American author Nathaniel Hawthorne once said: "Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind." Let's explore that tail, shall we? It's not an easy task, but Bored Panda put together a list of photos that capture this elusive silhouette quite well.
From a meatball that has spent decades in epoxy to 1,800-year-old Roman leather sandals, the things you're going to see below have all faced the biggest battle in the universe — the passage of time — but took different wounds. Continue scrolling to compare them and if you want more of the same, fire up our similar publications here, here, and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
The Wear And Scuff-Marks On This Boat Look Like An Island In The Sea
Shout Out To Lodge For Replacing My 14 Year Old Dutch Oven Because The Enamel Chipped. No Hassles, Just A Free Replacement In The Mail One Week After Contacting Them
My Grandmother Has Kept Her Elementary School Lunch Box In Nearly Pristine Condition For Over 70 Years
I Inherited My Grandma's Sewing Supplies And As I Was Putting Them Away Realized I Bought The Exact Same Buttons That She Did Over 35 Years Ago For Me
The Knife At The Left Was Used By A Butcher For 5 Years Straight. The One At The Right Is The Exact Same Knife, But Brand New
This Jack O Lantern With Mold Growing From Inside
Brickwork By The Sea
My Work ID Has Been In Its Plastic Holder For So Long That It’s Imprinted This Ghostly Image Of My Face
My Neighbors Have An Old Chair With Plants Growing Over It
I Found This Leaf With Only It's 'Veins' Remaining
The One And Only Basketball That Lives At The Local Park And Somehow Still Bounces
My Parents Got This Spray Bottle Of Windex In 1979 And Have Been Reusing It Ever Since
160 Years Of Foot Traffic Over The Step Into My Local Pub
This Tree Eating A Postbox
This Brick Wall Got Smoothed Into A Rock
A Seesaw (Teeter-Totter) In My Local Playground Where Thousands Of Little Feet Have Worn Through The Asphalt
I Went Into The Office For The First Time Since March 2020 And Found The Kiwi I Left In My Desk
You Can Tell Where People Tend To Line Up At This Brooklyn Hardware Store By Where The Linoleum Tile Has Been Worn Away To Reveal The Original Ceramic
Old Gold/Copper Crayola Crayons That Turned Green From Oxidation
I Accidentally Left My Iron Man Canvas Out In The Rain And Inadvertently Improved The Original Design
About Time I Bought Some New Work Boots
Water Levels At Lake Powell Are So Low You Can Find Old Wrecks Out Of The Water
Just Found An Old Roll Of Biodegradable Poop Bags, They Really Do Disintegrate Like Advertised
Great Grandmother's Potato Peeling Knife Still Used By My Grandmother In Her Late 80’s. She Says Her Mother Used It When She Was A Child
Keep it forever! My grandma gave me an old lamp that has been used in our family for over 90 yrs. Doesn't match any decor and the plug is weird but I'm keeping it forever!
Well-Pet Ducks
Bathrooms At My Engineering University
My Nana Has Been Using The Same Deck Of Cards For 10 Years And They’ve All Grooved To Her Hand Placement During Shuffling
Does she always win? She's probably memorised every little blemish on the back of each card.
100-Year-Old Logging Truck, Abandoned And Overgrown By The Trees It Once Helped Cut Down (Lynn Valley, British Columbia, Canada)
1,800-Year-Old Roman Leather Sandals On Display At Vindolanda Fort In Northumberland, England
This Sun-Worn Sign Outside My Office That Looks Like It Belongs In A Horror Film
Found Some Change That Had Been In The Brushes In The Clothes Dryer
A Tree Trunk With A Silver Kennedy 1/2 Dollar Coin
These Hand Prints In A Cave In Southern Utah
Faded Sign From The "War On Drugs" Era
30 Years Ago, My Grandfather Encased This Meatball In Epoxy
60-Year-Old Unopened Pepsi Bottle
Years Of A Lock Grinding On A Brick
Exact Center Seat, 3rd Row From The Back Of The Theater Gets A Lot Of Use
Progression Of A Broom At A Machine Shop
This Is The Same Doll, One After 32 Years Of Love, The Other Still Pristine
This Guy Dancing At The Same Place For Weeks
Nature Swallows A Car In Hawaii
A 39-Year-Old Fan Which Turns 40 Tomorrow
My Dad’s Tree Is Swallowing His Thermometer
This Pumpkin Got Tossed In The Chicken Run Last November But Other Animals Ate The Insides, Leaving A Fairly Intact Shell
Wear Marks In The Floor Of A Repurposed Levi’s Denim Factory. Someone Spent Their Whole Life Working And Standing In This Spot. Lamy’s Building, Sedalia, MO
That person was dead long before they died. Imagine heaving to spend every day of your working life being confined to a few square feet, probably doing the same mind numbing work day in and day out.
My Teal Post-Its Turned Green While I Was Out Of The Office For 15 Months
Basketball I Got 5 Years Ago vs. Basketball I Got Today
Found This At My Local Pharmacy
This Whiteboard Eraser Has Definitely Seen More Than Its Fair Share Of Use
The Rain Melted The Shells Off The Exposed M&M's I Found In A Parking Lot
Old 3ds Found With Erosion And Barnacles Found While Diving
One Of My Kids Left A Shoe Outside
New vs. 3-Year-Old Cat Scratching Post
The Patch On My Jeans Came Off Revealing Its Original Color
Levi's last forever. At least they used to - haven't had any in a while.
Old Ice Pack Sprung A Leak, Had To Get A New One
Three Years Ago I Hid A Golden Money Egg For An Easter Egg Hunt But The Egg Was Never Found... Until Now
Well Worn Wooden Bench
Boyfriend Bought Me A New Alpaca (Left) After I Slept With The Old One (Right) Every Night For 6 Years
Wear-And-Tear On Playground Monkeybars Decreases As The Distance Increases
7 Year Old Fast Food. Noticed At A Doctor's Office Today
My Girlfriend Said You Guys Would Like This And I'm Not Sure Why
What UV Light Does To Wooden Floors When A Rug Is Placed In The Middle Of A Room
Years Of People Touching The Map At The "You Are Here" Spot
My Hands After Washing The Dishes For 20 Minutes
The Difference Between Brand New Teeth And 800 Hours Of Digging
Finally Got Around To Replacing The Casters On My 1950s Wooden Bankers Chair
Here's The Patina On A Knife I Made A Year Ago
Does This Count? Highlighter After A Week Of Nonstop Studying
Reminds me of used college textbooks. Half of the first chapter pages are yellow. Last half of the book never has ANY highlighting in it. :)
4months Of A Sleep Guard. Never Thought I Used To Grind My Teeth
This Raw Hotdog Someone Stuck On My Vans Antenna Nearly 2 Years Ago Is Skinny But Still Going Strong
The Counter At This Truck Stop
This Radiator Underneath A Hand Dryer In A Pub In Northern England
My Husband Bought Me A New Uno Deck To Replace My 20-Year-Old Deck
The Grooves Left By The Drop Rods On The Exit Gates Of The Carousel At The Henry Ford Museum
I would love to post the picture of me sitting on the carousel! It’s been almost 20 years! Omg!
This Death Trap My Wife Calls An Oven Mitt
The Air Filter I Just Took Out Of My Lawnmower vs. The One I Replaced It With
You know the only reason they looked is the mower wouldn't start. I have done this too.
The Sticker On My High School Hat I’ve Had For 10 Years Fell Off Showing The Original Color
i don't get why people leave them on the cap and don't bend the shield anymore
The Spot Where Everyone Always Waits For The Elevator
Finally Got A New Pair Of Work Gloves. 2 Year Gap
Manhole Cover, New vs. Old
Penny That Was Stuck In My Washer For Years
Gorilla Nose And Nips
The Wear Around Salon Seat
My Old Skate Shoes vs. My Buddy's New Ones
Dug Up A Very Old Orange Crush Can In My Garden Yesterday
My Friend’s Childhood Towel After 20 Years
Greasy Head Stains In Doctors Waiting Room
New Yoda vs. 2-Years-Old Yoda
This Box Of Crayons At The Corner Gas Station Lost Most Of Its Color
Before And After 18 Months Of Covid Lockdowns
This Jigsaw Has Sat On My Coffee Table For So Long It Fused Into A Flexible Mat
My Laptop Keyboard Protectors, 6 Years Apart
Brand New Stored In Closet vs. 25 Years Of Use
We Found This Almost Identical Jacket Outside An Op Shop Today
Handrail In A Stairwell At Work
I Think It Was About Time For New Tires On My RC Car
My 10 Year Old Rubik's vs. One That Just Arrived
This Tube Of Toothpaste Discolored Of Being By The Sun For Years
This Diary Full Of Stickers/Papers My Boyfriend And I Collected Since May 2020
You Nose Its Been Touched A Lot
The Sun Has Bleached The Corner Of The Carpet In This Shop Window Over Time
Plastic Keyboard Cover At Work. I Work At A Dentist's Practice In Germany. Tooth = Zahn, Hence The Z
That's looks like plastic wrap after you peel it off then stick it back on
I Have An Old Basketball In My Backyard That Has The Space Jam Logo On It
Climbing Brush, About 8 Years Of Use (Bottom) vs. No Use (Top)
Some More Well Worn Brakes
They are not "well worn", they are destroyed by a lack of maintenance.
Old vs. New Leather Phone Case
Just one of thousands of iterations coming up in the next year/six months/week/being marketed right now.
Old Air Purifier Hepa Filter On The Left vs. Brand New One On The Right
The Cracks In My Screen Protector
IKEA Dish Soap Dispenser Tip
I Found An Old Candy Dispenser With Melted Skittles
Gentlemen
My most comfortable winter socks for the house have small holes by now... but they have foxes in Santa hats, so obviously I cannot get rid of them.
Ending this really fun article with that stale skittles and a crusty old white board eraser didn’t sit well with me. I’m skeeved. Somebody pass the eyeball bleach!
Ending this really fun article with that stale skittles and a crusty old white board eraser didn’t sit well with me. I’m skeeved. Somebody pass the eyeball bleach!
