Nostalgia, as we all know very well, is a powerful and bittersweet emotion. It's like a time-machine that brings us back to simpler times. And so, perhaps no group is as vocal about their sentiments towards nostalgia as those who grew up in the '80s, '90s, and early noughties.
From memories of the iconic Walkman CD players that didn't fit into any pocket to the legendary Tamagotchis that we lovingly cared for (but occasionally forgot to feed), many of these relics are hard to come by today. If you listen carefully, you can still hear the 1991 Sonic "Segaaa" soundbite in your head. It's a good thing then, that online communities such as 'The Nostalgic 80s, 90s & 2000s', step in with nostalgia-fueled memes as a way of keeping these memories alive. So scroll down and see which retro-nostalgic memes we handpicked for your journey down memory lane today.
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Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Nostalgia and memes. If you're like us, these two things go so well together that you can't help but let yourself indulge in memes from the eras we miss so much. Whether it's reminiscing about the sweet sounds of dial-up Internet, the TV shows we used to be obsessed about, or the fashion we used to rock - having a little laugh about how cringe everything was is a rare joy.
Then again, why do we love nostalgia so damn much? Well, for one, it gives us a sense of belonging. When we make fun of cringy things from our childhood or teenage years - those baggy shorts, my god - we are tapping into a shared cultural experience that connects us to others who grew up in the same era. It's a way of feeling like we're part of something bigger than ourselves. It's a way to collectively pick on "MTV" for showing how great and punk-rock a TV channel can be and then suddenly turning its back on us.
Twin brothers were born in an American family in 1978. The brother, who was five minutes older, had a healthy heart, and the younger one also suffered from cardiomyopathy and cerebral palsy. However, this tragic circumstance only brought the boys closer. The "older" brother always took care of the "younger", helped him, motivated him. And even when a sick boy at the age of 13 needed the heart of a voluntary donor, a healthier brother wanted to commit suicide so that his heart could be transplanted to his brother. The vital organ was found on time, and the "older" boy went to the studies of a biochemical engineer after school to invent a cure for the disease for his brother and other people. But fate determined otherwise. He became an actor and even a Hollywood star. And the younger brother became a lawyer who defends the rights of children with cerebral palsy. Today, Ashton and Michael Kutcher are active in charity work together.
The '90s, for example, were a time when access to pop culture was limited, making everything feel more valuable and exciting. Unlike today, where you can binge-watch a series in a few days and stream music instantly, you had to wait and work for it back then. Missing an episode of your favorite TV show was a disaster of the highest scale, and you'd spend the whole week obsessing over it until the next one came out.
On the other hand, this '80s, '90s & 2000s nostalgia can be cringeworthy for the current generation. Looking back, it's easy to see how inconvenient and frustrating it was to have to wait so darn long for entertainment. It's hard to imagine being excited about listening to a song on a tape that you'd recorded off the radio, or having to quote movie lines from memory because you didn't have access to it whenever you wanted. In other words, the perfect fodder for memes.
As someone who has struggled with addiction, RDJ is proof that we can come out on the other side. I’ll be happy with just surviving and being happy, though, I don’t need to become a movie star XD
In order to understand better what makes communities like 'The Nostalgic 80s, 90s & 2000s' tick, Bored Panda reached out to the page's moderators who were kind enough to give us some answers. "We created the page to recreate those lost times," we were told in an email by one of the group's several moderators who all come from the '90s.
I refuse to acknowledge there is any other scooby Doo. The original series is the only series
Besides trying to meme some of their most beloved childhood memories, the founders of the page, who are also responsible for the 'Like 'siriusly'' page with more than 200,000 followers, wanted to make a community of like-minded individuals who enjoy looking at nostalgia with humor. "And it totally worked out. It's a delightful experience to moderate a page that brings out vintage experiences and memories from childhood. Each and every meme is related to our [personal] childhood in one way or another."
Dementia of all types is a cruel and heart breaking disease. I wish only the best for him and his family.
Of course, moderating a page with almost 700,000 followers and memes flowing in each day is not an easy task - especially considering how nitpicky Facebook can get. "We make sure that [our memes] are what the members are expecting to witness in the group before giving approval to each and every post," the representative of 'The Nostalgic 80s, 90s & 2000s' explained.
"Anything against the rules," like 'Post in English only' (rule number 5), "will be taken down." Just in the last month, the group's moderators have successfully enriched their already stunning collection of nostalgic memes with over 1,600 posts. We can't help but wonder how many of them didn't make it to the cutting room.
Hell, I named our family business after something out of Spaceballs (my favorite movie.) 20 years later, my family STILL has no idea our business name is a Spaceballs reference XD
Isn't it funny how they developed every logo and yet the saving icon is still a diskette
Yep. I spent most of my childhood in the backyard with my dogs, playing in the dirt, digging for bugs and roly-polies, and catching lizards. And I’m female XD
Being female should have nothing to do with it. Playing in the dirt is good for the immune system and no child should be discouraged from it based on gender roles.
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Same, plus crawdads and baby snapping turtles, little snakes by the creek. Now all the creeks and rivers are too polluted for any of that : (
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Had a sand pit, but the caveat was that it was filled with builders sand (thanks Dad) cut your hands to shreds!
Nah - I’m inside doing craft with Clag glue and old computer paper with holes on the sides.
I b thgirl rolling up w my Malibu Barbie Beach Bus, w pale Sweet 16 Barbie, suntanned Malibu Ken, n Growing Up Skipper!
Same! Always kept then for a few days then released them.
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Best protection against viral nasties.. nowadays we pretend we don't even have an immune system.. beyond stupid
We had a hill that was leftover digged up earth from when the house was build (it actually still exists and has just gotten significantly smaller). We dug caves into it, waterways and tried making stuff out of the clay. There are pictures of both of my sisters covered head to toe in mud.
To be fair, give kids a chance and they will be doing this now. Digging is life...
I was born in 2007 and when I was a kid, we had a 'dirt pile', literally a pile of dirt that we were allowed to dig in and play in, and all my friends loved it. My siblings still used it until the youngest was about 6, now it sits there all lonely, but it was a smart idea and good while it lasted. :)
yup i loved playing in dirt when I was younger I also drank hose water
i would be the one in the corner with a bucket of water and mud all over me
No. I would have been in trouble for using the hand drill to dig.
I'm the one inside facing the corner because I wouldn't share my dump truck.
I miss a good dirt pile. It either became a dirt city for matchbox cars or we piled it up and made a dirt ramp for our bikes. Best part of it all - it didn't have to stay one or the other - dirt's a very versatile substance.
All day, everyday!! Times were great back then, we played outside all day, and had a blast!
Nahh I would be under the bridge reading so my parents would not know I was doing that instead of playing with kids I did not like.
We buried an original Millennium Falcon! Pulled it out of the mud about 25 years later. Uggg
My brother, my cousin and I once tried to dig a hole to China. Yes, we were small children.
Yes, because I loved playing with the boys. Not playing dolls and tea parties with the girls. AND guess what? I didn't go up trans or bi, I'm very much a WOMAN and proud of it!!!
Grew up in San Angelo, Texas. Home to what we called, quite innocently, horny toads. I guess a more proper name would be horned toads. As children, my brothers and i collected horny toads in shoe boxes, brought them home and played with them. Eventually we would take them back to our backyard, release them, then repeat the same thing the next day. We were pretty poor so this activity cost nothing. Took the place of toys
I was as high up in the oak tree as I could get, watching them.
Somehow, lots of water would be involved, but yeah, this could've been me.
I deeply regret that todays young ones generally aren't encouraged to experience activities like these. I've stored memories just like the ones depicted in this photograph, from the 1980's deep within my heart, and those times are the ones i miss the most.
Yep, only we dug up dirt in the ditches and used it to dam up the rain water to flood the town downstream! Complete with plastic soldiers that the youngest had to crawl into the colvert to reclaim!
Yep, played with my dolls in my brothers' Tonkas. Doll moved dirt during the day and dressed up and went out after. Didn't see why they couldn't do both!
I'm the one up a tree with the bucket while we try to grow a tree on a tree!
I love record stores. The problem is that all the vinyls cost $60 and I like saving money
Well tbf many movies could be narrowed down to one single scene
And the Mother (who has been up since 4am cooking all that) never goes berserk and makes them sit down and eat.I woul give an Oscar to any film Mum whose response is "get the f**k back here and eat this NOW!!!"
Yeah- the day my friends 15 year old daughter called TMMT's "vintage" I knew I was old!
Bless her heart and make sure to hand these precious heirlooms down from generation to generation.
I told my mom(57) that I (33) was naming my son(4) Brantley so he could grow up and say it's Brant ma (it's Brand ma from the movie) she was not impressed
July 16, 1988: Michael J. Fox married Tracy Pollan. Happy 34th Anniversary to the couple!
Her face appears to say that she has successfully persuaded MJF to drink from the poison chalice!
Are there really people of any age who think the prequels are better than the sequels? Although, given the order they came out in, maybe they’re just confused about which is which.
We had to hunt down a newspaper from the town the cinema was in lol.
From what I have heard, this was supposed to be a parody of party Anthems, not celebrated as one.
Yippers, and don't forget my 1974 brown Nova that I inherited from my grandma 1976. I was a junior in high school. When she bought the car, she asked them to take the radio out so she wouldn't be distracted. SMH!!!
Hmm... Champion was really hot in the late 90's and early 00's and all the popular kids sported the logo if I recall correctly
Swizzels double lollies. You can get a giant version of them which is about three times the size but they aren't as powdery.
Oh...my...gosh....I had completely forgotten my fake finger ends cos I loved long nails....fms that is full on nostalgia there
You had to insert 25 cents per pixel, that's why the pictures from that era look like 8 bit characters.
Note: this post originally had 90 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
There needs to be some love for the now departed physical Argos Catalogue.
Especially if you remember when Argos sold air rifles and harpoon guns!
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Several of these were around not that long ago and are barely nostalgic? (Others are because my family aren't the wealthiest and we rarely got new things. I still know cassettes and the n64 well, born 2006)
We just gonna act like Stephen Spielberg cartoons didn't run rampant and slay?
Where's Gallagher and his sledge-o-matic? Or the Donny and Marie show? Wouldn't mind seeing an 8 track tape player in a car dashboard either!
There needs to be some love for the now departed physical Argos Catalogue.
Especially if you remember when Argos sold air rifles and harpoon guns!
Load More Replies... Several of these were around not that long ago and are barely nostalgic? (Others are because my family aren't the wealthiest and we rarely got new things. I still know cassettes and the n64 well, born 2006)
We just gonna act like Stephen Spielberg cartoons didn't run rampant and slay?
Where's Gallagher and his sledge-o-matic? Or the Donny and Marie show? Wouldn't mind seeing an 8 track tape player in a car dashboard either!
