History Main / SentimentalShabbiness

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''Literature/TheVelveteenRabbit'': All toys are [[LivingToy sentient]], but if someone loves a toy an awful lot, they're described as "real" ([[YouKeepUsingThatWord but they're still not a flesh-and-blood animal, and they were sentient before, so it's unknown which definition of "real" they're using]]) and shabbiness is often cited as a symptom of "reality".

* The children's picture book ''Turtle and Me'' by Robie H. Harris is about a boy who has a stuffed turtle he takes with himself everywhere and gets many stains and tears over the years as a result. When [[ADogNamedDog Turtle]] gets a really big rip as a result of the boy fighting over it with a playmate, the boy briefly decides he no longer wants the toy, but changes his mind.

* In the children's book ''Lucy's Lovey'', Lucy has a baby doll named "[[UnfortunateName Smelly Baby]]" initially because it's scented but then it starts to stink due to her excessive playing with it but that's seen as sweet and a sign she loves it and when someone washes it, she instantly dirties it again deliberately.

* BBC series ''Series/WhentheBoatComesIn'' has a Christmas episode where everybody has to do a turn and they cajole the local schoolmaster, who is higher-class than most of his uneducated listeners. He gives a treacly tear-jerking poem, about an old man forced to pawn his dead wife's battered old wedding ring, which they listen to in respectful but uncomfortable silence till the end. The hard-hearted pawnbroker is melted by the old man's regret, and gives him money for what is a worthless trinket. Closing words of the story: "And as the old man shuffled off, he could be heard to speak, 'Things are looking up,' he said 'That's the fourth one gone this week.' "

* BBC series ''Series/WhentheBoatComesIn'' has a Christmas episode where everybody has to do a turn and they cajole the local schoolmaster, who is higher-class than most of his uneducated listeners. He gives a treacly tear-jerking poem,about an old man forced to pawn his dead wife's battered old wedding ring, which they listen to in respectful but uncomfortable silence till the end. The hard-hearted pawnbroker is melted by the old man's regret, and gives him money for what is a worthless trinket. Closing words of the story: "And as the old man shuffled off, he could be heard to speak, 'Things are looking up,' he said 'That's the fourth one gone this week.' "

** In the later episodes, Chuckie has a worn-out teddy bear named Wawa, which was given to him by his deceased mother. He ends up distraught when his step-mom, Kira, tries to wash and fix him up. Luckily for Chuckie, Tommy's brother, Dill, had gotten his hands on Wawa and sort of returned him to his previous state.

* Sebastian Castellanos' dirty, well-worn NotSoBadassLongcoat in ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' was a gift from his missing but presumed-dead wife. Unfortunately, he loses the coat once the plot gets started, and between the events of the first game and [[VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2 its sequel]], it doesn't appear that he ever got the chance to recover it.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'': Played for laughs when Zoe shares a book she loves a lot but it's all tattered. Telly can't fathom the idea of something being tattered because someone loves it. It even has a ''bite mark'' suggesting she's had it long before she became literate.

* In ''Series/TheRealMccoys'' Grandpa is forced to give up his beloved if decrepit old jalopy, with all its memories. To his joy, it is returned, with the admonition from Pa not to tell Grandpa that the junkyard refused to take it.[[/folder]] 　

* In ''Series/TheRealMcCoys'' Grandpa is forced to give up his beloved if decrepit old jalopy, with all its memories. To his joy, it is returned, with the admonition from Pa not to tell Grandpa that the junkyard refused to take it.[[/folder]] 　

* BBC series ''Series/WhentheBoatComesIn'' has a Christmas episode where everybody has to do a turn and they cajole the local schoolmaster, who is higher-class than most of his uneducated listeners. He gives a treacly tear-jerking poem,about an old man forced to pawn his dead wife's battered old wedding ring, which they listen to in respectful but uncomfortable silence till the end. The hard-hearted pawnbroker is melted by the old man's regret, and gives him money for what is a worthless trinket. Closing words of the story: "And as the old man shuffled off, he could be heard to speak, 'Things are looking up,' he said 'That's the fourth one gone this week.' "[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* In the ''Music/BarenakedLadies'' song "The Old Apartment", the singer returns to the old apartment he used to share with his girlfriend, and laments that it's been fixed up since he moved out.
[[/folder]]

* Magrat's milk jug in ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'', which Granny magically teleports to directly above a bandit leader's head. When Hwel looks at the remains, he notices that it had already been smashed and glued back together several times, and concludes "Someone had really loved that jug". In the next scene, Magrat is still complaining that it was a present from her aunt and you just can't get ones like that any more.

A common way of playing out this trope is to have the object be replaced but the character wants the old one back ''because'' it's dirty and/or tattered and therefore has sentimental value, or because the new one is "too clean/perfect". Sometimes, the object is not replaced but rather cleaned or repaired and the character messes it up again because [[ILikedItBetterWhenItSucked they prefer the way it was before]]. These plots are common if the character is a small child or a dog (The dog part has a grain of TruthInTelevision-- dogs like objects that haven't been washed because they smell like whoever touched them last..).

* Magrat's milk jug in ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'', which Granny magically teleports to directly above a bandit leader's head. When Hwel looks at the remains, he notices that it had already been smashed and glued back together several times, and concludes "Someone had really loved that jug".

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Films- Animation]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

Lots of people have [[NumberOneDime this one item that they really only keep around for sentimental value]], or maybe it does have a purpose but the reason they don't use some other item is because of sentimental value. Sometimes this item is a bit worse for wear (perhaps it's dirty, stained, worn, broken, or a combination) but that's okay-- this trope is for when the wear and tear is seen as a sign that the thing's been loved.

* The children's picture book ''Turtle and Me'' by Robie H. Harris is about a boy who has a stuffed turtle he takes with himself everywhere and gets many stains and tears over the years as a result. When [[ADogNamedDogTurtle gets a really big rip as a result of the boy fighting over it with a playmate, the boy briefly decides he no longer wants the toy, but changes his mind.

!! Examples [[foldercontrol]]

* In ''Literature/CatchingFire'', Katniss keeps returning to the run-down old house she and her family used to share, even after her mom and sister have embraced their new home in the Victors' Village. She also finds their cat has stuck around the old house rather than following them. -- '''Is this an example? To be an example, the run-down-ness has to have sentimental value in itself or be said to be caused by love''''