I don't expect my electrical items to last a lifetime, I'd say 5-10yrs is all I expect from them.
Tupperware, LOL, it's only lifetime cause they replace it. I have heaps of split and broken stuff..
The only things that I expect to last:
My crystal champagne glasses and vases ( if the kids don't break them in the mean time )
A cupboard/dresser that I restored from my stepdad's mum's collection
Books I have kept from my childhood
Wool trenchcoat
Hollo - funny you say that, the only pieces of tupperware that still look quite good are stuff from my mum. The old yellow and orange cylinder container one's.
I would like to think my slow cooker would last, and my mixmaster. I remember my Grandmother's Sunbeam mixmaster and her old orange crock pot, still going after years and years of regular use. I think my pots and pans should be able to last a very long time, they are still in good nick after a few years of constant use.
Apparently I am deluded if I think my iron will last me a lifetime though: I was actually flipping through a magazine yesterday, and there was an ad for a certain brand of iron that basically had as it's selling point the fact that if you have an iron that is more than 5 years, or (heaven forbid) older, you need to replace it because, and I quote: "Irons diminish with age, losing up to 50 per cent steam power in five years. After this, it's time for a replacement because you and your clothes deserve better." So here is company openly admitting that their product is no good for longer than a few years, and making it sound like a good thing!! That is definitely some clever marketing. They follow this up with some 'statistics' from their "recent 'Wardrobe Care' study" that state that "One in 100 people admit to their iron being more than 20 years old" and (get this): "44% of people only replace their iron when it's stopped working". Yep - shock horror! People actually use their appliances until they die! How wrong is that!
Only a couple of pieces of Le Creusset (or Le Chasseur) - can't remember which we've got - cookware. We've used one cooking pot at least three times a week for 15 years and it's still fabulous so I can't see why that wouldn't last a lifetime.
Oh, and a manual juicer that was DP's mum's. Would never buy an electric juicer again. It's fab.
We've just had some built-in robes put in the bedroom and this might be wishful thinking but I think they'll last a lifetime. They're a period style to suit this period house so hopefully they won't 'look' dated either because they're meant to look dated. Didn't articulate that very well, time for breakfast I think!
to last i think my 3 antique telephones (i am a collector but kids take up my$$$ now) and my army field phone my bible and my thesaurus and other bibles over 100 years old already. An antique dresser that needs to be restored but i think that will last. Along with my antique baby shoes that are nearly and over 100 years ago before kids cost me $$$, i was able to buy these small delights that i treasure greatly. Also some jewellery should last.
I'm like Nicambhar, I don't really expect electrical stuff to last, I don't think they make it like they used to. I think it's strategy, they manufacture things that will need replacing - and how many times have we looked into having something repaired only to be told it's cheaper to replace it? That makes me mad, I think it is very deliberate and there is very little thought involved apart from that of the dollar.
My iron trunk & old wooden furniture. Not the new cheap furniture we have, only the nice old stuff (see above, lol).
I don't expect whitegoods to last forever these days - there is too much technology (who on earth needs a 'smart' washing machine?) and therefore more areas for failure. Although the first washing machine that I brought was a 4.5kg Simpson back in 1997 and I only replaced it last year because we'd outgrown it - washing clothes for 6 people in a machine that small was just madness. but it is still going strong and still washing clothes just as well as it ever did. MIL has it atm as her machine is broken down. But the original one I replaced it with was stuffed in the first 6wks and just stopped working so it was replaced and that ones been fine but I know I wont get as long out of it as my first one. The fridge we've had for 10 years and I think we will get a while longer out of it provided the shelves stay together LOL. And the other stuff I expect to last is all the crap we got for our wedding that rarely sees the light of day and the Willow Dinner set that I inherrited from my Nan a few years ago. MIL has a Kenwood mixer that I covet and I hope she leaves to us in her will ROFL. Plus my other Nan has loads of antique cabinets that I also love. Oh and I have a lot of 'retro' tupperware too.
One thing to remember too is back in the day of our grandparents people got things fixed when they did break down - you could even get your toaster and other small appliances fixed so nothing truly lasted forever, it was just that it was able to be repaired until it wasn't able to be repaired anymore and these days if you took a toaster to someone to get fixed they would phone the looney bin to come and get you. Plus it doesn't help that some products these days are made almost entirely of plastic components that just aren't designed to last as long. Toys are a great example of that - my DH has a load of tonka toys that he had as a child and everything bar the wheels was metal - these days you'd be lucky to buy a tonka truck with more than 30% metal in it and the one time we did track down someone that sold the original tonka toys they were so expensive we couldn't justify buying them. It also doesn't help that we are a consumer society now and we replace things well before they wear out or break down just because the 'new model' has been released - TV's for example - how many people really needed a new TV in the last 5 years?
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