Deep inside our brains is an ocean of memories, emotions, and feelings that can be unlocked by the correct application of sights, smells, and sounds. Without warning, the theme song of a childhood cartoon or the smell of that one aisle in the corner store by your house can teleport you to another time. It might feel like magic, but nostalgia is a very real phenomenon.
The “Nostalgia” Instagram account is pretty self-explanatory, showcasing content that should be like a healthy blast from the past, both funny and relatable. So prepare for a little trip in time, upvote the images that unlocked some memories, and share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Because nostalgia focuses so much on memories of how things used to be, both real and imagined, it’s important to keep track of what is a cherished memory and what is a specific, focused-tested set of concepts put together to evoke a specific memory. As cynical as it might seem, politicians, movements and advertisers are all wise to the idea of nostalgia as a method to manipulate people.
The “return to the good, old days” is a common promise for many politicians, and many products will try to associate themselves with potential consumers’ childhoods. Little reminders of childhood do often come with a comforting wave of emotions, just make sure that you don’t let people hijack it to sell you anything.
That being said, it is a real and verifiable fact that nostalgia can provide a good amount of comfort through times of sadness and uncertainty. Psychologists believe that in certain “doses,” it’s actually pretty important to our mental health. Think of it this way, when current circumstances don’t provide joy, your brain has this nifty little ability to just reach into the past and scoop up things that made you happy before. There might be diminishing returns, but hey, it’s a start.
To maintain the metaphor of nostalgia-as-medication, it is possible to “take” too much. After all, if you feel the past was too good, you might end up longing just to return instead of focusing on the present. The Germans, as always, have a term for this, called “Sehnsucht,” which you can now use as a complicated and pretentious way to talk about longing, desire, yearning, and craving.
I'm convinced that if you didn't, you didn't have a childhood. Change my mind.
The origin of “Sehnsucht” (capitalized because the Germans capitalize every noun) is “suffering,” which is ultimately what someone would probably feel if they have trapped themselves in the thought that things will never be as good as they used to be. However, some psychologists believe that over time, this emotion can help a person start to develop and plan out the steps to actually improve things.
Ah yes, the shin shredders. If your foot slipped off of one of those puppies, it was immediate blood and pain and bandaids and getting your leg doused in hydrogen peroxide and triple bac.
Once you realize the potential of tapping into the past to draft people’s emotions, you might start to see how it’s used everywhere. You might notice that the Instagram logo is, in fact, a drawing of a Polaroid, despite the fact that 99% of the userbase are probably using a smartphone. But somehow, an old camera seems more special and emotional than the many, smaller and often more powerful cameras we carry in our pockets every day.
And speaking of social media, you have probably seen how, for example, Meta products like Facebook and the aforementioned Instagram have “memory” functions that will randomly show you images from the past, normally on their one-year anniversary. This could of course be a bit misguided, as many people have documented randomly getting images from an illness or a breakup a year ago.
I still do this when I forget to bring along my cellphone to the toilet 😬
Other companies do their best to tap into this feeling as well. The Nokia 3310 phone was legendary for a variety of reasons, but it seems its reputation for being indestructible goes beyond the physical, as the company relaunched it in 2017. The phone seems like stone-age technology compared to any random smartphone from the last few years, but people do want to relive that two-tone snake game and the feeling of pressing some buttons.
Not a 90s kid, but I still had to learn this. I barely know my times tabels but I do know how to play 'hot cross buns' on the recorder 😁
The metal one at my elementary school had a 2 foot drop at the end. It was very dangerous, but so much fun! (Very few burns because of catholic school dress code)
Those plastic jugs of brightly colored sugar water! I never saw them in anyone's home - they only showed up at school or parties.
“Stranger Things” is another case-in-point, where much of the appeal is an idealized image of the 80s, alongside many of the tropes and cliches of 80s children's movies, such as the iconic “ET.” The show was a brilliant move by Netflix, as it managed to both attract gen x viewers who wanted to relive a past era while simultaneously creating nostalgia among younger viewers, a sort of self-perpetuating false memory of the past.
Some specialists have started to develop a concept of “forestalgia,” which is a sort of hopeful belief that in some imagined future, many things will be better. While an idealized future has existed for centuries, the advent of science fiction has created multiple generations who actively think about what the next few decades will bring.
In the UK we just call it writing as we have an education system.
On behalf of the USA...you didn't need to burn us that hard!!🤣😭
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It’s much quicker than printing, I hate forms that insist on printing, it takes flaming ages 😠
Or 'Block Capitals'. I promise my block capitals are not any easier to read than just simply writing it clearly!!
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Story on the internet lately..... A secretary called an older employee into her office to try to translate a letter that was in a "foreign language"....... it was written in cursive... (facepalm)🤦♂️
I use this now to leave secret messages for my wife because the kids can't read it lol
Interesting to see that especially the capital cursive letters seem to be different from the ones I was taught. Country difference or time difference? Here's our version https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/328199891599654356/
In Australia is different depending on what State you are in
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Cursive is simply becoming outdated. I don't think it should be mandatory. Is it cool to learn? Yeah. But it shouldn't be mandatory. Print is better for many reasons and is the standard in todays world
We could get our 'pen license' after learning running writing in australia
It still is. I don't know why some people insist that it isn't taught.
2018 was the last year in Switzerland that I learned to write in cursive (2nd grade)
How many years did it take you to learn to write?
Load More Replies... I was born in 1994, I think my 3rd grade class was the last year they taught this in school where I live
That's a different cursive than I was taught. We had more "loops" on letters.
My cursive leaned to the left, not the right. I almost had to go into Special Ed. because of it. I'm an engineer now.
I HATE that children are no longer being taught cursive. The process built muscle memory, coordination etc along with pretty handwriting.
I think it still should be mandatory. I remember one year in elementary we had to use handwriting the entire year, we could not print.
The three R’s of education are reading, writing(w was silent) and ‘rithmatic.🤭
The last year I was in a school with cursive classes was sixth grade. I got a D-...
One day I think I will be hired as a cursive writing interpreter.
my gen Z children know cursive. so there's that. do we win a prize or something?
They literally only taught my son how to sign his name. The only cursive he can write is his name. He doesn't even want to learn more
Burnt into my brain. When I showed my daughter she thought I was making it up.
Cursive is the only writing I do that's remotely legible. My printing is indecipherable.
I loved learning this in second grade. That was before there was electricity.
Or, we could use the time spent to teach something useful!
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Learning English in 75 with books dating from a few years back was rather confusing when dealing with money: farthings, guinea, sovereigns ...
My personal belief is that they are keeping future generations from learning cursive, so they won't know how to read the Declaration of Independance or The Bill of Rights. If you don't know your rights, you won't have any.
Better learn how to authenticate artifacts, too. Because unless you're looking at the originals, they're no less likely to have convenient edits than the many online resources that allow us to read them in a modern font.
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My son taught himself to do it. Makes me happy. I always write cursive! Now he can too!
Late 2000's kid here. My private school made us learn this, too. I just finished my first year in public school and shocked that they didn't care if we wrote in print or cursive, and most people were amazed that I could write in cursive. Definitely had a reality check right then 😂
Who knew penmanship would spark another revolutionary war! Y’all. We can all be proud of our countries and not denigrate others. It’s true! We can also like to learn about other countries. We can also dispel myths, if we want to be open to facts. For example: 1. I am 52, American (native, even!) and have never eaten cheese from a can. 2. McDonalds is global. We do not eat here exclusively. We make roasts and chicken and fish. It’s crazy, I know! 3. I had a type, delete moment so I will leave my list at 2.
Homeschooler here and made my kids learn it! I cannot understand why it isn't taught. Then again, I now live in a country where some states are teaching kids that slaves were taught "useful skills." God bless Amerikkka. /s
It's sad that usa schools don't even teach cursive anymore. They don't have 'time' because of all the standardized testing they must 'teach to.' Sad. Pathetic. Getting worse... and now school boards are banning books that even mention people who are LGBTQIA+. I never thought I'd have to protest against book banning in a country who has a first amendment dedicated to the idea of 'free speech'. Smh
My hand printing and especially in cursive is terrible. That is why I prefer print. I know it takes longer.
i just talked to my aunt about this..... my now 14-year-old cuz didn't know how to write it cause they never taught her or her brothers, and apparently hey don't teach it anymore cause computers can not read it and print is better, On that note I have been teaching them how too, cause Im not letting it die
I was surprised to learn that my step- daughters don't know how to write in cursive, they were never taught how in school.
That's the way my kid (and all of them) learn to write in Spain nowadays (since they're 4,5,6 years old...)
We had a whole 45 minutes dedicated each day in Catholic school dedicated to cursive writing...I must say at 55 I have beautiful handwriting in script....🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
If we suddenly required cursive writing and stick-shift cars, we could disable and entire generation, maybe two.
My normal handwriting is a mixture of cursive and printed letters. I think I started doing that in high school to keep up with note-taking in my AP classes. It's the fastest for me.
I gave a booklet to my kid because she wanted to learn it. The constitution is Incursive. Everyone should know it.
I remember being given a zero for assignments if I didnt write in cursive. My baby sister was in the last school year that required teaching cursive. Now they are making moves to make writing at all obsolete in schools, thanks to every student kindergarten and up having a tablet or laptop or chromebook (depending on the year and school district).
This is exactly the cursive I learned in the 90's, but I had to teach myself old cursive because I hated this version. The older version is more pleasing to look at and makes more sense. Then, I saw the cursive version after this and hated it even more. The cursive has been "dumbed down" over the years to the point of non-existent. I'm now teaching myself shorthand.
I loved cursive, as we called it. I still don't understand why it isn't taught anymore.
I never understood why people make cursive such a big deal, turns out they consider basic handwritting cursive.
I made the tough decision to revert to printing when my colleagues told me my scrawl looked like a doctor's... not a compliment
I learned that, but switched back because my handwritting is too lousy for anyone else to recognize what I wrote
What is wrong with being able to write cursive? It's one of the things that give you finger dexterity.
It should still be a mandatory skill taught in school. Today’s children will never be able to read the declaration of independence in its original form nor will they be able to read letters written by their ancestors
I disagree. There's absolutely no need for it. Everything written in cursive can be transcribed for those who cannot read it. If someone wants to learn it, it should be an elective (or hobby) like calligraphy, but not mandatory.
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I have no kids, but was just stupid shocked when I learned that kids weren't learning cursive writing anymore. I remember my uncle telling me how much he loved learning the slide rule and how he felt sorry for me that I never learned it at all. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Not teaching the current generation cursive is cheating them from reading things such as the constitution. I do agree, that this absolute perfection, yell at the kid thing would have needed to go.
True story.....my wife had a secretary who could not read cursive. So, when my wife handed her notes, they had to be printed or she just sat there and stared at it. It is sad that this is today's generation.
I was ALWAYS taking pictures in high school with camera like this! Such good times! 🥺
I loved how the series got better with every episode. Not like most shows today
Sugar, spice, and everything nice These were the ingredients chosen To create the perfect little girl But Professor Utonium accidentally Added an extra ingredient to the concoction-- Chemical X Thus, The Powerpuff Girls were born Using their ultra-super powers Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup Have dedicated their lives to fighting crime And the forces of evil!
Note: this post originally had 137 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I'm going to buy BGT Malakai Bayho's new CD tomorrow; still love CD's and records. Tapes are to much faff.
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I'm not a 90s kid,but I was still able to relate to a few of these
Gen X from UK here could relate to a lot of that stuff; the rest reminded me of my kids childhood. Ps 1980 was 25 years ago OKAY
I haven't had this much fun reading BP in a long time. Laughed my butt off at the comments. This nostalgia is great stuff! After a while, I get sick of all the retaliation, boo-hoo and in-law stories.
Fanta or Jaffa (orange soda) for Finns. ✌️
Load More Replies... I knew most of these (South Africa). We had (have) a lot of american cultural influence.
I'm a late ish gen z kid and I understand a majority of this stuff, half of it because I went to a poorish, small, private Catholic school for 2-5, now 6-12 I'm in a richer public school, which was a culture shock on its own from the shared Chromebooks and the computer lab to having our own frickin frackin MacBooks.
I am not a 90s kid, I was born in 2001 but I still related to a bunch of these
At the end of the thread, you’ll find a very tiny “Note: this post originally had 137 images blah blah blah.” Click on the 137 and that’s it. It’s in every shortened post. Hope this gets upvoted so that many people can see it.
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This was one of the best meme feeds I have seen in a very long time. This made me very very happy although making me feel quite old. I will be sharing most of these photos
There’s an Alec Benjamin song, called 1994 (when he was born), that describes some of these things! (Also the early 2000s)
So 90s is now what 80s was when I was growing up; the cool period of time children wished they'd been born in. lmao
HA! I recall ACTUALLY threading the 16 mm Birns and Sawyer projectors in grade school. Absolutely LOVED it. (No, I wasn't a teacher's pet otherwise.) But am ever indebted and grateful for being able to do this.
They should make a „57 glorious 30’s memes that you might be too young for” list.
I'm going to buy BGT Malakai Bayho's new CD tomorrow; still love CD's and records. Tapes are to much faff.
Load More Replies... I'm not a 90s kid,but I was still able to relate to a few of these
Gen X from UK here could relate to a lot of that stuff; the rest reminded me of my kids childhood. Ps 1980 was 25 years ago OKAY
I haven't had this much fun reading BP in a long time. Laughed my butt off at the comments. This nostalgia is great stuff! After a while, I get sick of all the retaliation, boo-hoo and in-law stories.
Fanta or Jaffa (orange soda) for Finns. ✌️
Load More Replies... I knew most of these (South Africa). We had (have) a lot of american cultural influence.
I'm a late ish gen z kid and I understand a majority of this stuff, half of it because I went to a poorish, small, private Catholic school for 2-5, now 6-12 I'm in a richer public school, which was a culture shock on its own from the shared Chromebooks and the computer lab to having our own frickin frackin MacBooks.
I am not a 90s kid, I was born in 2001 but I still related to a bunch of these
At the end of the thread, you’ll find a very tiny “Note: this post originally had 137 images blah blah blah.” Click on the 137 and that’s it. It’s in every shortened post. Hope this gets upvoted so that many people can see it.
Load More Replies... This was one of the best meme feeds I have seen in a very long time. This made me very very happy although making me feel quite old. I will be sharing most of these photos
There’s an Alec Benjamin song, called 1994 (when he was born), that describes some of these things! (Also the early 2000s)
So 90s is now what 80s was when I was growing up; the cool period of time children wished they'd been born in. lmao
HA! I recall ACTUALLY threading the 16 mm Birns and Sawyer projectors in grade school. Absolutely LOVED it. (No, I wasn't a teacher's pet otherwise.) But am ever indebted and grateful for being able to do this.
They should make a „57 glorious 30’s memes that you might be too young for” list.
