Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community what the coolest thing they'd ever inherited was. Here are some of the most fascinating, heartwarming, and meaningful responses:
1. Cigarettes from all of Grandma's past lovers.
2. An Apollo contribution token.
3. A high school yearbook.
4. A cookie jar.
"A cookie jar. It may seem trivial, but my grandma always had freshly baked cookies in the jar whenever we went to visit. When she got older and could no longer bake, she would still make sure it was always stocked with fresh store-bought cookies for our visits. She passed away in March, and now it means even more to me."
5. A sheriff's badge.
6. A brain in a jar.
"My grandpa was a human anatomy and physiology professor, and he gave me a brain in a jar."
8. A raincoat.
"My grandpa gave me a raincoat belonging to another American back in World War II. The story goes that this guy tried to escape from the jail my grandpa was in charge of, and my grandpa went after him, grabbed him by the back of this raincoat, and dragged him back to jail. In true form, my grandpa kept the raincoat as a souvenir."
9. Cookbooks from the Great Depression.
10. A 4-foot-tall stuffed Santa.
"My grandma won him in a bingo game in the '60s and got really pissed off that she didn’t get any money, so she was determined to 'get her money' out of the Santa. Anytime someone new came over, she would haul that thing out like a grandchild to show them — even if it wasn’t Christmas — and complain about how they took her money, even though she still played bingo religiously on Wednesday nights until she died. For some reason, I absolutely loved it from the time I was a kid. I spent many years hoping to get the big Santa one day. She gave it to me as a wedding present before she died. The card said, 'He’s your problem now. I still want my money.' She was a hoot. He comes out right after Halloween, and now my little one loves him!"
11. A ball of yarn.
12. A stuntman jacket.
13. A piano.
"I inherited my great-grandmother's piano. She put herself through music school in the early 1900s, played for the local movie theater, and gave piano lessons. She saved and saved to buy her own piano and eventually passed it down to my grandfather, who then passed it down to me."
14. An ivy cutting.
15. Knitting needles.
"My great-grandmother, who lived to be 102, gave me her knitting needles. She taught me how to knit one summer, and I still use them today."
16. A tightrope walker's traveling chest.
17. A postcard.
"My grandmother always used to tell a story of how she and her best girlfriends traveled around Europe in the early '50s. A few years ago, she found the postcard she sent home to her parents talking about how much she was enjoying Rome. She passed it along to me, knowing how much I loved hearing her stories."
18. A four-leaf clover.
19. Clothes made from parachutes of World War II UK soldiers.
"My grandma left us the dresses and other clothes she made out of parachutes that UK soldiers used to land near her farm in the countryside. This was during La Résistance (I'm French) during World War II."
20. A novel transcript.
21. A cedar chest.
"My maternal great-grandfather handmade a cedar chest from a tree on his family's farm in Tennessee. It's passed down to the oldest in each generation."
22. Old classics with a surprise handwritten note.
23. A newspaper reporting Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
"My ancestor saved a newspaper reporting Lincoln's assassination in 1865. The two most interesting things about it are there are no pictures, and it's dated about two weeks after the assassination in DC because word traveled much slower back then."
25. A ring.
26. A trunk.
"I was given my great-great-grandmother's trunk that carried all of her belongings when she immigrated to the US from Ireland. The inside lid is covered in pasted-on newspapers, the oldest dated 1910."
27. An attestation paper.
28. A letter from Winston Churchill.
"About 100 years ago, my great-great-grandfather wrote a book on his war theory. While he was technically right, we wouldn't know that until almost 50 years later. He sent a copy of the book to Winston Churchill, who wrote him a letter back that very politely called him a moron. It's framed and currently hangs in my grandmother's hallway. I've not inherited it yet, but I'm trying to convince her to give it to me because it's hilarious."
29. A painting.
30. Earrings from a Holocaust survivor.
31. A Bible.
"I inherited a beautiful illustrated Bible from my ancestors who immigrated to the US from Ireland in the 1800s. It has our family tree written in the front cover."
32. A camera.
33. A hand-drawn portrait.
34. A bridal wreath.
"I have my great-great-grandmother's bridal wreath. My great-great-grandfather had it made for her during the last voyage he took before they were married in the late 19th century. It's made of hundreds of little shells carefully wired together to looks like a crown of flowers. It's been handed down along with a note she wrote about how he brought it back from 'the South Seas' for her."
35. A locket.
36. A charm bracelet.
37. A baptism gown.
38. A Civil War field amputation kit.
"My paternal line of grandfathers have been doctors for generations — we can trace back to the 1600s, even. My father has my great-great- (so on) grandfather's Civil War field amputation kit. It's a gorgeous wooden box with gold corners and lock. The kit has a handsaw, thumb tourniquet, and other medical tools. What blows my mind is that they all have wooden handles. This was before the world figured out that germs could hide in porous material."
39. Great-Grandma's wedding pearls.
40. Over 30 vintage Chanel pieces.
"My aunt used to work for Chanel (and Gucci and Ferragamo) before she passed. Between her and my grandmother (her mother), I have over 30 vintage Chanel pieces, including shoes, jewelry, clothing, and purses. I’m incredibly blessed to have had these fashionistas in my life, and I feel connected to them when I wear their items. I could never sell them; they're priceless."
41. Old Life magazines.
43. A 110-year-old Bible.
45. A jewelry box.
46. A quilt.
47. A refrigerator magnet.
48. And finally, love letters.
"When my grandpa passed, we found a bunch of old letters in his nightstand. The best ones were to my grandma, addressed to 'My Darling' and signed, 'It was always you.'"
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.