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We take for granted certain items that are part of our daily lives because they have been around since we were kids. We shouldn’t because if we didn’t have them, what would we use instead?

Here’s a recognition of eight items that are consistently relevant, work perfectly, and are unlikely to find a replacement in our homes, much less our hearts. BAKING SODA The German

pharmacist Valentin Rose discovered sodium bicarbonate in 1801. In 1846, American bakers John Dwight and Austin Church established the first U.S. factory to produce baking soda from sodium

carbonate and carbon dioxide. How can you not love this inexpensive miracle product in the yellow box? It can be used to leaven bread and cookies, tenderize meat, polish silver, remove

splinters, irrigate our sinuses, combat body odor, make refrigerators smell better, relieve itchy bug bites and sunburn and remove tough stains. It is also used as a mouthwash and teeth

whitener, pesticide remover for fruits and vegetables, oil and grease fire extinguisher, weed killer, shoe deodorizer and canker sore soother. Is there anything else in the world that can do

all that? I don’t think so. _You can subscribe here to AARP Experience Counts, a free e-newsletter published twice a month. If you have feedback or a story idea then please contact us

here._ VASELINE Patented in 1865 by chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough, petroleum jelly, originally a byproduct from petroleum fields, is best known as a go-to moisturizer for every body

part and a burn and scar healer. Chesebrough started the brand name Vaseline in 1870. By 1875, Americans were buying Vaseline at the rate of a jar a minute. Sure, there are other petroleum

jellies, but Vaseline’s triple-purified mixture of mineral oils and waxes is the genericide, the brand name everyone uses to describe the product. THE BLENDER In 1922, Stephen Poplavski

wired small spinning blades to an electric motor in a clear glass container to make the newly popular malted milkshakes. We still use the simple blender to make soups, sauces, bread crumbs,

purees, smoothies, specialty coffees, cocktails and milkshakes. Whichever brand you use, you’ve got those blades at the bottom shredding up the good stuff.