Fridge 1960
Harold Macmillan was in Downing Street when Susan Loftus’s father Frank brought his Prescold Packaway fridge in 1960.
Then the height of British design ingenuity, the appliance cost a princely sum of £57 – the equivalent of £1,300 today.
Steve Catterall, from Blackburn, still has his mother’s electric hair clippers, made by Forfex 80 years ago
Made in Oxford, the state-of-the-art fridge was so expensive that he needed to use hire-purchase to be able to afford it.
Ms Loftus, who lives in Bolton with her 94-year-old mother, Brenda, says: ‘It’s still going strong after almost 61 years of continuous service – with no repairs.’ And she is far from alone in having such an reliable workhorse.
Businesswoman and charity campaigner Rosa Monckton says her 91-year-old mother Marianna still uses the fridge she inherited from her own mother-in-law, who died in 1964.
It’s not known when it was bought, but Rosa says her grandmother had owned the fridge ‘for many years’.
The model was made by Electrolux, which began manufacturing fridges in 1955, and a sticker on the back says it ‘complies to British standards’.
Rosa says: ‘It has never once broken down and my mother uses it every day.’
Hair Shears 1941
Steve Catterall, from Blackburn, still has his mother’s electric hair clippers, made by Forfex 80 years ago.
The Bakelite shears, he says, ‘remain in good working order’. The lead was once replaced, but otherwise they have never required repairing.
Microwave 1985
Nigel Shapiro bought his Panasonic Genius from the Army and Navy store in Victoria, Central London, in 1985
‘Touch one button and the Panasonic Genius defrosts, cooks, turns,’ said the 1985 advertising campaign for the company’s microwave.
Nigel Shapiro bought his model from the Army and Navy store in Victoria, Central London, that year for £229 – more than £700 in today’s money.
But it’s proved a bargain.
Hairdryer 1968
Tony Heap and his wife were given this hair dryer as a wedding present in 1968 and it is still in working order
Is this Britain’s oldest working hair dryer?
Tony Heap and his wife were given it as a wedding present in 1968.
Fifty-two years later, the Boots appliance remains in full working order – although the couple have an unusual use for it… to defrost their freezer.
Tumble-Dryer 1969
Elizabeth Broadbent brought her tumble dryer in 1969 – and even then it was second-hand
The average age of a tumble dryer in British homes is eight years, but Elizabeth Broadbent brought hers in 1969 – and even then it was second-hand.
Over the years the machine, sold by the now-defunct North Western Electricity Board, has taken quite a pounding from her family of five in Mossley, Greater Manchester, but Elizabeth says: ‘It still works well.’