This Elderly Couple Bought Their Household Appliances In 1950s, 50 Years Later They Still Work!
91Kviews
These days it seems as if nothing is made to last. Phones break too easily. Televisions die for no reason. Shoes fall apart after barely a year. It’s almost as if manufacturers deliberately make things badly in order to force consumers to constantly buy new stuff (crazy thought, right?).
If you ever needed proof that “they don’t make ’em like they used to anymore” then look no further than Sydney and Rachel Saunders from Exeter, UK, because the elderly couple, both in their 80s, have been using the same home appliances that they bought over half a century ago! Their tumble dryer, boiler, cooker, and washing machine cost them just £146 GBP ($193 USD) when they first purchased them way back in 1956, and somewhat incredibly, they continue to work to this day.
“Things were made better in those days, they were more durable and stronger,” said Mr Saunders, a retired accountant. “We were given the washing machine when we were married – 62 years ago – and the last time it was used was 12 years ago,” added his wife Rachel, a retired carer. “As far as I know it’s still in full working order, it just leaks a bit. You just don’t get appliances made like that today.”
The couple have finally decided to part with their antique appliances after all these years, but Mr Saunders isn’t bothered about how much they might get for selling them. “I’d like them to go to a museum or something like that so they can be preserved,” he said.
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
Image credits: David Hedges SWNS
91Kviews
Share on Facebook
This was before the days of planned obsolescence~~~~~~~~~
Yep. The manufacturers realized that if their product kept working for a long, looong time, they'd just lost a customer for that very specific period of time. Make shittier product that's also much cheaper to make, you get endless money.
There's an appliance store where I live that has a wringer washer (very old but I don''t know what year it is) that has never been used. It's pretty cool to see a very old appliance that is essentially brand new.
Not only is programmed obsolescence a documented marketing strategy, Sick Boy, it's also incredibly shady that as technology *improved*, it would become usable for shorter and shorter lengths of time. I'm not talking about a computer in which the hardware would, eventually, be unable to support heavier volumes of OS and more demanding software. I'm talking about how it's now less expensive to replace electronics than get them fixed, how appliances with minimal computerization fail within years of being bought. France even has a law that forces manufacturers to tell consumers how long their product is supposed to last. Specifically because of planned obsolescence. https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/france-planned-obsolescence-law/
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's just a conspiracy hypothesis, nothing more. It's true, though, that shitty is cheap to make, but it's unwise to draw wild conclusions over that fact.
As much as I appreciate the idea of keeping things for as long as possible I wonder how energy efficient their appliances are in comparison to ones created today
Your energy efficiency goes to the trash when you have to throw away an appliance every 3 or 4 years. Think about the amount of harmful chemicals and the energy used to do these appliances constantly and the "recycling" carbon print. ;)
That is important to keep in mind. Also, are they safe as well? Some fridges used harmful gasses to cool down.
freon, banned in the 80's because it was moderately toxic to humans and an ozon depleting gas, meaning it would fuck with the atmosphere etc. "It is calculated that a CFC molecule takes an average of about five to seven years to go from the ground level up to the upper atmosphere, and it can stay there for about a century, destroying up to one hundred thousand ozone molecules during that time"
This is what I was wondering too. My parents recently bought a new dryer and a new freezer, because the old ones were practically black holes energy-wise. Both were still fully functional and bought in the 90s.
I still use a 1950's GE Electric stove/oven that my parents purchased when they built their house. Works like a charm!
We use a kitchen machine my mother in law bought almost 40 years ago
I use my grandmother's Sunbeam mixer from the 1950s. It's a tank.
This was before the days of planned obsolescence~~~~~~~~~
Yep. The manufacturers realized that if their product kept working for a long, looong time, they'd just lost a customer for that very specific period of time. Make shittier product that's also much cheaper to make, you get endless money.
There's an appliance store where I live that has a wringer washer (very old but I don''t know what year it is) that has never been used. It's pretty cool to see a very old appliance that is essentially brand new.
Not only is programmed obsolescence a documented marketing strategy, Sick Boy, it's also incredibly shady that as technology *improved*, it would become usable for shorter and shorter lengths of time. I'm not talking about a computer in which the hardware would, eventually, be unable to support heavier volumes of OS and more demanding software. I'm talking about how it's now less expensive to replace electronics than get them fixed, how appliances with minimal computerization fail within years of being bought. France even has a law that forces manufacturers to tell consumers how long their product is supposed to last. Specifically because of planned obsolescence. https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/france-planned-obsolescence-law/
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's just a conspiracy hypothesis, nothing more. It's true, though, that shitty is cheap to make, but it's unwise to draw wild conclusions over that fact.
As much as I appreciate the idea of keeping things for as long as possible I wonder how energy efficient their appliances are in comparison to ones created today
Your energy efficiency goes to the trash when you have to throw away an appliance every 3 or 4 years. Think about the amount of harmful chemicals and the energy used to do these appliances constantly and the "recycling" carbon print. ;)
That is important to keep in mind. Also, are they safe as well? Some fridges used harmful gasses to cool down.
freon, banned in the 80's because it was moderately toxic to humans and an ozon depleting gas, meaning it would fuck with the atmosphere etc. "It is calculated that a CFC molecule takes an average of about five to seven years to go from the ground level up to the upper atmosphere, and it can stay there for about a century, destroying up to one hundred thousand ozone molecules during that time"
This is what I was wondering too. My parents recently bought a new dryer and a new freezer, because the old ones were practically black holes energy-wise. Both were still fully functional and bought in the 90s.
I still use a 1950's GE Electric stove/oven that my parents purchased when they built their house. Works like a charm!
We use a kitchen machine my mother in law bought almost 40 years ago
I use my grandmother's Sunbeam mixer from the 1950s. It's a tank.