“Skip-It AKA Ankle Shatterers”: 30 Things From Childhood That You Probably Can’t Find Today
Interview
Back in my day, kids used to stomp around in their Moon Shoes, jump over their Skip-Its until their ankles were swollen and cover their arms with slap bracelets to show off their amazing fashion sense.
It’s only natural for childhood favorites from “back in the day” to become much less popular over time, but that doesn’t mean we can’t miss those Friday night trips to Blockbuster and our precious Tamagotchis. Reddit users have recently been taking a trip down memory lane to recall things from their youth that are much less popular today, so enjoy scrolling through this list and be sure to upvote the replies that fill you with nostalgia!
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Leaving the house at sunup and returning at dinner time. We just ran free with no fear of being kidnapped.
Ah…the good old days! How about the Chrissy doll whose hair you could pull to make it longer? Or “Flatsies, Flatsies they’re flat and that’s that” My all time favorite though would have to be Clackers!! I never lost an eye playing with them🤪 I almost forgot about my very first album…it was “Popcorn” by Hot Buttered Popcorn!! No words in the song, it was just “do da do do do da doot…and the cover had a red & white popcorn box Ike from a cinema
Having to get off the internet so Mom could make a phone call lmao.
To gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to the Reddit user who started this conversation, Theweirdposidenchild, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda. The OP explained that she was inspired to invite others to share about their childhoods because she loves learning about the past.
"I am a huge history buff," she shared. "Even learning about things that were big in the few years before I was born is fun. I especially like learning about past trends such as silly bands or rainbow loom or anything or the sort, because I like seeing how similar different generations can be."
Before I was totally competent swimming by myself, my mom would put a life jacket on me, tie a long piece of nylon rope to it, and chuck me in the river. She'd basically swim me on a leash down the river for fun.
Mom, you are the classiest redneck.
We were also curious about what Theweirdposidenchild recalls from her own childhood that we don't see often today. "Some things I remember (I'm going to sound really young saying this) that aren't as popular are things like stacking cups, fidget spinners, rainbow looms, silly bands, slap bracelets, and Shopkins," she told Bored Panda.
"I remember each of these trends being the coolest thing around for awhile, before they were discarded and abandoned and left in the 2010s," the OP continued. "If you're looking for things that aren't material objects, there's always the dab and the floss dance, both of which were super cool at the time but are now considered 'cringe.'"
1. Knowing people's phone numbers
2. Getting on your bike after school to go to your friends house. Finding out they weren't home. Riding your bike to a different friends house and finding 4 other friends already there.
3. Ding dong Ditch.
Walkman
While Theweirdposidenchild does admit she misses many of these things, she says they probably wouldn't hold up today. "Especially the toys which get abandoned," she added. "Since the world is so fast paced, a lot of these trends would probably end up in landfills."
The OP also noted that, for the most part, she enjoyed reading the responses her post received. "Most people followed the prompt I tried to set up and let themselves be washed away by nostalgia for a moment."
Climbing trees. Do kids still do this?
However, not everyone was a good sport. "Other people took the time to bash on younger generations, saying that their generation had 'manners' and that modern generations haven't even heard of the concept," Theweirdposidenchild continued.
"Every generation thinks it's better than the one that comes after it," the OP told Bored Panda. "That feeling of superiority that a lot of older folks in my comments had was really annoying. We all came here to feel nostalgic for trends long forgotten, not feel bad because older generations can't keep their entitlement to themselves."
Prank phone calls
And then computer generated junk calls trained us all to no longer answer the phone.
We used to think it was great fun to order pizza to people's homes who didn't order them. This is something you used to be able to do. I wouldn't recommend it now even if you could still do it because we were stupid kids and it was very wasteful.
We would order a taxi to a neighbor who lived across the street, late at night. After the 3rd honk, people would start turning lights on, opening doors, etc. to see what the commotion was all about.
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My husband's classic - calling the bowling alley on a Friday night no less "Would you page my friend please there's a family emergency". " Sure, no problem, what's his name?" "Mike Mehoff" "Okay". Pages several times. "Sorry, nobody answered". (Pretty sure you see where this is going). "Okay, could you try his brother Jack?" "Okay". Pages several times "Jack Mehoff..". Great hilarity ensues in the background. Desk clerk "You Son of a b***h!". Classic.
I had a serious addiction to it starting at around 6-7 because of a show on tv called ‘just kidding’(1991-1994) - I’d wait for my parents to use the bath after bedtime and sneak out for prank calls and run to bed when I heard that loud plug sound 😂 I only stopped maybe around 2013-15. I told mum as an adult and she finds it funny.
I mean, one can still have a landline these days and I'm sure *67 (or was it 69?) still works. Hmmmmmm
It was *69 to do the last number called call back.
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I tried to make a prank phone call once, then got to scared and hung up... e_e
I remember a Great Aunt talking about this. Sadly, the ones I got were full of obscene words and only stopped when the idiots making them got their younger relatives involved which got their Mom involved.
you can still do this but turn off caller ID if you don't want to be GPS-located and hunted down by a psycho.
Smart kid wearing gloves so there are no fingerprints for crime scene investigators to run through the database.
Nobody plays with yoyos anymore
Using 1800collect as a messenger service.
please accept a collect call from "YOWEREATTHEMALL"
To accept
(click)
MOM. CAN I GO TO THE MALL?
My first boyfriend would call his mom collect when he was traveling. He had a specific fake name he'd use that was code for, "I'm just letting you know I've arrived safely/I'm OK." She'd decline to accept the call so there was no charge. He'd use his real name if he needed to actually talk to her/there was a problem.
those water ringtoss things that were handheld
oh lmao, i would just spam press the buttons until all the rings were on
Slap bracelets
Those Goosebump books
Trashy day time talk shows...there were dozens of them it seemed
Hollywood Video / Blockbuster
Kmart
Jenna Jameson
Grunge rock
Sticker books
Prank calls
Atari. Games were so much simpler with just one button and an unreliable joystick.
Tamagotchi
My youngest had one of these growing up. She loved it so much, she even took it on holiday with us. Anyhoo, I was up early and thought I'd check out what all the hubub was about. Was cool, I fed it, played with it etc. All great til I accidently knocked it off the table and it fell 3 floors down...smashed to bits. Still feel like c**p and I apologise every time she brings it up to take the pïss. RIP Blinky.
The snake game on phones
Lawn darts after sunset
We would throw these straight up in the air and scatter like roaches. Kids always have the best ideas.
Aol messenger
Family Portraits at Sears/JCPenney
Beepers
Malls
Arcades
Library Cards
Bowling Alleys
Sizzler/Ponderosa
House Phones/Landlines
Address Books/Calendar Organizers
Coin Purses
Smoking in public places
Book It
Church on Sunday
Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I had to stop halfway through as I was getting a bit annoyed - the vast majority of these entries, especially kid-related ones, are still in use (at least where I live, but many other pandas seem to agree). Just because you don't see people using stuff doesn't mean they don't use them. I am a mature teenager and I used many of these toys when I was little, I still have some in the garage.
They are in less use than they used to be. That's the point this article was trying to make. Which makes sense because people evolve and create new things generation after I didn't see anywhere in the article implying or directly saying people do not use these things anymore.
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These articles always annoy me. Scholastic book fairs? They still have them. Goosebumps books? They're still available, and popular. Yo-yos--there is a world Yo-Yo contest every year, and a worldwide community of yo-yo enthusiasts. Lists like this are full of people who aren't into whatever they're listing so they just assume no one else is either. Ten years ago, I was an avid 5k runner. I kept up to date with clubs, groups, and all 5k events in my area. If there was a Zombie 5k, I was there. If there was a Santa 5k, I was there. I am no longer involved in that hobby so I don't keep up on it. So, this list would be like if I said, "Oh, no one runs 5ks anymore. I never see any 5k events coming to my town." Well, of course I don't. I don't go looking for it. But just because I'm not doing it, doesn't mean it is just gone forever and on one is doing it. Someone on here seriously listed bowling alleys, arcades, and library cards---what? Those all exist and still all heavily used.
Yah, this is silly. Depending on where you live (just like back then, it was not the same for everyone) some kids may still be able to go out from sunup to sundown. Most of the toys mentioned I either have at my daycare or they have at home. Kids absolutely still climb trees (I've SEEN them). They still love slap bracelets, the snake game (a free app you can get) and the water basketball game (go fast every time I put them in my prize bin.) I get it - nostalgia. But please, if these are things you enjoyed go out and enjoy them instead of pretending you can't anymore.
Are we just not going to talk about Slinkies, Simon Says, Rubik’s cube and Speak and Spell? I loved all of those. And would love to give them to a kid in my life so I could play with them again. 😂
I had to stop halfway through as I was getting a bit annoyed - the vast majority of these entries, especially kid-related ones, are still in use (at least where I live, but many other pandas seem to agree). Just because you don't see people using stuff doesn't mean they don't use them. I am a mature teenager and I used many of these toys when I was little, I still have some in the garage.
They are in less use than they used to be. That's the point this article was trying to make. Which makes sense because people evolve and create new things generation after I didn't see anywhere in the article implying or directly saying people do not use these things anymore.
Load More Replies... These articles always annoy me. Scholastic book fairs? They still have them. Goosebumps books? They're still available, and popular. Yo-yos--there is a world Yo-Yo contest every year, and a worldwide community of yo-yo enthusiasts. Lists like this are full of people who aren't into whatever they're listing so they just assume no one else is either. Ten years ago, I was an avid 5k runner. I kept up to date with clubs, groups, and all 5k events in my area. If there was a Zombie 5k, I was there. If there was a Santa 5k, I was there. I am no longer involved in that hobby so I don't keep up on it. So, this list would be like if I said, "Oh, no one runs 5ks anymore. I never see any 5k events coming to my town." Well, of course I don't. I don't go looking for it. But just because I'm not doing it, doesn't mean it is just gone forever and on one is doing it. Someone on here seriously listed bowling alleys, arcades, and library cards---what? Those all exist and still all heavily used.
Yah, this is silly. Depending on where you live (just like back then, it was not the same for everyone) some kids may still be able to go out from sunup to sundown. Most of the toys mentioned I either have at my daycare or they have at home. Kids absolutely still climb trees (I've SEEN them). They still love slap bracelets, the snake game (a free app you can get) and the water basketball game (go fast every time I put them in my prize bin.) I get it - nostalgia. But please, if these are things you enjoyed go out and enjoy them instead of pretending you can't anymore.
Are we just not going to talk about Slinkies, Simon Says, Rubik’s cube and Speak and Spell? I loved all of those. And would love to give them to a kid in my life so I could play with them again. 😂
