Treasured Heirlooms: What's The Oldest Thing You Own?

Treasured Heirlooms: What’s The Oldest Thing You Own?

Does your family have a tradition of passing something down from generation to generation? Have you made a spectacular find at a garage sale or antique shop of something old but beautiful you couldn’t believe someone got rid of? There are SO many great stories behind the old things we collect and acquire over the years. It’s fascinating to wonder who had something before us and the years of history that item has and the tales it could tell.

Family Fiddle

I collect a lot of stuff, some new, some old, but the oldest thing I own, by far, is my violin. This was given to me as a gift 16 years ago, but the history of this treasured violin goes back much further.

I come from a musical family. I play the violin. My sister plays the piano and mandolin. And my granny plays the accordion It’s possible that the musical skills come from my granny’s side of the family because her brother is also musical. My great uncle Wes (my granny’s brother) is a musician and has been for many years. He and my granny grew up playing music together. My granny still has the same accordion she owned as a kid and still plays it to this day. In fact, she used to play this very same accordion with her dad, my great grandpa,

Frank. Sadly Frank passed away at a young age and after that, no one in the family picked up his fiddle. My uncle Wes kept it for many, many years. Then on my 13th birthday, my uncle came to our house (which was unusual since Wes had never been to one of my birthdays before) and showed up carrying a very old violin case. He opened it up, pulled out my great grandpa’s violin and presented it to me.

My granny was also at the party, and as was the case at many family gatherings, she had her accordion. After many decades, Frank’s violin was pulled out of the case, my granny grabbed her accordion, and once again these two instruments began making music again together!

What’s the Oldest Thing You Own?

Now it’s your turn! What’s the oldest thing you own and how did you get it? Make sure to tell us the whole story!