Let us just put our stylish rose-colored glasses on and we’ll get this party started. How do we look, Pandas? Awesome, that’s what we wanted to hear!
The [insert decade of choice] holds a special significance for many of us and probably many of: it was (arguably) a better time, the people were friendlier, life was simpler, and the future seemed far brighter. Or maybe we were all just a tad more naive. That’s where the ‘Pics that make you reminisce’ Twitter page comes in. A social media project with a following of over 115.6k internet users, the account shares nostalgic photos of products, toys, and content that remind you of what the (recent) past was like. Most of the stuff featured here is from the past few decades, and it's reminded us to get back to work on our Time Machine.
However, it doesn’t matter if you were born in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s (hello there!), 2000s, or even the 2010s: nostalgia for our childhoods/the best years of our lives unites us all. And everyone’s nostalgia is valid. The things we miss are, at their core, the same. All that’s different is the shape and form, but the spirit remains the same. Scroll down, upvote your fave pics from the past, and tell us what you miss the most from your childhoods, Pandas!
Suzanne Degges-White, Ph.D., Licensed Counselor, Professor, and Chair at the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at Northern Illinois University, was kind enough to answer Bored Panda's questions about nostalgia, how much reminiscing is 'too much,' and how we can learn to be more grateful of what we have in the present. You'll find Bored Panda's full interview with the professor about the 'super power' that is nostalgia below. Don't miss out, check it out.
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Ah yes, the day when we went down to the library and I spent 30 minutes staring at pretty things I couldn't buy, because they never told us about them in advance and I never had money anyway.
We got lists of the books, got the money from the 'rents, and took that and the order form back to school. It was wonderful when the box came in!
Load More Replies...Had them until 4th or 5th grade at my school... after that, it was deem illegal since it was seen as advertisement that targeted kids. Our librarian replaced it with a sale of used books instead and every one could give some books to sell. The funds went toward newer books for the school library.
They should have these for adults! I used to get SO PUMPED beforehand, after looking over that little newsletter they sent letting you know what books would be available there.
I totally get that! I get so jealous when I pass a school advertising book fair, or when I see the book fair truck on the road. My husband won't let me hijack it😡😁😆
Load More Replies...I remember I only had one dollar this one time but ended up still getting this really cool book (I wanted another one too but meh). Then my sister borrowed it and a girl in her class stole it.
We still have those. I’ve lived in the us in Texas and Utah and they have them both places
They won't anymore. The parents angry about gender/queer representation in kids' books at school board meetings mean that Scholastic Book Fairs and any kind of book events are suspended at many schools. Thanks, idiots!
Load More Replies...Loved this as a kid but single mom could rarely treat us. When my kids were in elementary and middle school the deal was I would always let them get at least 1 book, no more than $5 orso. We got the lists a few weeks in advance, so if there was anything special that they wanted, they could do work to earn the money. School book fairs - same rules. Both kids did extra chores at home, for family, friends & neighbors to earn money. They can be expensive.
Why does everyone think Book Fairs are extinct? We do them twice a year. Come on down and buy some books!!
"Nostalgia has the 'super power' of helping us feel better about the 'now' by connecting us to positive feelings from the 'then.' Nostalgia can help us feel better about ourselves and more in control of current situations if we're able to channel that positivity into concrete actions or a reframed mindset about the present. However, when we begin 'living in the past,' we may be inviting into our lives less than optimal mental wellness and potentially compromised physical wellbeing, too," Professor Degges-White, from Northern Illinois University, explained to Bored Panda that there are certain pitfalls that come with reminiscing about the past too much.
"When we succumb to memories of how things 'used to be' and refuse to address the 'what is,' we may find ourselves overwhelmed by our current conditions and less able to manage current challenges," she said.
"It's often memories of home and the people who surround us that keeps us able to deal with significantly concerning or dangerous conditions. For instance, letters from home can be a lifeline for those who are engaged in warfare far away from what they consider 'home,'" the professor pointed out how being reminded of home can help people in very tough situations.
Don't they still have glass marbles? Aren't all marbles made of glass?
but they do not play with them like we did - I think!
Load More Replies...Bbbooooooiiiiiibb (that was my attempt at making the noise)
Load More Replies...What would make me reminisce are those marbles made from non-fired clay. My parents got those for us (in the early 1960's) because they had the advantage of crumbling when an adult stepped on them instead of sending them flying a*s-over-teakettle.
My stepdaughter has a glass full of marbles from one of my best guy friends. They stem from his childhood 30 years ago. My parents still got my siblings' and my marbles and the marble rack, because they have 6 granddaughters who regularly visit. I still get some kind of envious when my stepdaughter chooses my (former) favourite marble (dark blue with glittery bubbles, looks like a night sky), since I used to have to guard that against 4 siblings...
Did a corporate rollout of XP to their machines back in the day and the first thing we got asked to do by management was take the games OFF. Especially that one!
You could still play it - it's possible to download it on Windows 10. But with 4k screen play-window was so small, and the ball moved so fast, I could barely see what was happening. I think the ball was disappearing sometimes. Or maybe my reaction is so much worse than in my childhood?
Adjust the display scaling settings to make it a more usable size.
Load More Replies...Hmmm no, I hated that game. Give me minesweepers instead and I will play at least an hour
"It's when we become stuck in our memories of people who have died, places or times in our lives when things were 'easier' or 'better' that invites in the negative effects of nostalgia. When we are unable to make decisions about a current challenge or get stuck in memories of better times from the past, we can sink into a state in which we kind of 'tune out' of the present and ignore very real threats or opportunities in the now."
According to Professor Degges-White, the very first step towards gratitude is 'waking up' and looking around you in order to recognize all of the things in life that you appreciate.
"It's also helpful to step outside yourself and see how others might see your life. Gratitude can start with the basics—enough food to eat each day, a job that pays you enough to keep a roof over your head, people in your life who care about you and to whom you matter. Recognizing that not everyone in life has been as fortunate as you have and acknowledging your accomplishments is the best way to begin. Making a 'gratitude list' really does help us see our lives in a whole new way if we are committed to acknowledging the way our lives have been touched by success."
I told my parents I was going to have a go at magnet fishing - separately, out of earshot of each other - and BOTH of them immediately said "oh yeah that game you had when you were a kid!" I meant the thing where you tie a magnet to a rope and dangle it into a body of water to see what it picks up, but it definitely did make me nostalgic for my little wind-up fishing game. :D
😆😆😆 and how old were you when this happened?? Please say late teen or adult age! I can see you parents getting confused why you were so interested in the game suddenly
Load More Replies...Played this at my grandmas as a kid. It was so hard for little me to catch all the fishies
My Daughter was addicted to playing with these for a good few years ( replaced often as they break easily) until her Brother was old enough to ruin them by peeling the eyes off every fish and sticking them on his toy cars :D
I think every child either has this or one someone that did
Load More Replies...Ther is a company that makes these custom, or for each state in the us. It was really fun. We got one for my little brother of Utah with all the landmarks and stuff. They make really cute play rugs nowadyas
This picture is from a current posting on Amazon. Is this Twitter account satire?
If it's about reminiscence then it's totally valid as similar rugs have existed for decades.
Load More Replies...I think I played more with this than my son, spent hours helping him arrange his cars on it, to have him wander off totally un-interested lol. One of my house hippos claimed it so it didn't last very long after that :)
Yea, I'd say a LOT of kids have one now, whoever posted this must be about 15!!
We still have the PS2 neon green controller with the duel shock ( somewhere in the house) . I hated it, I blame it for all my Lara Croft deaths -.-
I wish new technology would bring back this aesthetic, everything is so boring now!
Part of the problem with this aesthetic is that the electronics themselves have become so small that there isn't anything to look at inside the case. Digital signals have become so much faster that RF shielding is more important than it used to be (and that stuff isn't transparent).
Load More Replies...I so remember when our grade school good the computers! Thought it was the coolest thing I had EVER seen!😆
Ahhh yes, and me remembering how mad they made me that the cercut bored were not pink
my see through Dual Shock 2 controller STILL is the most reliable, best working game controller. It's hooked up to my computer right now and is the ONLY controller that works perfectly. That thing is QUALITY.
The professor also opened up to Bored Panda about a personal experience that directly links to feeling gratitude. "I once received a letter from a friend who shared with me all the ways that she envied my life—from the mundane, that I had a station wagon, to my parenthood status, I had a baby girl, this friend listed ways she felt I'd been luckier in life than she had," she recounted.
"While it's clear that my friend was going through some difficult times in her own life and the letter might not have been driven by any positive motivation, I was able to respond to her with a note of gratitude and appreciation for helping me step back and recognize all of the things in life for which I should feel gratitude. It was a big twist on the construction of a 'gratitude list,' and perhaps it is helpful to seek the perspective of others who care about us in the ways they see our good fortune in life. But if you ask a friend to do this, be sure to return the favor in kind."
What is this modern thing that you show me? Proper computers were white text on a black background!
Back when dirt was new, it was GREEN text edit: I was referring to the video display terminals connected to room filling computers. DEC VT100, IBM 3270, ADM 3A, etc.. Though looking online at some of these VDTs, I see some blue text also. It appears there were a variety of colors.
Load More Replies...I feel like this wallpaper was meant to decrease your blood pressure from near-fatal levels after you had to reboot this OS for the 18th time. *shudders at the memory*
What are talking about? XP was one of the best versions of Windows (some companies even still use it).
Load More Replies...Ah the nostalgia is taking over.. ahhhh AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ahhhhhhhhhhh...
whenever i see pics of grass i think of bean boozled and start gagging
When I look at this all I can think is "that would take forever to mow". But I hate grass. I'd plant that field with wildflowers, and just let it be
i was at my friends house one time and her parents forced me to have those
When I was pregnant (both times) I could only take these. Mainly because the iron in the prenatal vitamins couldn't completely absorb. As a result I was sick to my stomach alot. I was also Anemic during my first pregnancy
Were they even healthy? I know they tasted good and always wanted more than just one a day.
I used to buy them back in the day. A lot of the records have gotten kinda dumb these days.
We have an early 90’s copy - had a much less “fun” navy cover without all the crazy shiny stuff the kids of today take for granted.
I had tons of these, but we ha e moved alot and they are just SO HEAVY to pack and move
I never bought one and among the few thousand people I know I have never even seen one.
We’re going to wear our hearts on our sleeves for a bit here. Truth be told, we sometimes wish we could travel back in time and be kids again. Life can get very hectic when you’re an adult. And we’d love to completely detach from all of the anxiety, just for a little while.
The war, the pandemic, the economic difficulties—all of these are making us look back to a time when things weren’t this bad… or at least when we weren’t aware of it all so much.
Being taken care of by your family, only having to worry about school or what you’ll do with your friends for fun, was a blessing. It’s nice to reminisce, but it’s also vital not to get too stuck in those feelings: you wouldn’t want your quality of life to drop in the present just because you long for the past. And we probably wouldn't want to go back in time if it meant that it wildly changed the future: we wouldn't want to lose all the friends and loved ones we've found along the way.
Same, It's always gold with pale blue or white.
Load More Replies...Anyone else see blue and gold? I that isn’t supposed to be one of the color combos but it’s what I see.
I see blue and a blackish-brown, yall cant convince me otherwise.
When this first happened, I could swear it was white & gold (in the shadow). All I see is black & blue now. How times change...
me too! I looked away a second and after it was blue an black and has been ever since
Load More Replies...I used to love just taking fun pictures with the filters but now you can't scroll without all of this advertisement clogging up the feed.
Yeah, it was about sharing good photos and good designs, right now its pretty much about flexing lavish lifestyle
I liked the old icon. Wish it was still just about photos, but I think the CEO has stated that Reels will become more and more the focus.
That was the start of that stupid challenge thing that lemmings love to do. Eat detergent? Sure. Roll out of a moving car? Why not? Gotta get that sweet internet attention however you can.
I am a teen. My only experience with this is that one episode of the Office. Can someone pls explain planking to me? It sounds worth a laugh
it was a challenge on vine where people would just flat out fall on their faces for views never really made sense to me just looks like pain
Load More Replies...Child and adolescent therapist Kemi Omijeh, a member of the BACP, previously explained to Bored Panda that our childhoods are the foundation of who we are as adults. That’s part of the reason why we frequently revisit our childhoods in our memories: our past influences our present.
"If we’ve had a difficult childhood, it can be hard to feel nostalgic, instead it will feel like something we need to get over in order to move on," she explained that not every person will have fond memories of the past. We tend to feel nostalgic for the times when we were happy. Similarly, we shy away from memories that make us feel bad.
Mine was on Facebook, it got so big it froze the screen every time I logged on lol
Load More Replies...Ugh...had to schedule my day around my crops. I don't miss that kind of stress. LOL
My sister would set alarms to harvest crops at 2 am 🤣
Load More Replies...I was addicted to that for some time! You had to plan your life around it so you wouldn't lose crops! :D
There was also a medieval fair one called Ravenwood Fair. You are a raccoon and all your fairgoers are forest creatures.
Noises not included, so here you go: WOOOOwwwwwwwOOOWwwww
These evolved into 'shag' bands ... yep lots of fun having a 12 year old in a shop shouting out ''Mam, can I have some shag bands!!!'' at 100 decibels ..I still wince over that :D
Called “f**ck bands” when I was in high school and came looooooooong before the silly bandz.
Load More Replies...these were banned at my school after kids started shooting then at each other and someone got it in their eye and had to go to the hospital. im dead serious it was a whole scandal
I literally never wore these. I always felt bad that the pretty design would stretch out, I just kept them in my pencil case to admire. =p
I remember I managed to get some of these after wanting them for months...right when they went out of fashion. Life as a poor kid.
"Nostalgia can also be a good coping strategy for times of low mood and challenges," therapist Kemi told Bored Panda. However, there are limits to how much we should allow ourselves to reminisce about the ‘good old days.’
Oh god, greatest gaming session I had was me and 11 other friends. One apartment, 3 TVs, 3 games of Halo 3. Got so crazy at one point my friend on my team just started yelling "what color am I, what team am I on, WHERE AM I?!" Greatest gaming night ever!
Ussually when me and my siblings played split screen we were to focused on our side to look at the others
Oh man I used to love pogs for the designs. My favorite was a metal slammer that had a yellow lily on it. Got it in like 97ish
Load More Replies...I was beginning to think I imagined Tazos, as all anyone mentions is Pogs!
Load More Replies...Same! I recently found my pokemón, looney tunes and power rangers pogs (or tazos here in México)
Load More Replies...Only a marketer would think, "Tops aren't macho enough. Let's call this thing L-Drago Destructor and watch the money roll in" 😂
and it worked! They are still making iterations of the show as basically a giant commercial (like power rangers)
Load More Replies...remembering destroying kids with my earth eagle that and watching kids with midfakes cry as the bey they bought for 1 dollar turns to dust against an attack type
My 7 yr old recently got into these now, in the year 2022, lol. They still sell them
its a newer generation from the ones on the picture
Load More Replies...lol there is nothing funnier than listening to the kids on the playground yell LETTUM RIP followed by win! win! win! for 30 seconds
"If we end up comparing it to our experiences today and feeling like nothing is as good as it was, then this will inevitably affect our mood and our ability to do what we need to do," she warned about the downsides.
We had one black, one blue and one see-through red. It was awful when you had to delete some save file to make room for another.
Or when one game went corrupt and before you knew it the whole lot went corrupt too :(
Load More Replies...I still keep my brother's PS2 and memory card for playing Singstar - I definitely won't upgrade to the PS5, and I've got like 8 versions of the game for PS2. I get nostalgic every time, and it's much better singing early 2000 songs that everybody my age would know.
When I had a PS1, I had resident evil but I didn't have a memory card so I had to leave the PlayStation on for days while I finished the game
I recently bought a Dreamcast again and the VMUs that eat the brand new battery in a couple weeks, if that.
My siblings own one of the blue, green, and brown ones, and I have one of the white ones.
I got the green one for a Christmas gift and it was one of the only times I was interested in Lego
“We can become stuck in our nostalgia; in which case it might be best to seek help from a counseling professional to help you process your past in order to enjoy your present,” she said that it’s perfectly fine to seek outside assistance.
Some people can end up reminiscing about the past so much that it affects their day-to-day. The therapist shared her thoughts about helping someone curb the habit of daydreaming
I remember dragging my screaming Daughter away from these every time, there was always a queue of kids waiting to play and all she wanted to do was press buttons as she was too little to play it properly .. yes thank you McDonalds ...
I REMEMBER THIS.....ew it was always covered in fry/burger grease and the screen was always cracked and one time I saw chewed up burger on it XC
I have seen these in Target. I am sure they still sell these.
They do! My daughter went through a phase recently
Load More Replies...Turn the bug on. It vibrates. Put it back in the tube. The tube vibrates. :-p
I used to have one of those but it went under the stove and I never saw it again 🥲
mine went somewhere under the dishwasher (it was green (the bug not the dishwasher))
Load More Replies...Oh my gosh I LOVED these things...ended you ripping of the legs... Rip you poor little hexbugs
Same here. And now, we have a paper minion. I don't regret being born in the 90s haha
Load More Replies..."Identify your patterns. Think about the times you usually daydream, is there something about that situation or those times that mean you’re daydreaming? Do something about it if that is the case. Set a time limit, use a timer if it ensures you stop," she told Bored Panda.
PS4 version had a different tutorial world, but it still gives me goosebumps even though I played it first time in 2017. It was my first experience with Minecraft.
The PS4 tutorial world I played recently, and all the memories came rushing back
Load More Replies...I've played minecraft since 2011 (on PC) ... I've never even seen this tutorial world. o.O
I don’t think this was on PC. I gotMinecraft in Beta and never experienced it.
Load More Replies............ I wanted to say it's not that old, but it came out in 2009, so you would have been 8... yeah, you can say "still". For me it feels like yesterday. I was already 25 when it came out. Still playing it, too. I'm nearly 40.
Load More Replies...Watch it. You may get downvoted into oblivion. Have an upvote. Everyone can have their own opinion.
Load More Replies...A low voiced dude who sang about chocolate rain. It was a pretty big thing. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Zonday)
Load More Replies...I saw a video about him. He was actually pursuing a career in music or already had one and the song actually had a message.
Fixing your downvote. I cannot fathom why someone would downvote your. People: downvotes are not “dislikes”. Too many and people get suspended and banned form BP. Don’t shut down conversations.
Load More Replies...For more Tay Zonday, check out the Weezer video for "Pork and Beans." It includes a lot of the lovable youtube misfits of the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQHPYelqr0E
Thank you - that will now be stuck in my head the rest of the week
If you have played the game not having a helmet is the least of this kids worries
Load More Replies..."Write down the biggest thought or feeling as a result of the daydream. That way you’re not just stopping daydreaming. You are doing something positive as a nice transition from stopping daydreaming to doing something,” the therapist suggested.
I was a beta tester for twitter! Had two accounts, one a popular anime character's name and boy, do people get angry at me to this day for having the "real" name when I "don't even roleplay with it".
Me and my sister had fun tweeting each other when I was in college and she was still in high school. This was before either of us had smart phones. You had to text to tweet and set special text alerts for the users you want updates on. We would playfully smack talk each other constantly. Good times!
Geez I had this happen, some kid on youtube said to wrap it in towels with it on for 6 hours...Don't know if it was meant to be a joke, seemed so but I had nothing to lose...IT WORKED! still got the dang thing 12 years later
Load More Replies...The Bad Old Days, when we would scream and throw balled-up socks at the screen
I have always been very lucky to never have a console do this to me, so many of my friends had it though it’s a terrible thing to happen
I never saw this bc I used to play a modified PS2 (with internal hard drive).
This was my worst nightmare when I first got the original Kingdom Hearts back in the day
I (stupidly) got a matching tat with my BFF. It was supposed to be a symbol of two rings, ‘different sizes, but still going together’ (massive internal cringe) aaaannnnndddddd now people ask me why I got rhe Xbox power button tattoo. When i’m subburn, they ask why did I get the ‘ring of death’ tattoo. 🤦🏻♀️
I have one on my desk at work, so does my colleague.
Load More Replies...Although not that long ago the attention span on people was.....look a sqirrel
I still have & use my spinners & fidgets. A sensory sensitive's best friend at times.
fidgets are great, do you have those weird neon rubber rope things?
Load More Replies...I have the top right one but in white. It was my boyfriends but he didn't get on with it. It helps me but the calibration is off so its noisy when you spin it
"Finally, turn your daydream into a visualization or goal exercise. Your daydreams could be a communication about your innermost desires. Could you begin to plan how to achieve those desires?" she said that daydreaming and thinking about the past can help us become more aware of our wants and needs in the present.
...yeah- the cupboard in my kitchen is a good place- my son lost interest in these a while ago and that's where they live...every now and then one rolls out, hit's the chopping board and scares the c**p out of me.....
Load More Replies...I had one of these. Never knew what it was... Still don't...
Glad to see I'm by far not the only old fart who was a bit disappointed with this list 😆
Load More Replies...What about the lemmings? If someone knows where to get those games let me know!
There is a lemmings game in available for iPhone. :)
Load More Replies...Most of these are under 10 years old. I was hoping for 80s and 90s stuff or older!
Friendly reminder: downvotes are NOT dislike buttons. Downvoting a comment just because you don't agree = not cool. If a comment gets downvoted, its author will get banned from the site. So please downvote only in case of obvious spam ("how to make cash") or if someone is literally harassing a fellow panda
So anyone remember the Indian Jones and the Last Crusade PC game? I remember playing it in either late 80's or early 90's but noone else seems to remember it :/
Us. We played all together as a family because we only had one PC at the time.
Load More Replies...Back in the 80's we had a commodore 64 DOS. Does anyone remember a game called 'Jumpman Jr.'?
Most of these things were "after" my time. I remember my son buying pokemon pogs.
Glad to see I'm by far not the only old fart who was a bit disappointed with this list 😆
Load More Replies...What about the lemmings? If someone knows where to get those games let me know!
There is a lemmings game in available for iPhone. :)
Load More Replies...Most of these are under 10 years old. I was hoping for 80s and 90s stuff or older!
Friendly reminder: downvotes are NOT dislike buttons. Downvoting a comment just because you don't agree = not cool. If a comment gets downvoted, its author will get banned from the site. So please downvote only in case of obvious spam ("how to make cash") or if someone is literally harassing a fellow panda
So anyone remember the Indian Jones and the Last Crusade PC game? I remember playing it in either late 80's or early 90's but noone else seems to remember it :/
Us. We played all together as a family because we only had one PC at the time.
Load More Replies...Back in the 80's we had a commodore 64 DOS. Does anyone remember a game called 'Jumpman Jr.'?
Most of these things were "after" my time. I remember my son buying pokemon pogs.
