Our apartment is from earlier in the century, so I can’t give Tyler Cowen’s first answer, but, after that, I follow him in thinking of the several books I have from that decade. Beyond that, lemme think . . . We occasionally play Risk, and our set dates from the 50s. Some kitchen implements (a mixmaster, a couple of cookbooks, who knows which old bowls, forks, etc). Probably some of the furniture, although I don’t know which. Probably some of the items in our building (the boiler?) What else, I wonder? There are probably a few things I’m forgetting.
50-60 years is a long time, I guess.
P.S. to the commenters: I’m taking the question to refer to things manufactured in the 1950s and not before!
Just last night I made some apple crumble topping in a 1940s era Hobart N50 mixer. Our cutlery is 1920's Oneida Community silver plate, and the dessert wine was served in 1950s era glasses from Japan.
Thinking of a histogram by decade, I think the kitchen is going to win out on having the longest tail to the left in our house. The master bedroom closet may not have only two items more than 30 years old (a tuxedo and nehru jacket).
the political system? power stations? B-52s? My parents?
We have a hand egg beater from the 1920s or 1930s that we use at least once a week (gift from an antique collector who knows I'm a utilitarian). We also have a sugar container from the 1950s that we use all the time (it's our primary sugar container). Both are in excellent condition and will continue to be used (and not replaced) until they're broken. At which point, I will cry.
I can't remember if I own more, probably not. But I wasn't born until the late 1970s…
My dresser belonged to my dad when he was a kid; it's from the 1940s. We have some artwork that is older, but I don't know that you'd say that it's in "active use." We have a piano that is older, though, that my wife plays sometimes.
Our house is much older. Our dining room table is fairly new, but is made from an old wood floor, if that counts. That's all I can think of.
Even though I use few things that are more than 50 years old, I am impressed by the longevity of some things that I own. I still wear some shirts that I got in college or grad school, so that's 20+ years ago. The belt I'm wearing today (like most days), I bought in 1988. I don't take many film photos anymore, but when I do I use either a camera from the early 1970s or one from the late 1980s, that both still work great.
My trusty old Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera still takes tack sharp pictures on 6×6 120 roll film
My wife has a wooden desk from the '50's. Some of her jewelry (inherited from her Mom) is also from the '50's. Most of the old stuff I have is much older, including a book printed in the 1500's, the oldest manufactured thing I own.
Our house, much of our furniture, a wooden kayak, many books,a few sweaters and jackets, some old trays and kitchen things, and our piano.
I was somehow "manufactured" in the 1950's if you push the boundary to 1960 and still in regular, active use…
I have a National HRO-60 shortwave radio from the 1950's that still gets the BBC in analog fashion. And you can still find tubes for it, but I grabbed 3 ballasts when they became available, because those are pretty rare.
We have two knives in our kitchen that were made by my wife's grandfather and which we use all the time. We have quite a bit of old furniture that is well over 50 years old (our dining room table belonged to my great-grandfather). We have a wood cookstove in the kitchen, no longer used for its original purpose, but it is still in use as a horizontal surface for the microwave (as well as for decoration). Many of the decorations on the wall and on tables and other horizontal surfaces are well over 50 years old, including the portrait of my great-great-grandfather. The barn out back is ~150 years old; it is in constant use during the summer, since that is where my wife keeps her horse and hay when the weather is good (it is boarded in the winter…no heat in the barn, and Vermont can be quite cold). The house is a relatively young 75 years old, however.
I wish I could say my Balanced Action alto, which I sold it a few years ago. But someone is using it. Aside from that, some furniture and a piano.
You mention books. One lesson of this is ideas/understanding/information is the most powerful investment — and one that crucially needs a government role to not be under or inefficiently provided, due to its zero marginal cost and difficulty to avoid free riding. It never wares out and can be used forever. Math has advanced greatly since the 900s, but we still constantly use algebra.
Here’s a fantastic quote on this from famed growth economist Paul Romer of Stanford:
As just one example, recall that the increasing returns to scale that is implied by nonrivalry leads to the failure of Adam Smith’s famous invisible hand result. The institutions of complete property rights and perfect competition that work so well in a world consisting solely of rival goods no longer deliver the optimal allocation of resources in a world containing ideas.
– Forthcoming American Economic Journal paper, page 8, at:
http://www.stanford.edu/~promer/Kaldor.pdf
My father uses a few Soviet cameras made in the 1950s. Many of them stemmed from German technology acquired after World War 2.