleeves. It just about fits me, a bit too small in the shoulders and short in the sleeves. It's in basically pristine shape. I haven't gone over the whole thing but so far it is pretty much perfect.

 

[JLibourel]

Of items of apparel, I have my great-grandfather's cufflinks. I don't know the exact date, but they are somewhere around 100 years old. I have the bicorn naval hat and epaulets my father wore at his wedding in 1939. Of items I actually use with regularity--some sweaters and scares my mother knit for me in the mid to late 1950s.

 

[CharlieZircon]

Oldest thing I wear is my gold signet ring which I inherited from my father, who had inherited a set of cufflinks from an uncle whoi had worked for Cartier around the turn of the century (20th that is).  The cuff-links had initials inscribed with initials that were also my fathers, and he had the gold recast into a ring with one of the initial cuff-links as the signet face of the ring.  The inscription has since worn off, and I wear the ring plain - in memory.