The Good Old Days: When Home Products Were Made to Last

by Sherry Holetzky | More from this Blogger

26 Apr 2007 08:50 AM

I have a TV that I bought when my oldest daughter was about a year old. Yes, I'm old, she just turned seventeen. That television still works and is now in the room she shares with sister. Do you think there's a TV made today that will last that long?

We purchased a television for our living room about two years after we moved here and it's been gone for at least a year. It just stopped working one day. That means its lifespan was around six years. By today's standards, that's probably not too bad, but it can't compete with that sixteen year old set in my daughters' room. Both televisions bore respected brand name labels. The difference is that products, appliances, and electronics are no longer made to last.

Michele mentioned microwaves, and I have a microwave story too. Well, my mom does anyway. She got a microwave back when they were a fairly new concept. It was a monstrous thing and much slower than what's available today, but the darn thing worked for like twenty years before finally giving out. The one she bought me as a gift when my youngest was born, gave out about the same time and we both purchased the same model and brand as replacements. Mine was probably about four years old when replaced compared to hers, which lasted somewhere near two decades.

My mom also has an old refrigerator, which my grandparents bought new when my mom and her sisters were kids. My grandmother had it for years, then my mom used it full time for several years, and she eventually put it in her basement as a second fridge. She has now unplugged it but it was still working when last plugged in and had been around for about 50 years.

These days, companies want repeat customers - often. Instead of making things that will last 20 or more years, they seem to miss the consumer and work to ensure that they'll see us again in about half that time.

Learn more about Sherry Holetzky

Sherry Holetzky is a work at home mom and freelance writer. Married to her best friend, Sherry and her husband are raising their family in a quiet rural setting in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

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