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 we knew where to find the right products to get us there.
Load More Replies...I can still hear and feel the records tapping against each other as you file through them. Sigh.
Much better than the "death scroll" people are use to now on their phones.
Load More Replies...when I was 17 i worked next door to a record store . I would wander over to hang out with the guy in his 30's that worked there . When new music would come in he would put aside the cassette for me. My husband said the guy was hitting on you & you were too niave to notice. I think he was just into music & liked that I was too
Meh. The amount of money you'd have to spend to buy all that is far more than $10/month.
Yeah, but at least you actually owned it. Not the case for digital subscriptions or even purchases.
Load More Replies...I totally get this, but at the same time the other day I thought how nice it was that I didn’t have to get in the car, drive to a store, or maybe two, to find a new song I’d heard but instead could just play it instantly on my phone.
But, it's nice to go out once in while, no?
Load More Replies...Istill have ll my records, I think the sound is better, brings back memories listening to them.
Oh God, how I miss this. I drove an hour to Stuttgart, to go to Lerche, a 4 story highrise - full of vinyl. Glorious.
So many times you could read all the lyrics on the album cover before deciding whether or not to buy it!
If anyone is visiting the Minneapolis/St.Paul MN metro area you gotta stop in at The Electric Fetus store in S.Minneapolis
There was just something about feeling the albums in your hands, scanning the titles, admiring the graphics, hearing music playing in the background. It was a submersive experience.
I loved record stores. I miss them. Tower, Strawberries, Musicsmith, Record Town, Virgin.....vinyl sounds so much better than any other format.
In high school, I received my first ever paycheck. I promptly spent it all on albums.
I loved how I could just name some random example bands, what mood or voice I prefered and the music dude would give me a stack of discs to listen to. 3/4 I would never have tried on my own , 1/2 or more I bought.
“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.
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
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