Things aren’t built to last anymore.  You’re lucky to get a car over 100,000 miles these days; maybe 200,000 if you’re lucky.  That said, does anyone reasonably expect to get 20 years out of an appliance these days?  Or even 10 years?  I have a refrigerator in my room that is pushing 15 years old, and I count myself lucky that it still freezes and chills now as good as it did when it was new.

Paul and Val Howkins, from Coventry, England, have been very lucky.  They have had the same refrigerator for 50 years.  The model, a Prestcold, was purchased in 1959 for £65.  The crazy part is they still use it to this day; it’s not some museum piece, it’s their kitchen fridge, and they used it to chill the food and drink they used for the 50th birthday party they threw for their machine!

I think the basement fridge is the longest-serving appliance in our household.  What’s your oldest appliance?  Have you gotten 20 years out of a VCR?  Or are you cursed with an ability to kill the hardiest machine with normal use?