Antique items in Malaysia
For Malaysians, visiting our grandparents’ house in our hometowns, away from the city, often means family reunions and home-cooked meals. But if you have a sharp eye for old things, it also means trips down memory lane over the spectacle of antique Malaysian items left in a time-warp around the house.
Many of these antiques look completely different from their modern replacements, so we rounded up 30 antique Malaysian items and explain what they were used for.
1. Hair clippers
Image credit: Reddit
If you come across this item tucked away in a drawer, it’s likely the words “torture device” would’ve crossed your mind. But this harmless tool is actually just hair clippers, which was invented in the 1850s and used mostly in military camps, schools and prisons.
But ask anyone who got their hair cut with them and they’ll tell you that it often hurts when the blades get too close to their scalp.
They weren’t easy to use for those who knew how to work them either, as they are manual razors that were operated like scissors. So an arm workout was often needed to constantly squeeze the handles that moved the clippers at the head of the tool.
2. Roller skates
Image credit: Carousell
Think roller skates and stylish ones in white or retro shades of green and pink will be the first things that pop into our heads. But those who knew how to balance their 2 feet on roller skates during the early 60s would’ve owned these roller skates made of cast-iron, pictured above.
They look like torture devices as well, but made specifically for your feet. Instead of placing your feet directly on them, you had to keep shoes on and secure them in place with the laces and leather straps tightened around your toes and ankles.
3. Coconut grater
Image credit: Ando’s Woodworks, Electronics and Cellphone Parts Shop
Coconut is a popular ingredient in Malaysian cuisine, which is why it won’t be that difficult to find these coconut grater stools in households. While they look like ordinary wooden stools, the attached metal blade for grinding coconut at the head of the stool gives a different impression.
The idea behind this contraption is that whoever had to grind coconuts with the blade – which resembles a curved, ridged spoon – will get to rest their legs while taking on this laborious task.
4. Collectible milk can label
Image credit: Aibon Phuan
While you’ll still find condensed milk cans in stores today, you won’t see collectible images printed on the back of their labels – something old condensed milk cans used to have.
As milk powder formula wasn’t commonly sold in the 50s to 70s, condensed milk cans were a convenient alternative for those with little ones, with brands such as Nestle popular ones you’ll see in households. To make themselves stand out from the rest, Nestle Milkmaid printed collectible images and facts of animals and flora behind their aluminum-can labels.
There were even scrapbooks to keep all these collectible labels
Image credit: Carousell
These were considered Pokemon cards of the generation before us, as mums would buy these for their kids, who would then collect these labels and trade the ones they already had with their friends. Some didn’t have anything printed on them, so it was a game of luck when purchasing these tin cans.
5. Baby chair
Image credit: Flipping Table
The purpose of baby chairs hasn’t changed much – which is to keep young ones from crawling away during mealtimes and out of trouble.
But old-fashioned baby chairs made of bamboo common in Malaysian households had an extra function that set them apart from plastic ones we see today: they double as stools for adults.
Flip the chair over to turn it into a stool
Image credit: Carousell
This is why you’ll see on these baby chairs unusually long armrests, which act as stool legs when you tip it on its side. Some even dub it “mum’s chair”, and use it as side tables.
As they are made entirely of bamboo, hosing them down when they get dirty is really convenient.
6. Cigarette tin
Image credit: FindgLocal
Look behind the cashiers of convenience stores and mamak restaurants and you’ll see cigarettes sold in cardboard packs. But during the 50s, cigarettes used to be packaged and sold in tin cans that made them look more like canned food than packs of cigarettes.
These cans would contain 50 cigarettes instead of the usual 20 we find in modern cigarette packs, and sans the mandatory health warning labels that we are used to seeing today. Popular brands included State Express 555, a British cigarette brand established in 1896.
Image credit: Janet Cho
While you’ll often see international brand names on the labels, most of the cigarettes were actually manufactured here in Malaysia.
7. Clothing wringer
Image adapted from: Vintageholic Collectible Shop
The spin function on our washing machines helps speed up the drying process while we’re doing laundry. But as these machines weren’t commonly found in households until the mid-1900s, clothes wringers with 2 rollers were used to squeeze water from sopping, hand-washed clothes.
So while the machine looks like a cross between an ice kacang machine and a tool to flatten out pastry fondant, this wringer definitely didn’t belong in the kitchen. And young kids then probably didn’t find it as fun as it looked when they were forced by their mums to turn the wheel to operate the rollers.
8. Iron
Image adapted from: Lee Sun Ang
The irons we have nowadays come with plastic handles and aluminum bottoms, and nifty functions such as the safety auto-off feature. But back in our grandparents’ times, irons were made out of, well, cast iron, and had to be filled with hot coals to press clothes.
Considering the material and coals, these manual tools were a lot heavier than the electric ones we are used to today. As there weren’t any adjustable heat settings – just a retractable top and a compartment to fill in with coals – the risk of burning clothes was never far off either.
9. Hand drill
Image credit: Popular Woodworking
Modern power-drills are handy tools boasting cordless options and different speed functions. Their traditional counterparts, however, required a little more effort to operate, as they were hand drills that had to be manually operated by turning a handle on its side.
You had to add oil too so the device stayed working and wasn’t creaking with every turn. They also only worked mostly for drilling holes into soft compound materials, which meant that anything else such as steel or metals needed a good bit of arm workout.
10. Egg basket
Image credit: Shen Ying
Most of us leave our store-bought eggs in the plastic cubbies in our fridge, or the containers they come packaged in. But you might have seen these vintage egg baskets made out of steel wires in your grandparents’ kitchen, usually holding eggs, and occasionally, onions and garlic.
These sturdy handcrafted baskets could be bought in stores back in the 60s, but are uncommon to find in stores now as eggs are now sold in cardboard trays that help keep them in place. It’s rare to find craftsmen who make these now – The Heritage Baskets is one of them.
11. Sewing machine
Image credit: Carousell
If you’re a child with a creative mind and have one of these bulky sewing machines at home, you might remember turning them into “racing cars” when your mum wasn’t busy mending clothes or whipping up a new piece of clothing.
This was possible because these sewing machines were free from electric wires and had manual features, including a foot treadle that’s connected to a flywheel, which looks just like the steering wheel of a car.
While you can’t find these in stores anymore, you will find them converted into side tables or decorative statement pieces by those who inherited them from their parents or grandparents.
12. Foldable ruler
Image credit: Vinterior.co
These nunchuck-like rulers are different from the usual stiff-straight yardsticks and metal rulers we are used to seeing. But ask around those who lived during your grandparents’ time and they’ll tell you how useful these foldable rulers, which can extend up to 3 feet or more depending on how many “folds” it has, are.
Image credit: Flash Back Alley
They are made entirely of wood, and can come folded in different ways. Besides the zigzag variants, there are those that fold into themselves too.
13. Nail puller
Image credit: Carousell
Antique hammers were mostly mallets, unlike modern ones that come with an attached claw head to pull nails out from an object. So the older generation had a separate tool known as a nail puller to serve the latter function.
These tools, which could extend up to 17 inches long, were used to open crate boxes too.
14. Lunch boxes
Image credit: Janet Cho
There wasn’t single-use plastic during our grandparents’ time. So if they wanted to taupau food, they’d bring along these distinctly shaped food carriers made of tin or aluminum.
The older ones had simple designs, while newer ones came in retro colours of green, blue, and yellow, but all with handles for easy carrying.
Now, many have repurposed these tin containers to store infused oils, such as lard or garlic oil for cooking, in their kitchens.
15. Dial telephones
Image credit: Carousell
Landline telephones are hard to find in Malaysian households as we now have the convenience of smartphones. But telephones with analogue rotary dials are even more alien to many who haven’t used them before.
The troublesome part of these phones, compared to our touchscreen keyboards, was the need to wind the dial for the number you want, and wait for it to return to its original position before you dial your next number.
A fun fact about these rotary dial phones: While they had numbers with corresponding letters, you won’t find the alphabets Q or Z on the dials. This is because each number was limited to 3 letters, and there weren’t enough numbers to fit all 26 letters as the number 1 did not correspond to any letters, and A started on 2.
16. Baby feeder
Image credit: Picclick
You’ll find these glass baby feeding bottles in households with concerns about hygiene. That’s because they had 2 openings that would be topped with teats, and the openings allowed the inside of the bottle to be easily cleaned after each use.
The glass material also made it easy to sterilise with boiling hot water. Although you can do the same with plastic milk bottles nowadays, the fact that it is made of glass removed any concerns about plastic leaching.
17. Wood planer
Image adapted from: Carousell
Called a wood planer, or kayu ketam – which literally means “crab block” because of how it looks – this was a tool popular among carpenters. They came equipped with handles and a blade for manually levelling out uneven surfaces of a plank of wood.
There were also different sizes available, with some small enough to fit in the palm of your hands. The reason why this might not seem recognisable is because modern electric versions of this look more like an iron. Nonetheless, you’ll still see these used by old-school carpenters.
18. Dressmaker scissors
Image credit: Janet Cho
If there’s someone in your extended family who had a knack for sewing, you’ll probably find more than one pair of antique scissors, also known as dressmaker shears, around the house.
Unlike the usual symmetric holes of typical scissors that we see today, these scissors were made specifically for sewing, so they had differently sized holes for handles. They are also heavy as they are made of iron, which helps cut straight lines in fabrics.
As their design has proven to be useful for homegrown dressmakers, you’ll still find scissors of this design in stores – but don’t expect them to go for as low prices as they once did.
19. Hand-carry luggage
Image credit: Carousell
Convenience is key when it comes to luggage, with spinner wheels and built-in combination locks being some of the functions we like them to have. Although old luggage used by our grandparents had no wheels on them, they were sturdy pieces, heavy even when empty.
While these briefcase-like luggage didn’t have combination locks, they did come with old-school built-in locks that had to be unlocked the traditional way – with keys.
20. Iron fan
Image credit: Janet Cho
Fan designs have hardly changed over the decades, but instead of the plastic ones we now have, antique ones were often made from cast iron, and from a particularly well-known brand, KDK.
Antique fans also only had speed controls, different from the multiple settings of swing and timers that we’re used to seeing in modern fans.
21. Weighing scale
Image credit: Carousell
Antique scales are nothing like their modern electric and digital counterparts. Made usually of wood and copper, they had to be manually operated with a stick and weighing bells.
They were usually found in markets and pharmacies, and their sticks could be as long as 5 feet. While clunky, they were useful and could be used to weigh things that were up to 3kg.
22. Badminton racket press
Image credit: Carousell
We usually store our badminton rackets in special, fabric bags made just for them to keep them from going out of shape. But back in the 60s when rackets couldn’t just be found in any hobby store, they used to come with something called a racket press.
These are essentially wood frame braces to keep your rackets from warping in storage. They were sturdy devices too, with some cases allowing you to just slip your rackets in and others having additional screws and springs for tighter compression.
23. Cabinet TVs
Image credit: Carousell
TV sets with built-in speakers aren’t a new concept. But in the 60s and 70s, these TV sets were bulky and heavy and had functions such as a radio and vinyl record player, besides the TV screen.
No table was needed to prop up these TV sets, as their size often meant they had to be set on the floor. But some models also came built-in with a cabinet, so it was considered more as a furniture piece than an appliance.
Talk to your grandparents about these sets and they’ll probably tell you that owning a TV set meant that you were well-off, and a popular kid in town because everyone would be swinging by your house to marvel at the screen.
24. Road tax badges
Image credit: Carousell
Modern-day motorcyclists have their road taxes printed out conveniently on a piece of paper – which you can opt to store in a case for safekeeping or just stash away in your wallet. But in the 60s, motorcycle road tax came printed and kept in a badge, which you had to attach to the front wheel of your motorcycle.
These badges could be disassembled and fixed back after you slide in your road tax.
Image adapted from: Shopee
25. Wooden clogs
Image adapted from: Carousell
These old red, wooden clogs were usually reserved for bathrooms. But both men and women often wear these shoes around their house and out in town too, because of how convenient they were.
Not every pair is the same, as the women’s version sported an hourglass shape, while men’s were more rectangular and oval in shape. But both versions have no left or right side – unlike modern day slippers.
When worn around, these clogs make a distinct, loud click-clock sound, as the base of these shoes are made of solid wood. There’s a simple red plastic strap to keep your feet in place and prevent the wearer from slipping on wet surfaces.
Nowadays, you can find them sold at souvenir shops in heritage towns such as Melaka, but back when these were in fashion, these shoes were often included as part of a woman’s dowry.
26. Baby stroller
Image credit: Carousell
These were antique prams from the 60s that looked much like our grandparents’ foldable lawn chairs. There wasn’t any shelter to protect the younger ones from the sun’s rays, but because the seat was made of vinyl cords, it was actually pretty airy for the little ones.
You’ll find that it looks like a high chair too, but with wheels and a handle to push it around. If your grandparents happened to have the most up-to-date prams, those would have come with colourful abacus beads for kids to fiddle with.
27. Lorry badges
Image credit: Benny CK LI
Anyone who drove larger vehicles, such as buses, lorries, and vans, had to have one of these lorry badges. They acted like a license permit for larger vehicles. Those who drove cars for work, such as taxi drivers and anyone who had a company car, had to have one of these badges too. You’ll typically find them pinned to drivers’ uniforms or clothes.
28. Wooden bench
Image credit: Carousell
Your parents might have told you how they used to take naps on these benches – which seems like an alien concept to us, as we all have fluffy couches to crash on today. While we still have wooden benches to buy from IKEA and furniture shops, the special part about these antique wooden benches is that they are put together without any nails or supporting spines.
There are shorter stool versions of them too. And take a look under them and you’ll probably find the stamp of the wood craftsman who took the time to smoothen and hammer all the pieces together too.
29. Paper cutter
To work these paper cutters, simply press the guillotine blade down on papers.
Image credit: Wikiwand
These aren’t guillotine tools – although they sure look like one. They are paper cutters, and are in fact sometimes called paper guillotines.
You’ll likely still see these paper cutters used in offices that often deal with loads of paper, but back then, they came in portable sizes for household use too. Grandparents who are particular about getting papers cut neatly and with straight edges have these tools at home.
30. Egg beater
Image credit: Carousell
Modern whisks haven’t strayed too far off the designs of antique egg beaters. But to some, the latter’s tornado-like shape might resemble mosquito coils Malaysians are familiar with instead of a whisk.
These old-school ones did their job well too, and were popular among bakeries and bakers as their sturdy steel coils could handle heavy batters better.
Antique Malaysian items
While technology has made our lives simpler, these antique items that Malaysians will most likely see in their grandparents’ homes are worth knowing about. So even with more gadgets popping up that’s allowing us to live more conveniently, it’s always nice to look back and see how things once were and appreciate how far we’ve come.
For more trips down memory lane, check out our other articles:
- 30 childhood memories every M’sian millennial had while growing up
- 30 childhood snacks M’sians loved as a kid but forgotten
- 11 everyday mysteries in Malaysia you never bothered to Google to find out why
Cover image adapted from: Reddit, Carousell & Vintageholic Collectible Shop
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