What is the Weirdest Thing You've Inherited? The Most Useful ?(other than money?)

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ideapit@reddit

Alcoholism. Just objectively weird to be handed a disease pre-birth that makes you compelled to pound vodka until your brain stops working.

Useful? My dad's wedding ring. It reminds me of all the things I would never want to be.

Sorry for the bummer, y'all 🤣

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The most useful is an ice cream scoop from my mother. This scoop is well over 50 years old, made of solid steel (even the grip handle is steel, and it’s all one piece), and it has a lever on the side that you push to send a curved blade through the scoop bowl to separate the ice cream from the scoop. I am certain my daughter will one day inherit this.

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VincentVan_Dough@reddit

My husband’s grandmother’s couscoussier. It’s a deep pot (for the meat and veg) with a steamer basket on top (for the cous cous). Delicious perfection.

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DtchGrl@reddit

Most useful was a meat slicer that was older than me. I think it was from the 60s? Opa got it for Oma to slice her delicious corned beef for sandwiches. I used it to make jerky.

It died last year. RIP Henry (yes, I named it after my gran, Henrietta). I replaced it with a new one. Netta is great, but she's not the beast that ol' Henry was. She needs breaks after 10 minutes working.

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ChrisC1234@reddit

How did it die? Anything that old and well-built is probably repairable.

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Ok-Street7504@reddit

Tools, my father worked for Sears for a few years already had a large collection of tools ,only added to it.

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CrankyDoo@reddit

I have inherited tools both from my father and my brother. I always feel warm inside whenever I use them. I feel like I am remembering them and paying them homage.

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punkdrummer22@reddit

Have never inherited anything

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mushpanic@reddit

My selfish ass family didn’t leave me shit. They tried to give me a mounted deer head. (I have never hunted a day in my life and am mostly a vegetarian). My parents had me young so they will burn all of their money; which is fine. It’s theirs.

While my grandparents were alive they did pay for my college in the late 80’s 90’s so I never had student loans. That was my inheritance which was pretty useful. I think the total was $40k. (College used to be cheaper kids). They paid for my sisters too. But my lame ass cousins didn’t do shit so I guess they just gave them money to keep it even?

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veedublin@reddit

My father remarried when I was 12 and when he died (I was 50) his wife brought me a tennis ball pressurizer and one of those springy hand-grip exerciser thingies. That's it. (I'm assuming they were his.)

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CAWildKitty@reddit

Nice. My stepmother “gifted” me what looked like a handful of junk from their junk drawer. Sent it FedEx.

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SpankyDammit@reddit

A WWII Bayonet.

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Agent7619@reddit

For the last 15 years, I've been driving inherited vehicles. My wife and I joke that I drive "old dead guy trucks." It's been great not having payments.

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Impressive-Shame-525@reddit

Weirdest may even be the most useful.

A big ass monkey wrench, like 24 inches long.

I have used it way more than I thought I would.

Stuck bolt? I'll either loosen it or break it.

I've used it for actual pipe, too.

That trailer hitch ball nut that's always rusted on? Not with this big bastard. Looksome this one.

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The_Fugue@reddit

I have a couple of WW2 Japanese navy officers daggers I got off my gradfather. Not useful at all tbh.

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Bighorn_R_My_Jam@reddit

My brother’s prodigious porn collection … on VHS tapes. Not so much “inherited” as “absconded with.” He died young, and I had to get that out of his house before Mom found it. It literally filled up one entire dumpster at my apartment complex.

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Ok_Inflation_6992@reddit

That guy gooned

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Grace_DanielsWebster@reddit

A 18x20 wooden relief carving, painted, if my great/ grandfather’s schooner. The Eliza Jane. He sailed it out of Twillingate Newfoundland. It’s a treasure.

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Aggravating_Piece232@reddit

Most useful: my mom's collection of really nice Le Creuset and All Clad cookware. I use those every single day and, honestly, it was what made me tear up the most when my sister and I went through it because we cooked together with our mom so frequently.

There wasn't anything terribly weird, though I did find a giant bag of keys that didn't fit any locks in her condo, her older house, or anything else I was aware of, for that matter.

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Tectonic2026@reddit (OP)

I wrote about it if you’re interested: https://open.substack.com/pub/tectonic2026/p/too-much-stuff?r=7wml0r&utm_medium=ios

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rharper38@reddit

I inherited my gramma's Garfield collection. I've asked that my family not add to it.

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AZPeakBagger@reddit

Inheritance??? What's that? Boomer parents will leave me with zilch.

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elphaba00@reddit

My Boomer parents still haven't written a will. (My paternal grandmother didn't write one until a few days before she went into a coma.) I'm an only child, but I'm pretty sure everything will go to my kids. My mom once expressed that she'd like my son to get her house. I looked at her and asked why. She replied, "You've already got a house." Yeah, but I'd like a better one.

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mommacat94@reddit

This sounds exactly like my mom.

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AZPeakBagger@reddit

I'll be stuck with a mobile home in a decent 55+ community and a large collection of paperback books.

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elphaba00@reddit

In my grandma's original will, she had designated who gets what. I think my oldest aunt got the trailer in the 55+ community in Florida. My other aunt got a car, and my dad got a boat that had a leak. One of the smartest things they did was make a pact and just agree to sell everything and split it three ways. The second-smartest thing was making my oldest aunt in charge of splitting the money. Can't trust my other aunt.

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Bighorn_R_My_Jam@reddit

I can send you a bag of Beanie Babies, a box of Precious Moments, a box of Wedgewood, my and my brother’s baby clothes, 50 years of National Geographic’s (sorry, we never got Reader’s Digest). I already threw out about 20+ garbage bags of my brother’s VHS porn collection, but I still have the koteka.

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stuck_behind_a_truck@reddit

I love this tabletop. Someone actually carried this absolute unit as a souvenir for my husband’s grandparents. They asked for a generic “souvenir.” This person must have really liked them (also this is from a time when planes had full lounges).

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mommymomnyleebotts@reddit

A 2’ long dried gourd.

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Bighorn_R_My_Jam@reddit

I, too, inherited a koteka, supposedly an island inhabited by head hunters in Southeast Asia. Mine is about 12 inches, but I don’t know the size of the contents.

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tk42967@reddit

College text books from when I was a toddler that my mother kept for some reason.

Most useful: 2018 Honda CRV she bought new in 2018 and put less than 2,000 miles on in 4 years. It's a great little roller skate and my ex-wife was pissed when I filed and she didn't have a claim to a basically new car. 2nd most useful was the deep freezer my mother bought that my ex-wife thought she was entitled too. Not that I needed a 2nd deep freezer, but the joy of knowing it pisses my ex off and she couldn't do a thing about it.

There's a lot of things that my mother left that were mundane, but because she died after I filed. My ex had no claim to them and that ate her up.

Am I a horrible person for taking pleasure in that?

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NPC261939@reddit

Nothing wrong with that at all. I miss my CRV. It was probably the best car I ever owned.

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NPC261939@reddit

A deer leg lamp.

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Bighorn_R_My_Jam@reddit

THE Most Useful thing you will probably ever inherit. Just brightens up all the dark spaces.

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NPC261939@reddit

It was supposed to be a matching pair, unfortunately the last deer my great grandfather killed only had three legs.

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Pristine_Giraffe7941@reddit

My uncle made this ship masterpiece in the late 70's/early 80's and it now proudly resides in my home.

It's truly a thing of beauty that will become my son's when we are gone.

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jax2love@reddit

This is nothing short of amazing 😂

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Pristine_Giraffe7941@reddit

You should see the painting of the naked lady that my husband's grandmas painted. It is also in my house. No one in our family appreciates this wonderful art. Lol

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MovingTarget-@reddit

I teared up a bit. Truly incredible

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MovingTarget-@reddit

I teared up a bit. Truly incredible

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Beneficial-You3416@reddit

I inherited a set of china from my grandma. Of course no one uses china anymore or even has a place to store it. It’s still sitting in its box.

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lrp347@reddit

A bottle of moonshine my grandfather and my uncle made in the 20s. My dad kept everything.

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AdditionalTip865@reddit

The most useful was a pair of World War II binoculars that I inherited from my grandfather. I still have them.

I think he got them after the war at a surplus store or something, because they're stamped Navy and he was Army.

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SereniteeF@reddit

Nothing particularly weird. But most useful: a jar opener. It’s kind of like a wrench with multi areas and I have yet to find a jar or bottle it won’t open from soy sauce to large mayo. I’ve always had a weak grip, it’s amazing.

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Thoughtful_giant13@reddit

A seven foot floor-standing lamp shaped like a naked Greek Goddess. I love it.

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misttan@reddit

A parakeet, she was pretty cool though

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EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit

It wasn’t mine but my ex inherited a bear skin from his grandad, who killed it on his property.

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Flat_6_Theory@reddit

Clay pot that contained the ashes of a deceased dog.

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MovingTarget-@reddit

My mom is still around so nothing yet. But honestly, I'd prefer she just spend the money on herself and enjoy her golden years. She's still in great shape.

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dave-rooney-ca@reddit

My great uncle was a quartermaster in the Canadian Army in WWII. I ended up with this "Mill's Bomb", aka a British hand grenade. It's a training round that has no fuse or explosive filling, but is otherwise fully functional. It's certainly useful for starting conversations 😀

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Tom_Slick_Racer@reddit

I inherited a desk that was built for my great great grandfather when he got married in 1885. Solid oak and I love it. Value wise probably pretty low, but the fact it has been in the family for nearly 150 years is just cool to me.

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trUth_b0mbs@reddit

best: my dad's vintage Rolex...it's older than I am and I love it.

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filburt99@reddit

Found in a junk drawer while cleaning out my father's condo. Two teeth attached to a dental bridge made out of gold and it was not his. Got $140 for it at a scrap gold dealer

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NoMayoForReal@reddit

My husband inherited a small decorative glass shoe from a collection of similar shoes from his great grandmother.

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twick2010@reddit

I have three generations of Stanley ball peen hammers. Pretty useful, but really only needed one.

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PurplePenguinCat@reddit

When my grandmother died, someone tried to give me her open lube. 🤢🤢

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

You had a freaky grandmother or is my mind just in the gutter?

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PurplePenguinCat@reddit

It was for a medical condition, but even so, 😝.

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paciolionthegulf@reddit

My mother has been slowing cleaning out the house since dad died almost 20 years ago. That pace allows time to find the right spot to donate the left-hand golf clubs for a very tall person and similar harder-to-place items. On one clear-out I got a replica stock certificate in a Lucite paperweight, about 4" x 8", and it has been so useful for craft projects where I need something to dry flat.

The stock itself was a disappointment, tanking in the 2001 dot-com bubble.

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forgeblast@reddit

Father remarried and told me there was nothing here for you. I'm leaving everything to her and her family. So I guess my Inheritance would be resentment.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

When I get something I will let you know.

however I do know that in my In Laws will my wife and I will be getting some farm land. We are not farmers and this land is about 2+ hours away from where we live. So basically is is money.

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Inthetrunk23@reddit

14 inch cast iron skillet

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burtenotbert@reddit

A chest that looked like a treasure chest. Unfortunately, it got destroyed in a flood