Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is a very common and highly social-emotional experience. It is centered around the self, important social connections, and meaningful life events. In other words, when our mind drowns itself in these sentimental memories, it makes us revisit the precious moments we shared with friends and loved ones.
So to invite you on a new trip down memory lane, we at Bored Panda are continuing our series on the popular subreddit r/Nostalgia, and have once again compiled its best recent posts. Continue scrolling to check them out, and if you missed our earlier publications, catch up here, here, and here.
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Who Remembers Making Textbook Covers From Grocery Bags In The Late 1970s And 80s?
Grocery bags sounds American, in the UK they made us use wallpaper
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Still doing that. I'm reading in public transport, this doesn't ruin covers of books I carry around
Growing up in the 60s that was the ritual at the start of every school year after we got our books. Mine always looked a mess, while my sister's looked fantastic.
Yup, and the custom graffiti you covered the books with during the year; bands you loved, Jim Loves Susan, cartoons.....it was a blast.
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and somehow the book covers still wound up looking like it was chewed on by an gnarl-toothed beaver monster.
We used wallpaper. Which is weird, as we didn't have any wallpapered walls in the house.
We used to wrap them in gift paper. Bought specially for this 😂
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We still have them here in Northwest Indiana in all our grocery stores. The default is plastic bags unless you ask for paper 😀
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We did this then colored them. Got to replace them when we grew tired of the design.
And then spending class defacing the wrapper when you got bored, of course.
I did this in math class in middle school, right now I am in high school. it is still happening!
I am so happy to hear this! I was going to ask the younger generation what they do.
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These were the best! A whole beautiful paperbag cover to doodle on for every book
Oh the memories... I think it was we could return it to the school in reasonable condition ahead of the next academic year.
Yes!!! Now that you mention it, at our Catholic grade school way back in the day, I'm sure they charged the parents if they were returned in worse condition than they were handed out. (Pretty sure the school nickel and dimed em for everything they could!!)
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Did this in the 80s and drew heavy metal logos all over them ! Even drew logos for my friends' books, too!
Wait! People don’t do this anymore?! What do you do to cover your textbooks?!
Since schools never seem to update any of their textbooks, you think they would still do this. Dang books are decades old
I would raise my hand, but the arthritis in my shoulder prevents it LOL
Like 15 years ago when my kids were just starting school, I went to cover their books and they totally laughed at me! Apparently, the store-bought stretchy covers were all the rage. I was like, "You can't even draw on those!" LOL
Did this with patterned wallpaper in 70s-80s! I still remember the brown..
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Here in Czechia (before 1993 Czechoslovakia) this wasn't a thing. Before peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989 paper grocery bags weren't used here, we had ecological net or textile grocery bags. After this historical event we very quickly fell in love with plastic grocery bags (rare item before Velvet Revolution). During last decade We slowly return back to old good textile or net grocery bags (with modern design and materials, of course 🙂 ). Paper grocery bags are used like last 5-10 years but they aren't very liked (terrible durability, very unfriendly relationship with rain or snow, very rarely reusable for another shopping than their plastic rivals - my grandma still use some plastic grocery bags from 80s and 90s!). We usually use prefabricated plastic covers or make them from special plastic folia. If we don't need transparent cover we also use decorative paper for wrapping gifts, newspapers or supermarket flyers. There is also tradition of handmade bookcovers from textile.
we did not use grocerybags but brown paper for atypical formats. shops were only selling plastic A5 and A4 formats in early 2000s. most of the textbooks were atypical formats. only later shops started to sell adjustable covers
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I did this in the 1990s and got bored and confused as to which book was which, so I stopped using them if I couldn't find something colorful. Plus, the bags were thin and ripped easily, so I wasn't a fan. If I could, I used leftover Xmas or whatever wrapping paper.
yep we did this in 2000s for non standard formats. shops were only selling covers for A4 and A5 formats but for some reasons most of the textbooks and workbooks were totally atypical. Edit: not grocery bags though as we had cotton bags, nets , baskets and later plastic bags, not paper bags. we used other source of paper
Maybe I did now that you mention it. Or wrapping paper for extra zing.
and LOVED embellishing them with my colorful artwork - would love to have them now ☺️
These made the best book covers. Very sturdy and you could doodle on them.
🙋♀️🙋♀️I do! I do! It also gave you something to scribble on when history class got boring 😂!
I still did this (though we used wrapping paper or wallpaper) in the early 2000's and have worked in schools that still do it.
I don't remember covering any textbooks. What I do remember was reading them cover to cover. It irked some of my teachers when I'd be several chapters ahead.
I'd doodle them full in no time, and then I'd have to change them again. Far better than other papers.
I did that so many times! :) 11th and 12th towards the end some of my friends & other nice people(including teachers)wrote notes on them like in yearbooks.
We would get A4 notebooks with white, unlined sheets, to wraps the A5 notebooks. And then put on clear plastic cover.
The cool kids always made their covers from smooth brown wrapping paper that was purchased especially for this purpose. The rest of us used supermarket bags with all their little bumps and creases.
If it lasted longer than a month.....you had too much time to spend putting paper over a compressed Stack of paper
We didn't have paper grocery bags in the UK so it was either buying (or begging) brown paper from parcels left over wallpaper.
We did this in The Netherlands but usually with designated 'kaft' paper. I remember my mother laid paper on the shelves in the kitchen cabinets, probably against grease stains.
Nope, my country has been using plastic bags since years ago, although recently only reusable bags are allowed, except Sat and Sun.
Did this in the mid-late 2000's, only we used wrapping paper for extra customization xP
Erasers That Never Erased Anything
Research often shows that nostalgia is a primarily positive emotion that can lift people's spirits. But in these studies, participants are usually asked to recall a past event that makes them feel most nostalgic, and the Dornsife team at the University of Southern California thinks that this approach tends to result in people recalling a unique and overly positive, fond memory.
They have found the opposite may be true. Just like in Bruce Springsteen’s nostalgic song Glory Days, people look back to the good times when they feel dissatisfied with their current life.
Manual Credit Card Machine. You Know The Sounds It Makes
A Top 10 Gift If You Were A Kid In The 90’s, I Present To You, The Ultimate Surround Sound Audio, Complete With The Option To Extend The Speakers 2 Feet While Simultaneously Having A Glow-In-The-Dark Solar System On Your Ceiling
Rear Door Ashtrays; Playing With These As A Kid On Car Rides
"When people are asked to describe something that makes them feel very nostalgic, the positive elements dominate,” said David Newman, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at USC Dornsife. “They think of a pleasant past experience, and the memories they bring to mind have a positive influence on how they see their own life.”
So, the USC Dornsife team captured how frequently people may feel nostalgic and how intense their feelings are in daily life. The psychologists asked about 230 undergraduate students, in exchange for course credit, to complete daily questionnaires for 14 days.
Who Remembers The Parachute Guy. Would Always Get Stuck Up A Tree Or On A Roof
I still love these guys lol - the excitement you feel as you yeet it off the top of the staircase - ah, the good days…
Getting To Play With The Parachute In The 90s Was Peak “Life Is Good”
Back When I Was Growing Up, Ice Cream Came In A Box!
Then there were 10 boxes of just the strawberry part left in the freezer
These diary studies included questions about whether they had positive or negative interactions with friends or acquaintances, experienced positive moments of achievement, or had negative moments, such as falling behind on coursework.
They also asked about events that could potentially evoke feelings of nostalgia, such as whether the participants had heard a song on the radio that they hadn’t heard in a while.
Image Transferring With Silly Putty
The 64 Pack Of Crayons With A Built In Sharpener
The Clear Craze Of The 90s When Almost Everything Was Clear
Leather Phone Cases Used By Some Dads In The Early 2000s
The results showed that people were likely to feel nostalgic when things were going wrong in the present.
"These negative experiences colored nostalgia in a negative light," Newman said. On days when people felt nostalgic, they reported feeling more stressed, depressed, and lonely; expressed more regret and rumination; were less satisfied with their life, and reported lower self-esteem. They also felt less peaceful and calm and expressed more rumination on the following day.
Anybody Else Have Parents Who Saved National Geographics And Included Them On The Family Bookshelf?
Weekend Nights At The Skating Rink Were As Close To A Nightclub Scene As Us Pre-High Schoolers Got Back In The Day
I had my first kiss at the local roller rink in 1990 when I was 13. Cal-Skate lol. It's still in business in the same location 😊
The Original Mouse Trap
I still have mine circa 1963. My desperately want Christmas present. Now my grandkids have grown out of it.
Windows 95 Themes
But although people tend to feel nostalgic when they have had negative experiences, the team of psychologists found another surprising positive correlation.
People were likely to feel nostalgic on days “when they had helped others, were reminded of old friendships or music, felt inspired and engaged in social media use," the researchers explained.
The Original Facebook
Pre 9/11 When A Kid Was Able To Visit The Cockpit Of An Airplane
Pizza Hut Glasses
They would bounce and bounce and bounce if you dropped them. No hiding it!
Highlights Magazine
My great grandma at one point had a Highlights subscription, one issue included a game that she carefully removed and taped together, we played it with buttons. I wish I could go back and actually listen when she talked.
Based on their analysis, Newman and colleagues concluded that nostalgia is a mixed bag — but the mix is decidedly negative in day-to-day life.
"The results from these studies stand in sharp contrast to the prevailing conclusion from previous research, which had indicated that nostalgia is a mixed but predominantly positive emotion,” Newman said.
"Deliberately engaging in the recollection of extremely nostalgic moments may improve well-being,” he said. "But in most situations in daily life, feeling nostalgic may not feel very pleasant."
Cd-Rom Games
The Most Relatable Rugrats Quote: "It's Four O'clock In The Morning! Why On Earth Are You Making Chocolate Pudding?" "Because I've Lost Control Of My Life" 1993
Eating Mac N' Cheese By Arranging A Single Noodle On Each Fork Tine
Taking Flintstones Vitamins Growing Up
The Way The Sanford King Size Permanent Marker Smelled
Styrofoam Airplanes
Nothing That Wasn’t Candy Ever Tasted More Like Candy That Ludens Cough Drops
I've got a big candy dish full of these right now beside me in bed right now! My son and I both are on the tail end of a week long COVID infection. Thank God it wasn't anything worse than having the flu (thank you vaccines!). Those body aches, though, there's no description for them they were so intense. Anyway, Luden's cough drops are the best cough aide you can buy, other than liquor😁!
An Ancient Memory. Busytown Mysteries
I refuse to accept this is obsolete. Every one of my nephews was given a Busytown book as their first gift from me.
Short Circuit
Came Across My Game Boy Earlier Today While Cleaning Out Some Old Boxes
A Favorite Show From Childhood. Anybody Remember Muppet Babies?
Whistle Pops (1970's)
Wendy’s Sunrooms
I Found These McDonald's Transformer Toys In My Parents' Attic Recently
Og Goosebumps (1992-1997)
Tale Spin (1990-1991)
Aim (1997-2017)
How many CDs did they mail out over the years? One million? 10 million? Billions?
Who Watched "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" Growing Up? What A 90s Masterpiece
"The Hologram Store" That Sold Beauties Like These At The Mall
Different Decade, Same Spooky Family
Apple Computers In Late 90s/ Early 2000s
Back when they offered affordable design for the masses. That went downhill fast from there...
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. Nightmares For A Kid In The 90's
For My First Father's Day My Incredible Wife Bought Me My Favourite Toy From My Childhood So My Son And I Can Play Together. She Even Re-Did All The Stickering
My grandma got this exact one for me and my cousins along with a pirate one and a wild west one... love it
Rollercoaster Tycoon 🥹
McDonald's Packaging From The Early 90s
Hybrid Theory And Meteora Were Big Parts Of My High School Years. Linkin Park
The Old Taco Bell Packaging (Also The Easy Button)
Gameboy, American Girl Dolls, Blockbuster, Beanie Babies, Longaberger Baskets, Boom Box, And A Bowl Cut. The Dream Of 1998z
Malcolm In The Middle
Lost (2004)
Somewhere between the third and the nth season I just stopped paying attention on the plot and just stayed to watch Sawyer without a shirt...
My McDonald's Halloween Buckets From 1986
My First Dog
Kit Kat With Tinfoil Wrapping
in the UK they still do when they come in the multipacks. For some reason though, kitkat chunkies are just the best. xP
Speaking Of Foil, Who Remembers Corn Pops In That Foil Bag?
Sobe: Who Else Remembers These Fantastic Drinks
Bacardi Breezer alcopops... If you were a british teen in the 2000's, you'll know what I mean.. unfortunately it got discontinued in 2015, but they were so good.
Bath And Body Works Cucumber Melon
I was never a fan of this one. My favorites are Juniper Breeze and Coconut Lime Verbena.
Picture Viewers
I still have a plastic tv that rotated pictures of Brookfield zoo at the touch of a button.
Honeywell Thermostat
Inflatable Furniture
McDonald's Old Hot Apple Pie Paper Packaging
Pert Plus, It's All You Need
Who Remembers Schwans?
They're definitely still around; I pass our local truck at least once every couple weeks.
Who Remembers The Old School Foil Wrapped Ding Dongs?
The Red Roof Design Of The McDonald's
Crunch Bar With The Foil
Plastic Juice Containers That Taisted Horrible But We Drank Them Anyway
Wax bottles with kool ade inside. Chewed the wax like gum when it was empty. Wax lips.
Olden Days Hot Topic
Yes!!! When it was more metal and punk. Now it's emo and just goofy with side of dildos. I'm not kidding I went in the other day, small section of sex toys....I guess teens gotta get there's too, I thought it was a little odd.
Remember Penny? From The Early 90's Anti-Drug Psas Between Saturday Morning Cartoons?
Who Remembers Ecco The Dolphin?
Ohhh my gosh! I completely forgot this existed...! So many memories flooding back to me now!
Coke Machines With A Huge Coke Button
Brittney Spears & Christina Aguilera At The 2000 Mtv Vma's
Windows 95 - Ski Free
Found Stashed Inside The Dash Of My 90’s Camaro While Doing Some Wiring , Motley Crue Live, Folded In A 90’s Dairy Queen Napkin
we still have a hole box of these. and honestly i preffer them to CDs as they didn't get messed up as easily lol
Flintstones Push UPS
L'oreal No Tear Shampoo
Sim City 2000
Who Remembers Bubble Beeper?
Who Remembers The Story Of Tikki Tikki Tembo-No Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-Pip Peri Pembo And His Little Bro Chang?
They Live | 1988
An Array Of Retro Cherry Coke Can Designs
Used to get the coke fountain drink at lunch and put cherry brandy in it. Made the summer days pass by nicely in high school.
My Wallet From Elementary School
The 90s Was The Wild West Of Candies. None More Egregious Than Ooze Tubes
You can still get these. My sister gets them in her showbags from the Melbourne Show every year.
Nintendo Dust Covers
Me & My Mum In My First School Photo 2004 💕
Charlie The Unicorn
Philadelphia Snack Bars - Strawberry Cheese Cake - Please Bring These Back!
Smashing Pumpkins Before Billy Corgan Started His 3 Decade “Uncle Fester Cosplay“ Phase
Just Found A Rain Forest Cafe
Reebok Pumps
I am still not putting the money they asked back then for a pair of sneakers
Those Old School Vo5 Shampoo Bottles
Did Anyone Ever Get Bored And Pretend That Ordinary Objects Were Spaceships?
Bread Sampler At The Grocery Store
Kellogg's Star Wars Spoon
U.S. Mail Delivery Jeeps
my older brother bought one of these. the steering wheel was on the right.
Night At The Roxbury (1998)
Everytime I hear 'What is Love' I still chuckle and nobody else gets it lol
Your Halloween Was Legit If You Ever Had The Blood Pumping Scream Mask
I bought one of these. But it was not working. The blood was spilled everywhere. But not in the mask... :-)
Anybody Else Have The Talkboy When They Were Younger?
Cosmic Brownie
Who Else Remembers The Rumor That If You Found A Star On The Tootsie Pop Wrapper It Meant Good Luck?
The Big Comfy Couch (1992-2007)
Fruit Roll UPS Peel N Build Pizza Snack
When Nutri Grain Wrappers Used To Be A Single Shiny Color Matching Their Flavor
Og Fruit Gushers - Why Did They Ditch The Classic Paper Packaging For Foil???
What Doritos Used To Look Like
The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003)!
Oh my God, I remember this. It was unbelievably frustrating if your memory is c**p and your orientation worse.
Country Apple Body Splash From Bath & Body Works
The Short Lived Eddie Murphy Claymation, The Pjs
Old Design Of The Sprite Soda Can
My Street Shark Costume From Around 1994
Love You Forever
Red Wendy’s Doesn’t Taste As Good As Yellow Used To
I Was Wondering What Happened To Snackwell's Cookies Since I Haven't Seen Them In A While... Turns Out They Were Discontinued A Few Months Ago
You can still get these but they aren't the same recipe and are as dense as bricks now. No more crispy shell and fluffy inside :(
Found My Old D.a.r.e Mug I Got Back In The 90s
D.A.R.E. actually influenced me to never do drugs. I found it beneficial. As for the people who said it didn't, I don't know.. 🤷♀️
McDonald's In The Early 2000's
I Never Realized That Starbursts Changed The Wrappers Until I Saw These Sitting On Display In The Store And Got Hit With So Much Nostalgia
Sega Dreamcast (9/9/99)
P.b. Crisps Are The G.o.a.t. Of Snack Foods
Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire - Nintendo 64 (1996)
Going even further back, the Atari 2600 Empire Strikes Back game. You were just a snowspeeder taking down as many AT-ATs as possible in a set time limit.
The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)
Saving Silverman (2001) Such A Wildly Underrated Movie
I'm waiting for it to be a major Broadway hit! R Lee Ermy was a hilarious mess in this movie! It is/was SO underrated!
Fisher Price Castle Set
K-Marts Video Game Section In 2001
This Classic Taco Bell Hot Sauce Design
TV Displays In The 2000s
It's a nice nostalgia trip, but someone really needs to learn what "obsolete" means.
You can still sometimes get them in candy shops. I know of at least 5 places where I live that have them still.
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Oh... Um. If obsolete means my daughter played/watched etc. What am I? Ultra -obsolete? Uber-vintage? Damn. I'm still in my 40's
Oh my gosh, I just found mine when I cleaned out some totes!
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Wax Lips... Candy Cigarettes, Pine Bros Cough Drops, Commodore 64's, 8 inch floppy disks...
Does anyone remember The Young Ones https://www.google.com/search?q=the+young+ones&oq=the+young+ones&aqs=chrome.0.0i355i433i512j46i433i512j0i512l4j46i512j0i512.10698j0j1&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=dTyoxYqEM9dlqM
I guess what's nostalgia for some people is 'just a little while ago " for others.
This list has reminded me where my processed food addiction came from. Not to sound like a geezer, but between profit maximization and health concerns, modern snack foods can't hold a candle to the industrial, toxin filled, abominations before god that were the chemical snack food chimeras of deliciousness in the 90's.
Hand crank car windows. Fighting over who gets "shot gun" and the window seat. Halloween masks you couldn't see out of. NOT wearing a seat belt or helmet. 8 track tapes. Common sense
So funny this came up in my feed! Just last night my husband was so excited putting one of those planes together. About an hour later I came into the living room from the kitchen and got abruptly hit in the face by it not realizing I was walking into a flight zone……Such child nostalgia for sure 😒🤣
The best - und so sustainable: Making Textbook Covers From Grocery Bags. How is this done nowadays?? I loved doodeling on the covers :-)
You want obsolete? I was born in 1953-I didn't get half of these. Gen X?
" 50 Obsolete Things To Prove How Much The World Has Moved On And Changed ".the american world that is !
all I can think of while going through this is Animaniac's "Randy Beaman's Pal"
i mean this in the best way possible, but these lists always make me upset. the people who grew up with this stuff have children, like my parents had all this and they saved a bunch and stuff and so me and my siblings understand a good deal of this stuff. and some of this is still in use and popular. stop saying only 80s and 90s kids will understand, because i was born in 2007 and i understand.
Don't be upset over people feel nostalgic for things from their youth. 15 years from now you'll be doing the same thing with the fads of today.
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It's a nice nostalgia trip, but someone really needs to learn what "obsolete" means.
You can still sometimes get them in candy shops. I know of at least 5 places where I live that have them still.
Load More Replies... Oh... Um. If obsolete means my daughter played/watched etc. What am I? Ultra -obsolete? Uber-vintage? Damn. I'm still in my 40's
Oh my gosh, I just found mine when I cleaned out some totes!
Load More Replies... Wax Lips... Candy Cigarettes, Pine Bros Cough Drops, Commodore 64's, 8 inch floppy disks...
Does anyone remember The Young Ones https://www.google.com/search?q=the+young+ones&oq=the+young+ones&aqs=chrome.0.0i355i433i512j46i433i512j0i512l4j46i512j0i512.10698j0j1&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=dTyoxYqEM9dlqM
I guess what's nostalgia for some people is 'just a little while ago " for others.
This list has reminded me where my processed food addiction came from. Not to sound like a geezer, but between profit maximization and health concerns, modern snack foods can't hold a candle to the industrial, toxin filled, abominations before god that were the chemical snack food chimeras of deliciousness in the 90's.
Hand crank car windows. Fighting over who gets "shot gun" and the window seat. Halloween masks you couldn't see out of. NOT wearing a seat belt or helmet. 8 track tapes. Common sense
So funny this came up in my feed! Just last night my husband was so excited putting one of those planes together. About an hour later I came into the living room from the kitchen and got abruptly hit in the face by it not realizing I was walking into a flight zone……Such child nostalgia for sure 😒🤣
The best - und so sustainable: Making Textbook Covers From Grocery Bags. How is this done nowadays?? I loved doodeling on the covers :-)
You want obsolete? I was born in 1953-I didn't get half of these. Gen X?
" 50 Obsolete Things To Prove How Much The World Has Moved On And Changed ".the american world that is !
all I can think of while going through this is Animaniac's "Randy Beaman's Pal"
i mean this in the best way possible, but these lists always make me upset. the people who grew up with this stuff have children, like my parents had all this and they saved a bunch and stuff and so me and my siblings understand a good deal of this stuff. and some of this is still in use and popular. stop saying only 80s and 90s kids will understand, because i was born in 2007 and i understand.
Don't be upset over people feel nostalgic for things from their youth. 15 years from now you'll be doing the same thing with the fads of today.
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