It’s not uncommon for certain sights, smells or sounds to hit one right in the feels and flood the entire nervous system with nostalgia. And while the things that might evoke such a reaction differ from person to person, the feeling itself is a rather universal one.
That’s why many people can relate to said feeling, which often encourages them to seek those who do, too. Cue online groups and communities. Today we want to shed light on the ‘Right In The Childhood’ Facebook group, sharing—yup, you guessed it—nostalgia triggers intended to take people on a journey through time, right back to their childhood. Scroll down to find some of their posts on the list below and see if they can take you back in time, too.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with a Professor of Psychology at Stetson University, Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., who was kind enough to share his insight on the topic.
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“If you want to feel a pang of nostalgia at the center of your core, look no further,” reads the description of the ‘Right In The Childhood’ Facebook page. And indeed, for many people, the posts they share work like magic when it comes to evoking nostalgia; started back in 2020, the page has already amassed over 86K followers seeking such a feeling.
“Nostalgia seems to help root us in a sense of ourselves and our own history. We get a fuller sense of who we are today by understanding where we have come from,” professor of psychology at Stetson University, Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., told Bored Panda in a recent interview.
“For that reason, people can sometimes feel a sense of nostalgia even for experiences or places that weren't entirely positive. In a sense, it is the earlier self that we miss, not necessarily the place or the event.”
Expanding on the thought that nostalgia can sometimes correlate to experiences one wouldn’t consider positive, Prof. Ferguson pointed out that it might have something to do with a phenomenon known as ‘nostalgia bias’.
“Our memories are far from reliable and we may have a tendency to remember only parts of our past that fit whatever narrative we have about it,” he explained. “For instance, we may remember the times of our youth as having been far better than they actually were, and this can cause us to judge the present more harshly. You can see this in various memes expressing that the 1950s were a ‘simpler time’ where everyone lived happily, forgetting that the 1950s were marked by everything from polio to segregation.”
Despite the nostalgia bias, the feeling that makes one want to turn back the hands of time is in most cases a fairly pleasant experience, Dr. Ferguson says; unless one is comparing a beloved past against a disliked present, of course.
“Generally, it is a way for us to connect with our past and give us a sense of continuity over time. Rather than merely living in the moment, it places us in the historical arc of our own life, creating narrative and a life trajectory.”
Wish I had those helmets so my dad couldn't thump me for giggling in church.
Those prone to feeling nostalgic know that sometimes, the sentiment arises over things or occurrences we didn’t even get to experience firsthand, such as a popular video game we never owned ourselves or a TV show we never really got to watching, despite it being the craze at a certain time.
According to Ferguson, it happens because in most such cases, there is some associative relationship between the stimuli and the time period in question. “The thing may look or feel, or show examples of things we remember from the time period or be associated with someone else we knew then who did have that experience. As with all memories, nostalgic ones can find themselves in associative networks.”
While such things as video games or TV shows that were popular at a certain time are common nostalgia triggers, there are way more than two that can make one reminisce over the good old days.
According to a GWI survey of netizens aged 16 to 64 who feel nostalgic about the media, movies are the main trigger of nostalgia, followed by music, TV shows, photographs, books and magazines, video games, advertisements, and radio respectively.
Nope, Boomers had the chair arm/desk combo made out of military grade steel, with bomb proof book storage under the seat. It was also used for auditory torture by the shrill sound of scooting it across the floor in your painted cinder block classroom from the 50s .
Load More Replies...sure, if the bomb is in another state, they will protect you
Load More Replies...Duck and Cover - also appropriate for severe weather emergencies. GEN-ers - how did we ever survive childhood?
Yeah, we had the duck and cover drills when I was an elementary school kid in the early 60s (Cuban Missile Crisis time...). Everyone now seems to think that people were taught that "hiding in the basement or under a desk would protect you from nuclear radiation, etc." Nope. We knew what the deal was - being down low helps keep more mass between you and the burst, and twelve half-thicknesses is sorta safe from radiation. But the REAL expectation here was to protect yourself against the blast wave bringing the building down on you. Like with standing in a doorway during an earthquake. First, keep yourself from getting crushed, and put as much *stuff* between yourself and the radiant source as possible. Worry about everything else later.
Mine was enclosed with a flip up desk top. Came with pencil holder not used for pencils but glorious glue gorges. - A Millennial
More BS. Not Gen-X. That was for the Silent Generation and the older Boomers. By the 1970s and 1980s, very few schools were actually doing the entire "duck and cover" thing.
I was taught this in the 80s. Not for bomb, but for earthquakes. Gen Xer here.
Load More Replies...As a Xennial in the UK we didn't have these "duck and cover" drills growing up. No natural disasters or bombs to worry about after the wars.
I'm gen z, and we still used these bad boys growing up!
Stop, drop, cover your head. It got really exciting during the Cuban missle crisis.
My school has bomb drills, earthquake drills, flood drills, air raid drills, lockdown drills, etc. We haven’t done a bomb or air raid one yet though.
Here we go again. Another round of comments from People Who Do Not Understand That Duck And Cover Actually Would Have Beneficial, And Was Not Just Some Dopey Gimmick To Make People Feel Like They Were Doing Something.
Discussing nostalgia triggers, Prof. Ferguson suggested that for some people, aging often works like one. “Nostalgia appears more common among older adults; of course, they also have more to be nostalgic about.
“It can also occur with significant life change. For instance, both the birth of children and the death of parents may cause people to feel nostalgic about their own childhoods.
“Perhaps our childhood community has undergone significant changes, such that it no longer resembles what we remember from our youth,” the expert continued. “This can give us a sense of the world more or less slipping away from us. We seem to like to think of the universe as being fairly static, and as it moves away from that, it can remind us of our own mortality. Memories of the past can, as such, be soothing.”
If you enjoy immersing yourself in nostalgia and are on the lookout for more triggers to do so, Bored Panda has you covered; once you’re done browsing the images on this list, feel free to continue to this one or this one next.
pull the button out and push it back in to save the station on that button
Obviously you've never tried getting through a busy airport, you gotta have the moves.
It was me. I have this. I also have one in the literal same style (probably by the same original artist) with two wolves XD They were both given to me (separately) as birthday gifts in my childhood.
I always liked when I was ready before my mom, because I would get to go back to sleep on the couch.
I think they probably just want appreciation and gratitude for all they've done
this is fake people, it's been going around for ages and been debunked a long time ago
Note: this post originally had 76 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I loved these! Even though I didn´t realize before that I am THAT old :-)
Me either. Now I feel I really am the old crazy cat lady.
Load More Replies...If this is the bar with which you measure BP, you are in for a lifetime of frustration. Me I'm just happy when the posts are happy, or at least evenhandedly depressing :-D
Load More Replies...I loved these! Even though I didn´t realize before that I am THAT old :-)
Me either. Now I feel I really am the old crazy cat lady.
Load More Replies...If this is the bar with which you measure BP, you are in for a lifetime of frustration. Me I'm just happy when the posts are happy, or at least evenhandedly depressing :-D
Load More Replies...