Most of us, at some point, have experienced some form of nostalgia, which can wash over us for a wide plethora of reasons. One of the more common forms of nostalgia is that for a certain point in time of our lives, which is filled with many smaller things that bring us joy or otherwise make us feel like a time in which we belong.
The '90s, for a lot of people, is certainly such a time, and there is definitely a lot to miss. Although it was a time that was not even that long ago, it belonged to a different world compared to that which we live in today. And though some things remain similar, or the same, back in the day we weren’t as interconnected globally as we are now, and that is just one of a few differences. The article that follows is based upon a Reddit post, which asked people to share things people miss the most from the '90s. The post collected 9.3k upvotes and 6.4k comments. Scroll down to see the whole post, consider upvoting the entries that made you feel the most nostalgic, and leave a comment!
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Not having to make an account for EVERYTHING
Nostalgia is a set of sentiments for the past and a form of attachment to it. It is a powerful feeling that allows for not only reminiscence, but hope and strength to move forward. Even though arguably it is a sensation that most people associate with living in the past, it really doesn't have to be only that. After all, recollecting something that seems to make the world a better place to be in can remind us of the fact that the present is no worse. That doesn't change the fact, however, that it can indeed be blissful to rewind a little and remind oneself that some moments in the past were very heartwarming.
Software that you buy one time and own. Looking at you adobe.
Book stores. Just browsing all the aisles and discovering new books and new authors
Video games that were offline, that you could play the whole thing with just the purchase price of the game.
Arguably one of the biggest changes we've experienced since the '90s is the level of interconnectedness in the world. Since numerous small online forums started being replaced by social media giants, we have become increasingly reliant on them to communicate or simply pass the time. Nowadays, we can be pretty much reached by everyone at any moment's notice, and there is little escape from that unless we want to be slightly left out of the intense loop we live in today.
People NOT recording every aspect of their lives. People NOT faking s**t for the all important internet clout.
I guess the lack of social media in general I miss.
Smartphones at concerts! You will NEVER EVER look at the video again..
News that was only on for 30 minutes 3 times a day. Hit me with the facts, leave out the 24 hour commentary.
Maybe, but then you are relying on a handful of companies to decide what you need to know. I realize that tailored newsfeeds are bringing us back to the days where you are only going to see what they want you to see, but there are advantages to having news available from numerous sources. (That being said, I agree with the spirit of this post. I am burnt out on news right now.)
Not being able to be reached 24/7
Remember when the only people who had cell phones or pagers were doctors and high end business professionals that NEEDED to be reached at a moments notice. Now, everyone is expected to be available at any time. And if you elect to stand your ground and establish a separation between work/personal life you're considered "rude" or "difficult to communicate with".
I think the future of cell phone etiquette is going to be turning the thing off for 12 hours a day. It might take a while to become ubiquitous, but I know people who do that now.
My 18 year old body. Oh how I wish I appreciated what I had.
Not me...was overweight, ugly styled, ugly Wear, ugly glasses, ugly hairstyle, addicted, sad, and an a.....e. I feel I'm so much a better person today at 41
Tactility, at least when it comes to technology, is another big change. Back in the day, everything had dials, switches, buttons etc. and was very tangible. Since then, most tech devices have been replaced with screens, or minimalist packages of various sorts. The novelty of screens is arguably wearing off, though, as there are multiple companies out there today that aim to bring back more tangible products for lifestyle, entertainment and creativity.
Being able to own things without having to take out a subscription
Being able to take an airplane flight that didn't feel like you were a convict being processed for prison.
It was awesome to show up at the airport 1/2 hour before the flight and just get on board the plane. Now it's 4 hours before flight time and a big delay because someone is trying to get their emotional support Komodo dragon on the plane and they wore lace-up boots.
I lived in a one bedroom apartment in San Diego in the nineties to the tune of $400 a month. I'd like that back, please.
Edit: I looked up the specific place I lived. That one bedroom runs $1,650 now.
Anonymity when online. I remember when we were told to never give out any personal info online ever. Then Facebook came around and suddenly it was cool to put your whole life online
All in all, the 90s seems to be a very nostalgic time period for a lot of people. Whether it's technology, or lack of thereof, entertainment, or a general sense of feel-good, it is a period of time in the past that still brings people joy today, at least in the form of memories.
Surebegrandlike11 said:
The cost of living…..
musicalrssnroulette replied:
This
I remember seeing people with like fast food jobs and stuff not having as much as more skilled workers but they still OWNED their house and OWNED their cars, they didn’t have as nice of things but they still owned property and a house and could still afford to buy a car and food and healthcare
It’s absolutely mind bending that anyone would wish someone would starve to death and have their family suffer because they aren’t ceo of a company, and just working there
My mom worked for a supermarket in the 90s it was new. She trained people in different departments. Her bring home pay was 1400$ a week to start abs she got 3000$ bonuses every 3 months. Had full benefits and a company car in case she needed to travel to another store w a per diem. They closed slowly after 9/11. They cut her hours bc they didn't want to pay people anymore. Things got progressively worse. She never made that kind of money again.
I miss going to video stores and browsing.
None of the films you want to watch are on Netflix, or Amazon or anything other platform. You waste so much time looking. You could have got a pizza ordered, gone to Blockbuster, found some films, picked up the pizza and be at home stuffing your face in the time you have spent searching online for stuff you want to watch.
And you didn't have to subscribe to at least 3 different streaming services to be able to watch a show you like.
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LOVE the library! great invention and saves a ton of money for us on tight budgets!
Load More Replies... I used to find I would watch a much greater variety of movies in those days. When you take the time to go to the video shop with a movie in mind and find it's out you end up getting something else just so it's not a wasted journey. I ended up finding some gems. These days you have so much instant access to vast movie libraries, but which usually don't have the one movie you want, you end up just switching off as you've gone to no trouble looking.
Or they have that movie, but you have to pay for it, even if you’re already PAYING to subscribe to their service!
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I will never forget the thrill of finding the newest movie on at Blockbuster. You had to either be first on release day, or time it right to catch the returns a couple days later. I miss the smell of the place...popcorn, candy and filthy carpet.
It was exciting to take the whole family. You could also leave somebody at home to make popcorn. I always thought this would eventually come back, but I have given up on that hope.
Oh, browsing the 'New Release' movies at the video store was a Saturday night staple, lol. The excitement of checking out the titles & arguing with your friends which one to rent. The disappointment when the one you wanted was all rented out. The panic when you realised you had to return it the next day by 6pm & you hadn't finished watching it yet 😲
Yes! You could find all these obscure treasures that way, especially independent films, documentaries, comedies and old Godzilla movies... Now the platforms just thrust what sells at you. It's so homogenized now. It's the opposite of progress.
And older rentals were generally sold for a couple bucks, so if you especially loved one of them, you could add it to your personal library. Plus, you owned it forever, unlike iTunes, which can remove a movie (or music or anything else) you have paid for, because they’re in a dispute with the distributor. THEN if it shows back up, you most likely have to buy it again! WTF?
Load More Replies... Upvote, but the shops themselves aren't actually what I miss. I miss being able to look at a selection and find things I want to watch without much trouble. Tastes have shifted. That's not good or bad, it just is.
Not just tastes, but a lot of old good movies are simply not available online for free.
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You could rent a new release for $3 or an old movie for $1. Now I have to subscribe to a streaming service for $5-$12. Then purchase the premium add-on for $9. Then pay $6 to rent a movie wether it came out last week or.30 years ago.
I could search for hours on Netflix and still not find anything I'm interested in. I remember going to video stores and knowing exactly what you wanted. It may have been out sometimes but I always found something else in less than ten minutes. All the browsing just gets frustrating and I give up or watch something I've already seen. I haven't had Netflix in quite some time. Their selection is just so huge.
That looks like a hoarder movie collection. How would you ever find anything?
Hmm.... No, I prefer Netflix. The stuff NEtflix prioduces is fantastic and not haviing to spend hundreds of millions on distribution means that much more money for the actual productions.
You can still do that to some extent if you happen to be were there are McKays!
I just miss Netflix getting us both DVDs and streaming for the same price.
That special feeling is just gone. I used to get this every Saturday with my sister as a treat, then we'd sit back with popcorn and have our movie date. Now I have subscriptions to so many streaming services yet I've talked about looking for a DVD player. I still have my old movies!
This is when you know you're old. Browsing trailers is objectively a far better way to see more about the movie much faster.
My favorite thing to take my kids to the video store and pick out a few movies on a Friday night. Definitely miss those days.
Me too. But I have fixed that to some degree. I have paper lists of movies I want to see. I check out my ancient Movie guide book. I spend 5 minutes seeing if I can find it online. Five minutes is my patience limit w/ online idiocy. If not there, I can do something amazing. I get in my car and drive to what was and still is, arguably, one of the best places in the US to rent a dvd or video (if it's so obscure that it's not on dvd) . Movies from all over the world live here. And if I can't find anything, I go up to anyone that looks interesting and ask them what's their favorite sleeper movie. This has worked ten out ten. I do my very best not support those business that have inserted themselves into small businesses, so as to suck the life out of the and then treat their workers like serfs. So I don't use food delivery services for example.
Friday nights were so chill with a trip to the video store and grabbing a pizza.
This is the thing I'll always miss the most about the past, I'll never go into a video store and rent random VHS tapes again.
2004: Frequented my local Blockbuster so much that I was on a first name basis with all employees regardless of who had which shift.
I still go to GameStop and browse, granted the ps5 doesn't have a lot of stuff I like but it's still fun!
They had way more options than (insert streaming service here). If I wanted to watch something, unless it was only in theaters, they had it. Didn't matter that it wasn't popular anymore.
This is probably more late 90s/early 00s than the 90s as a whole, but a social media-less internet.
It felt like an escape from real life, as opposed to an extension of it.
That sense of relief we felt between the end of the Cold War and 9/11.
Reasonable commercial lengths.. Now Espn has 5 minute commercial breaks...
Nokia cellphones.
Honestly, I kind of don’t want this damn smartphone anymore.
I wonder if there's a market for a stripped down smartphone (akin to a Nokia 3310) that can retain some of the more useful features of a smartphone (certain apps, internet connectivity, maps, photo and video, etc) but do away with unnecessary stuff like social media apps etc? As in keep the useful features of a smartphone but restrict the ability to add battery draining "fluff".
The hope that I'll live a fulfilling adult life with a reasonable amount of dreams being achieved
The hope is what I miss too. I read my old journals from the 90s and I was so happy and excited for the future. My daughter gets a kick out of them bc of all the things I did every day. Sure there were some sad or hard times but it was infrequent it didn't pile on to where you feel life is so mundane but also scary.
Maybe not 'outdated' per se, but I'd really like to have my hair and waistline I had during the 90s.
Indoor malls. So many have been replaced with “lifestyle centers” where everything is accessed from outside. I miss being able to go shopping on a cold/ugly day without being cold and getting wet. And yes, I know they still exist, but they seem fewer and farther between.
LucasArts adventure games. They were my favorites. The Monkey Island series can’t be beat.
ETA: Sam & Max, Full Throttle were amazing, but no one has yet to mention Grim Fandango, Maniac Mansion’s 2 games, Zak McKraken or Loom.
Second ETA: I forgot Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis!
Electronic stores where you can just buy something right when you need it instead of going on Amazon
Wish I could play my Gameboy for the first time again.
The best Christmas I had was opening my Sega Megadrive (or Genesis) with about three games, plugging it in and basically playing it straight away, non stop from 7 in the morning until about midnight. No downloading updates, no registering for an account. Just plug and play.
Note: this post originally had 35 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I miss the traveling, how inexpensive everything was, feeling like we were all on the same side, the excitement for the future, the trust, no one was as angry and believed in science, masses of people weren't brainwashed or at the very least you couldn't spread your lunacy in 2 seconds and have a major following of lunatics 24 hrs later. And the clubbing it was a fantastic decade to go dancing and for music in general.
I miss a lot of things, but I think kids being able to hang out on their own is a big one for me. It used to be, at 5 or 6 every evening, front doors would open and moms or dads would yell "Ricky! Dave! Dinner!" Now only teenagers have the freedom to be running the streets, and even most of them are very restricted compared to the 70s-90s.
I want a go back to a time when the country wasn't divided by your political views.
2D cartoons and animation. I’m sure there’s still tv shows but I want a big production like another Aladdin or Lion King. And NO, I don’t mean a sequel or a remake.
I hate the re-animated tv series. They just don't look right! Like Fireman Sam, Bananas in Pyjamas, Blinky Bill, they have all been redone.
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Being able to defend yourself without fearing that you will be accused of being anti-something.
Miss my daughters being kids, the cost of living, my body weight, my youthful enthusiasm.
In the U.S. in the 80s and early 90s, malls used to be a fun place to spend time, even if you didn't have a lot of money. There were shops where you could browse for records, videos, books, posters, and toys. There were specialty stores that sold board games, or rocks and crystals, or comic books. Every clothing chain had a different style. There were movie theaters and video arcades, and sometimes concerts or fashion shows. As teenagers we could go there with $5 in our pocket and spend the entire day. Now it's mostly bland clothing and jewelry that all looks the same, and the decor seems designed to discourage people from spending any more time there than necessary.
I just miss the innocence I had in the 90s. Humans cultivate and maintain a miserable existence on earth for each other. The older I get and more I learn, the less I want to know about our species and what's happening in the world. It's just too much, and I feel myself becoming numb, cynical and detached, intentionally secluding myself from the world and avoiding making commitments I can't wiggle free from easily. When I was a child, I had the luxury of peace of mind and ignorance of how the world really works.
I'm just glad I got to live through the 90's. I feel bad for people who will never know life without needing to be at a screen for everything.
Radio Shack, good food at Dennys, $0.85 a gallon gas, Bigmac combo meals for $3.49, much much fewer Walmart stores, 35mm film as the norm, $25 cable service, computer stores that sold everything individually, being able to drive across the country without it costing 3 months salary, none of the psychotic politicians, drive in movie theaters, put-put golf, $0.50 comics, $0.50 soda and candy bars, Burgerking fries before Olean fry oil, good music as the norm that told a story instead of repeating the same word over and over and wasn't calling women derogatory names, no school shootings, everyone practicing safe sex, the near absence of child sex predators, much fewer missing children, normal weather year round, movie tickets at $3 each, movie theaters below 8 screens, budget trucks that didn't cost $40k new ( looking at you Ford Ranger), no craft beer, movie sequels stopped at 3.
if we had silver backed money instead of bogus paper notes, the prices would be similar. Most people don't know how the world banking system works with the different national banks and federal reserves. The US constitution in Article I, Section 10 prohibits anything but gold and silver coin from being used as legal tender. The legal money of the land is gold and silver, not green ink on cotton paper. The article lead picture for this article says an apt. rented for $400 in 1990. The price of silver was $4.82 an ounce then. It is currently $26/oz. Multiply the 1990 rate by 5.4, and you get a rental rate of $2157. This is much more than what the author bemoans. This is why we have an inflation problem. Listed prices are trying to catch up to the silver standard expected price. The monitor suspended me for putting this up yesterday. We will see how long this truth lasts. These people are very touchy about saying anything about this sacred cow, inflation.
I miss going to a store and buying what you needed without knowing what else exists and what it costs somewhere else. You know, just going to buy a coffeemaker at the local shop and not knowing 35 different models exist that they don’t have, and that a shop 2 km away is 10 euro cheaper. Just 3 options and you get one of them.
In the 70s my dad would go to a bunch of stores to get the cheapest stuff lol keep walking and he parked his car further away, cause that didn't cost 10 cent to park.
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The music! Live bands playing at beer barns and bars. Getting excited by hearing a fantastic new song on the radio or at a club. Dancing all night.
I miss the fact that things were within buying reach. I mean they were expensive in those days too. but it is way expensive now....
I enjoy the time I'm living in, the technical advances, convenient internet banking and so much more. And I'm 60. I don't want to go back to dial up modems and slow internet!!
Two things I can't believe are gone, but they are: Shoe stores that have mens' and especially boys' sections. And toy stores. Now, everything is Walmart and Target, and they have zero selection. My son needs sneakers, but his school requires black shoes. Every time I go shopping, I look for black, kids' sneakers. Running shoes, cross-trainers, whatever. They don't exist. And the only toy stores sell nothing but Melissa-and-Doug-type stuff only: overpriced, wooden stuff designed only for nostalgia but not for play. You know, for kids who miss the day when Pop used to hand-carve wooden toys by candlelight. Which is absolutely zero kids. With only small sections of Target selling toys, 100% of my toy purchases are on-line, but I miss seeing all the toys.
The music. I can't even with today's music. My niece was listening to Imagine Dragons the other day. By the time the third song came on—and it sounded exactly like the first two—I was ready to ritually disembowel myself. No identifiable verse, chorus, or bridge. Just the same background music through the whole thing.
I do miss a lot, but I don't spend my life draped in nostalgia. There's always a trade off for something you had in the past. I lost my body, but I gained self-acceptance. I lost cheap prices, but I gained a better sense of money management. I miss some old games but the new ones are so much better. I don't know, I guess I'm just positive about change.
I miss when rainbow colors were just colors. And didn't mean support or anti something... just simple plain fun colors without anything "meaningfull" atached. Plus there where NO vegans!!!
Buying stuff from the store. Now the things I want are on the website, but not in the store. Can't have it same day that way.
There are still brick-and-mortar stores around. They do have many advantages over on-line stores, such as getting your items immediately, and what you see IS what you get.
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Flares, but I found some today. Looks like they're gonna be back in style.
I miss the traveling, how inexpensive everything was, feeling like we were all on the same side, the excitement for the future, the trust, no one was as angry and believed in science, masses of people weren't brainwashed or at the very least you couldn't spread your lunacy in 2 seconds and have a major following of lunatics 24 hrs later. And the clubbing it was a fantastic decade to go dancing and for music in general.
I miss a lot of things, but I think kids being able to hang out on their own is a big one for me. It used to be, at 5 or 6 every evening, front doors would open and moms or dads would yell "Ricky! Dave! Dinner!" Now only teenagers have the freedom to be running the streets, and even most of them are very restricted compared to the 70s-90s.
I want a go back to a time when the country wasn't divided by your political views.
2D cartoons and animation. I’m sure there’s still tv shows but I want a big production like another Aladdin or Lion King. And NO, I don’t mean a sequel or a remake.
I hate the re-animated tv series. They just don't look right! Like Fireman Sam, Bananas in Pyjamas, Blinky Bill, they have all been redone.
Load More Replies... Being able to defend yourself without fearing that you will be accused of being anti-something.
Miss my daughters being kids, the cost of living, my body weight, my youthful enthusiasm.
In the U.S. in the 80s and early 90s, malls used to be a fun place to spend time, even if you didn't have a lot of money. There were shops where you could browse for records, videos, books, posters, and toys. There were specialty stores that sold board games, or rocks and crystals, or comic books. Every clothing chain had a different style. There were movie theaters and video arcades, and sometimes concerts or fashion shows. As teenagers we could go there with $5 in our pocket and spend the entire day. Now it's mostly bland clothing and jewelry that all looks the same, and the decor seems designed to discourage people from spending any more time there than necessary.
I just miss the innocence I had in the 90s. Humans cultivate and maintain a miserable existence on earth for each other. The older I get and more I learn, the less I want to know about our species and what's happening in the world. It's just too much, and I feel myself becoming numb, cynical and detached, intentionally secluding myself from the world and avoiding making commitments I can't wiggle free from easily. When I was a child, I had the luxury of peace of mind and ignorance of how the world really works.
I'm just glad I got to live through the 90's. I feel bad for people who will never know life without needing to be at a screen for everything.
Radio Shack, good food at Dennys, $0.85 a gallon gas, Bigmac combo meals for $3.49, much much fewer Walmart stores, 35mm film as the norm, $25 cable service, computer stores that sold everything individually, being able to drive across the country without it costing 3 months salary, none of the psychotic politicians, drive in movie theaters, put-put golf, $0.50 comics, $0.50 soda and candy bars, Burgerking fries before Olean fry oil, good music as the norm that told a story instead of repeating the same word over and over and wasn't calling women derogatory names, no school shootings, everyone practicing safe sex, the near absence of child sex predators, much fewer missing children, normal weather year round, movie tickets at $3 each, movie theaters below 8 screens, budget trucks that didn't cost $40k new ( looking at you Ford Ranger), no craft beer, movie sequels stopped at 3.
if we had silver backed money instead of bogus paper notes, the prices would be similar. Most people don't know how the world banking system works with the different national banks and federal reserves. The US constitution in Article I, Section 10 prohibits anything but gold and silver coin from being used as legal tender. The legal money of the land is gold and silver, not green ink on cotton paper. The article lead picture for this article says an apt. rented for $400 in 1990. The price of silver was $4.82 an ounce then. It is currently $26/oz. Multiply the 1990 rate by 5.4, and you get a rental rate of $2157. This is much more than what the author bemoans. This is why we have an inflation problem. Listed prices are trying to catch up to the silver standard expected price. The monitor suspended me for putting this up yesterday. We will see how long this truth lasts. These people are very touchy about saying anything about this sacred cow, inflation.
I miss going to a store and buying what you needed without knowing what else exists and what it costs somewhere else. You know, just going to buy a coffeemaker at the local shop and not knowing 35 different models exist that they don’t have, and that a shop 2 km away is 10 euro cheaper. Just 3 options and you get one of them.
In the 70s my dad would go to a bunch of stores to get the cheapest stuff lol keep walking and he parked his car further away, cause that didn't cost 10 cent to park.
Load More Replies... The music! Live bands playing at beer barns and bars. Getting excited by hearing a fantastic new song on the radio or at a club. Dancing all night.
I miss the fact that things were within buying reach. I mean they were expensive in those days too. but it is way expensive now....
I enjoy the time I'm living in, the technical advances, convenient internet banking and so much more. And I'm 60. I don't want to go back to dial up modems and slow internet!!
Two things I can't believe are gone, but they are: Shoe stores that have mens' and especially boys' sections. And toy stores. Now, everything is Walmart and Target, and they have zero selection. My son needs sneakers, but his school requires black shoes. Every time I go shopping, I look for black, kids' sneakers. Running shoes, cross-trainers, whatever. They don't exist. And the only toy stores sell nothing but Melissa-and-Doug-type stuff only: overpriced, wooden stuff designed only for nostalgia but not for play. You know, for kids who miss the day when Pop used to hand-carve wooden toys by candlelight. Which is absolutely zero kids. With only small sections of Target selling toys, 100% of my toy purchases are on-line, but I miss seeing all the toys.
The music. I can't even with today's music. My niece was listening to Imagine Dragons the other day. By the time the third song came on—and it sounded exactly like the first two—I was ready to ritually disembowel myself. No identifiable verse, chorus, or bridge. Just the same background music through the whole thing.
I do miss a lot, but I don't spend my life draped in nostalgia. There's always a trade off for something you had in the past. I lost my body, but I gained self-acceptance. I lost cheap prices, but I gained a better sense of money management. I miss some old games but the new ones are so much better. I don't know, I guess I'm just positive about change.
I miss when rainbow colors were just colors. And didn't mean support or anti something... just simple plain fun colors without anything "meaningfull" atached. Plus there where NO vegans!!!
Buying stuff from the store. Now the things I want are on the website, but not in the store. Can't have it same day that way.
There are still brick-and-mortar stores around. They do have many advantages over on-line stores, such as getting your items immediately, and what you see IS what you get.
Load More Replies... Flares, but I found some today. Looks like they're gonna be back in style.
