Garage Sale Bonus!

the reason that this (among other items like hand tools, washing machines , freezers and refrigerators) was not costs but different mentality on manufacturing.

You made things to last, but the economy would balance that with the ability for it to be repaired and used parts to be replaced.

so the money and jobs were in making parts for repair and parts that just wore out (like blades for this neat item) after use with the base of it still working.

somewhere we as a society abandoned well built items you repaired for the idea that making it cheaper and hence disposable saves us money.

the truth of one wants to face reality is far from it.

for example I have a chest freezer from my grandfather.
It must be easily 30 or more years old and still working great.
I remember he telling me he fixed it once or maybe twice (little things) but that was it.

I know it isnt as "efficient" as one today and uses more expensive coolant.

But I looked at how many more "modern energy efficient" freezers I would have gone though over same time period (my best estimates are between 6 and 8) that all the "energy savings" would not amount to the cost to replace just one freezer.

Add to it the other costs like manufacture of complete new one and the costs involved with disposal of old unit.

the truth is if we made things like of quality like this slicer you found we still would have jobs and manufacturing.
Just different .

sorry for old man rant

Scrounger

a reply to: DBCowboy

Now you know they can, when they want to, make products that last a long time which means the very expensive deliberate poor quality goods of today are designed to keep us spending, spending and spending.

This of course, keeps us Just Over Broke (JOB )Just Over Broke, Just Over Broke, Just Over Broke.

originally posted by: Wildmanimal
a reply to: JinMI

That is not the downside of Capitalism.
It is the downside of Greed.

Greed and Corruption
are the downfall of any "ism".

Would be a fantastic discussion.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Score man!

I've been keeping an eye out for one of those. My best kitchen aids were all manufactured before I was born. Hamilton Beach mixer and Waring blender from the 1940s, The Frigidaire that my grandmother bought in 1958 is still running in my sister's basement. Our greatest fear is when nobody will know how to repair it. That refrigerator hold soooooo many fond memories for anyone who ever visited my grandmother's kitchen.

a reply to: DBCowboy
If something from 62 years ago works perfectly, will items made today work 62 years from now?
Nope. My constant complaints are of things that break weeks, if not DAYS after I've bought it. Had a washer die a few months in, and then the place went bankrupt and didn't even honor the warranty I'd bought (my last ever extended warranty, btw).

a reply to: DBCowboy

Now you have a way to dispose of Gunther the next time he misbehaves. I bet Augustus likes sausage.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Guess Gunther won't be getting buried in holes anymore.
I see Skid Mark beat me to it.

a reply to: DBCowboy
I have my Grandma's old kitchen grinder. I love making bologna salad!

a reply to: DBCowboy

I am ecstatic that you had this find DBCowboy!

Old stuff (aside from radium coated watch faces and things of that nature) is often superior in terms of build quality and longevity, to the tosh we churn out these days, you are one hundred percent right there. Its something those in control of what things are made of rarely wish to make much of these days, but there is a strange paradox occurring in the world, with regard to equipment strength and durability.

When near enough everything of any import was made of steel, the things that were made back in those times can, more often than not, still be used today. This is despite the fact that metals break down in nature quite quickly, compared to some of the various plastic materials that we construct things of these days. But what no one wants to admit about plastics, is that although the material itself will still be around in a few million years, it is also more prone to fracture, splitting, cracking, than is any kind of metal. So the material of which something is made may technically last longer as a material, but the object it comprises will not last longer in the slightest.

For example, there were still people using old, black and white television sets up until right around the digital switch over, here in the UK. Some of those sets had been running, daily, for decades upon decades and still worked perfectly well. I very much doubt that any television made in the last ten years, will last more than twenty, even if the connection methods and the purpose of the television set remain the same for all that time.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Of course my bride cleaned it when we got home then used it to make some ham salad.

For the ill-informed, ham=Gunther.

a reply to: TrueBrit

My telly didn't even last 5 years. On the blink conveniently as soon as the warranty expired. Spotty thereafter then she went to sleep forever. 6 months later my kettle and toaster died within days of each other.

I have an old cathode ray tube telly here that just needs the right connector to the aerial. That's a job for you.

I still haven't bought a new telly. I refuse. Not spending another $500 on something that's just going to break down before my standard of 10 years at least of life. I use my computer for telly.

a reply to: auroraaus

Oh wow... that is BAD... what make was that broken television?

I only ask, because I want to know what to avoid

a reply to: TrueBrit

You don't need a television. Let nature take its course.

Or invest in a meat grinder.

Awesome find! I found a vegetable one recently dfpr $2 in the box with the manual and everything still in plastic! I got it a local kids baseball garage sale fundraiser. I love that thing! I also found a nice old pasta maker too years ago and still use it!

Things today in my opinion are not meant to last. They have a shelf life and then you have to buy new. Not me I love vintage cookware, not only does it work better but it always made very well and sturdy. Stuff today is quite flimsy or extremely overpriced if you ask me.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: projectvxn

2 dollars.



Maybe 3 dollars, but I draw the line at 5.

I guess it depends on how much money you've got stuffed in there and in what denominations. It would be easier to keister 10k in hundred dollar bills than it is to keister a roll of Sacagaweas.

They still make things sturdy. It's just that you want to cheap out and buy the cheapest coffee grinder in the world, and then rant about it breaking after a year. If you had purchased a more expensive grinder, like the Kitchen Aid, one of your kids will inherit it in perfect working order. You want to buy furniture made out of particle board at Ikea, go right ahead. Or you can buy quality furniture that will wind up on Antiques Roadshow in 2518. Your average car today will run several hundred thousand miles without major issues. It's not that the car wears out. You just grow tired of it or it doesn't have the latest bells & whistles on it. I just have up a 2006 with 170,000 miles on it that looked and drove like a new car. It was over ten years old and looked kind of dowdy. My washer and dryer is from Amana and is 25 years old, well beyond the "expected" lifetime for them. But they have no electronics and don't have fifty different cycles to choose from. The dryer has two settings: Dry gently or just dry. End of story. The fact is there is a demand for "cheap stuff" so manufacturers build for that market. It's not "planned obsolescence." It's just built as cheaply as possible. There is quality long-lived stuff in the world of goods. You just have to be able to recognize it and be willing to pay for it.

originally posted by: schuyler
They still make things sturdy. It's just that you want to cheap out and buy the cheapest coffee grinder in the world, and then rant about it breaking after a year. If you had purchased a more expensive grinder, like the Kitchen Aid, one of your kids will inherit it in perfect working order.


I call that comment BS... I have a coffee grinder from my grandparents day. Made of real metal and yes manual . Dating it is hard since they kept things longer but best guess (im 48 for frame of reference) is 70 plus years. I defy you to find ONE "expensive" coffee grinder today that will last half that time. Add to that the fact at antiques markets you find coffee grinders even older than that that will work well today


You want to buy furniture made out of particle board at Ikea, go right ahead. Or you can buy quality furniture that will wind up on Antiques Roadshow in 2518.

Unless its a custom hand made with real wood that also is BS.
most furniture of the best you can buy in a store wont last for a "antique roadshow" 2100.


Your average car today will run several hundred thousand miles without major issues. It's not that the car wears out. You just grow tired of it or it doesn't have the latest bells & whistles on it. I just have up a 2006 with 170,000 miles on it that looked and drove like a new car. It was over ten years old and looked kind of dowdy.

Again BS. First why then do most new cars have warrantees? because MOST will have some fault within 5 to 6 years minus recalls.
yes there are a few manufactures that have better quality and lasting power. but damn few not the standard case.

You are correct the more "bells and whistles" you add the more problems and less lasting it will have.

However the big point you miss on the cars from the old days is that when they did fail or need repair is it was easier to do . Also most parts were priced A LOT lower and over half of the time one could do a lot themselves.

Now the parts are very expensive, the vehicles are very hard for average person to fix, you have to disassemble them to fix even the simplest part, and most parts are so cheap/plastic content you end up replacing more than fixing.

example my family mini van I hit a coyote and did over 2500 damage. In my old 72 nova with a REAL metal bumper it would at best be a minor dent and some chrome scratching.

My washer and dryer is from Amana and is 25 years old, well beyond the "expected" lifetime for them. But they have no electronics and don't have fifty different cycles to choose from. The dryer has two settings: Dry gently or just dry. End of story. The fact is there is a demand for "cheap stuff" so manufacturers build for that market.

sadly you are correct

It's not "planned obsolescence." It's just built as cheaply as possible.

your first part is pure BS. You learn about planned obsolescence in basic business 101 in any HS or college class.
that concept has not changed.

the second part is a separate and different issue

There is quality long-lived stuff in the world of goods. You just have to be able to recognize it and be willing to pay for it.

very few , very specialized, very hard to find and very expensive.
It is something most manufactures try hard to avoid. It is the exception not the norm.

"


the truth is while there were things cheaply made in the past most of the cheaply made still were better than the cheap crap today

As I stated before there were jobs and manufacturing for those quality goods.
just concentrated on parts to repair the items and if one could not do it themselves an industry of repair people.

they still had manufacture jobs for making new products. Just had also manufature jobs for parts.

obsolencence wasnt part of the poduct, but happened because somemoen made SOMETHNG TRULY NEW.
Not made to fail so you need a new one.

the only way this will change is when PEOPLE demand it.

scrounger