Could be an attached memory or sentimental value, whatever.
Conventional worth be dammed.
Given to me it would either be the quilts my grandmother made, or the charts my grandfather followed along with during the moon landing.
Personal items would be the assorted thank you notes the elderly have given me from being in retirement industry. Want to make a collage of them one day.
My father’s sword, shield, and cloak! You might go, oh! Antiques! And no. The sword and shield are made from like, automotive metal I’m pretty sure. It’s old school SCA stuff. The cloak is really really nice though. Unfortunately cloaks aren’t the most fashionable anymore and it’s also so thick I could only wear it a few times a year. And those days are slipping away each year.
A cracked vase. Belonged to my great grandma. My grandma then had it and would fill it with fragrant flowers any time I came to visit. 11/10. Cracked vase is the one thing I made sure I took from my grandma’s house after she passed.
Been using them 30 years, remember them on grandma’s counter
This weird box that apparently once held candy that I think came from my grandmother but am not sure, and it’s full of buttons. It says Blue Bird Confectionery on the bottom, and it’s full of an assortment of buttons that I have no idea of the origin of. It’s just sat on my shelf for decades.
I’m still using my grandma’s ashtray. She didn’t smoke chronic but I remember sitting with her at the table dropping winstons into that MF all day long. After she died (of cancer obviously, she smoked a pack a day since she was 12 years old and made it to 79) I took it. Now it lives in my library, and even though I don’t smoke cigs I use it every day for my joints.
Grandmother’s napkin holder. I remember it from decades of family dinners.
Grandfather’s humongous old dictionary.
The set of cast iron pans from my grandma that are over 100 years old
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My mother’s wedding ring. My father was a monster, so it’s not because of the marriage it represents. It was the cheapest he could get, it’s thin and worn down and battered, and, of all the kids, she gave it to me. When I die, however I am disposed of, that ring goes with me, because… she gave it to me!
From my great grandmothers kitchen:
The Don Quijote painting my Babushka made. I love it. I’m glad I got it when she passed. As far as I know there are two in the family. This one and one in blue.
Not worthless. That is some dope piece of art! I bet that would put your dining room together nicely!
This post actually gave me the idea to make a website with all her art. I hope my relatives participate.
Edit: And it’s live at https://brigitte-tantau.de/.
Gute Idee!
I have a letter opener made by my great uncle for my grandfather.
What makes it interesting is that my great uncle worked as a mechanic for the RAF, keeping Spitfires flying during the Battle of Britain and the letter opener is made from discarded parts from Spitfires he worked on. Not sure what the blade was, some small strut or something, I suppose, and the handle is made of different-sized washers.
A rubber stamp of my grandfather’s initials, which happens to be exactly my initials.
Nobody else in the family have this initials, so this really would worth anything only to me.
Whoa, now; I suggest you take a peek at the quilt market. Old quilts in good condition can demand astonishingly high prices.
Photos & letters all fall into this category, I think. I suspect that some future historian might find some value in them, but if we don’t extictify ourselves, there’s so much digital material - photos, videos, emails - that anyone studying any period after 2000 is going to be doing a much different job, involving much less sleuthing, than those who studied ancient periods.
My grandfather’s dog tags from Vietnam. He always kept them swinging from his rear-view mirror. Swore they kept him safe.
Also swore up and down that he wasn’t superstitious, lol.
