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Saturday, September 26, 2026Est. 2026. Most of what's in here is older.

Don't fix it if it ain't broke

Still Running / Clothes and gear

No. 0025Clothes and gear

c. 1940

Red Wing work boots

Red Wing

Running about 86 years

Great-grandma's boots, found in a closet of moths

A modern pair of Red Wing Iron Ranger boots, a design that goes back decades. Not the pair in the story. — A modern pair of Red Wing Iron Ranger boots, a design that goes back decades. Not the pair in the story. Photo: Steven Walling, CC BY-SA 3.0. The real one is in the original post.

They turned up in a closet full of dead moths about five years ago, a great-grandmother's Red Wings from the 1940s. They're the favorite pair for work at the family's mountain property, gathering firewood and helping Dad fix pipes, and Dad is the one who oils them. They haven't been resoled since they came out of that closet. A welted work boot like this can be resoled by any decent cobbler when the day comes, and with leather that's kept oiled, the uppers usually outlast a few soles.

Retold from a post on r/BuyItForLife. Read the original

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No. 0023Clothes and gear

Aladdin SB950H vacuum bottle

Jumped out of airplanes, run over by a Humvee A vintage Aladdin vacuum bottle in the brand's classic plaid, made before 1989. Not the one in the story.

Running 38 years

No. 0024Clothes and gear

Oxford leather bookbag

Grandpa says 1880. Mom the historian disagrees. An old leather school satchel from Austria. Not the one in the story.

An old leather school satchel from Austria. Not the one in the story.

Running 75 years

No. 0100Clothes and gear

Gillette Old Type safety razor

A great-grandfather's razor, every morning A Gillette Old Type safety razor in its case, from the Helsinki City Museum collection. Not the one in the story.

A Gillette Old Type safety razor in its case, from the Helsinki City Museum collection. Not the one in the story.

Running about 106 years

No. 0026Clothes and gear

Canadian Forces parka

Pockets sized for rifle magazines, used for shoveling A US Army M-65 parka with its hood, a military cold-weather coat from the same era. Not Canadian issue, and not the one in the story.

A US Army M-65 parka with its hood, a military cold-weather coat from the same era. Not Canadian issue, and not the one in the story.

Running 50 years