Here are a few more items readers say proved their worth.

"I still have a claw hammer that my dad bought for me when I first started to help him (he was a carpenter)," wrote Rick Barth.

Rick was about 15 when he got the hammer. He is now 75.

"I have a bunch of other assorted tools from that era, but the hammer is my favorite."

Gabi Tilley and her husband still have the 1981 Harley-Davidson motorcycle they acquired before they were married 34 years ago. They also have the 1978 car she drove in high school.

Boni Barta still uses a saddle her father gave her for a high school graduation present 53 years ago. "The seat is wearing thin but I believe it will serve till either my horse or I give out."

Sheryl McPherson and her husband received a steak knife set as a wedding present 37 years ago. "The knives have been replaced numerous times, but the holder is still going strong."

Carol Callahan still has a sauce pan she and her husband received as a wedding gift more than 58 years ago. "I think it qualifies as having served me well."

Andris (Andy) Kleinhofs has the Bulova wristwatch that was a graduation present in 1958. "The self-winding mechanism does not work anymore, but if I keep it wound it keeps perfect time and I still wear it."

Sandy Tarbox shared this. "I got married in 1971 and my grandmother gave me two cast iron frying pans as a wedding gift, a Wagner and a no-name. Both smooth as a baby's butt. They were old pans then. I've had them for 43 years and wouldn't know how to cook without them."

Here's one from Judith Holter, a Spokane native who now lives in Olympia. "My KitchenAid mixer will be 46 years old this spring. It loves making everything from Betty Crocker's old fashioned orange (or lemon) chiffon cakes to meatloaf."

Diana Lawson still has an 18-inch ruler that was a promotional giveaway of The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Daily Chronicle. It is adorned with the names of  both papers.

Cindy Matthews still has a rocker her dad refinished and gave to her as a Christmas present in the 1970s. "Especially poignant this year as he passed away one year ago (Jan. 2)."

Ritzville's Arlene Snowden has the large electric frying pan she and her husband were given as a wedding present in 1958. "It received a great amount of use while we were raising our three sons. Sadly, my husband is deceased now and my boys are grown and married so the pan doesn't get as much use, but it still works and I wouldn't part with it for anything."

Rathdrum's Dave Wolfe still uses a microwave oven he purchased in 1984. "Even the original light bulb is still going strong."

Jeanne Ash has a Mickey Mouse watch her husband gave her decades ago. "Mickey is now terminal and has to be resuscitated every few days."

Gene Thomsen still uses a few tools he and his brother received in the 1950s, when they were about 8 and 10.

Sue Chapin still has the plastic coffee filter holder a friend gave her more than 30 years ago. It was not especially fashionable then, but it is now.

Cathy Kraus has carried the same key ring since the fall of 1974. "Since I've had it, I've not lost my keys once."

Nick Suksdorf still uses a chain saw he bought in 1974.

Larry Blanchard's Yamaha motorcycle is a 1978 model but it still runs great.

Peggy Tabar still uses a chopper she has had more than 50 years.

Judi Durfee and her husband have a small cast iron witches' cauldron that has held their keys since the mid-1960s. "We never have to say, 'Have you seen my keys?'"

David Kamka praised a set of Cutco steak knives he has had since 1977. He bought them at the behest of a girlfriend. "I haven't seen that girlfriend in 39 years but I still have these knives."

Jeannie Maki has a saddle her first father-in-law gave her as a wedding present 55 years ago. "It's been on many horses.".     

Ellen Lewis has a refrigerator that has been in her family for 70 years. "It's still going great guns."

The list goes on.

---

---