1. The slap bracelet that got banned because… well, it slapped
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And we mean physically as well as its level of iconic-ness! We sure miss those days before we had to fiddle with a clasp or do that weird dangling thing you have to do when you’ve no one to help you put the bracelet on! Slap bracelets made sense as accessories – and then they made less sense when people would just use them as weapons.
2. Entering a stage of grief when your Tamagotchi died
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Nothing – and we mean nothing – was more important than keeping that darn Tamagotchi pet alive. The trouble was, between trying to do your homework and taking a nap, it was never guaranteed it wouldn’t be dead the next time you checked because you forgot to feed it. RIP.
3. The nightmare fuel that was the AOL dial-up noise
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We take for granted how smooth-sailing the internet is these days – never again will we have to hear the torturous screeching dial up noises of AOL internet, like nails on a chalk board. And having to actually wait until it had done? That’s something we can’t abide by these days – we want silent, instant internet or not at all!
4. Having Ross and Rachel’s relationship being the only one you cared about
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The definition of ‘will they, won’t they’, these two were more important than actual news breaking out in the world – the latest episode of Friends was the only thing that mattered. And if it wasn’t “The One Where Ross and Rachel…” in the title, we weren’t interested. But there’s one thing we know for certain: she got off the plane.
5. Deciding which Spice Girl you were
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And being offended if you friends thought you were more Ginger than Posh! One of the hardest decisions in the world was deciding which Spice Girl you most related to, whilst also preferring some of the outfits from the other Spice Girls, and then arguing with your friends about who would wear the Union Jack dress at Halloween. Good times.
6. The anxiety of whether your Blockbuster rental is going to be in stock
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Netflix who? We remember having to physically drive to Blockbuster with sweaty palms and a pounding heart, just hoping and praying that the latest DVD release would still be on stock on the shelf. Nothing was more disappointing than moving the cover DVD to find nothing behind it. Friday night ruined.
7. A whole wardrobe of jewellery made out of hard candy
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Was jewellery even jewellery if you couldn’t eat it? The only bracelets, necklaces and rings we cared about were the ones we could snack on whilst pretending to listen to the teacher in class. Either that or deciding to fling a sweet or two at the kid in front of us with our candy necklace and well-aimed teeth.
8. Having the Saved By The Bell cast being your point of reference for your crush
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Every single person in the 90s had at least one member of the Saved By The Bell cast be their crush (Zack Morris, amiright?) and anyone in real life who wanted to hold your hand awkwardly in the school corridors had to match up to that, otherwise what’s the point?
9. Not knowing a single person who didn’t have a Sports Direct mug
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No home was complete without a Sports Direct mug taking up all the room in the kitchen cupboard! Whether you drank a vat of coffee out of it, or used it as pen storage, there was always a use for a massive Sports Direct mug – but was it a help, or a hindrance? You decide.
10. Having the Macarena dance ingrained in your brain
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The Macarena wasn’t just a dance – it was a way of life. And which school disco or wedding party would be complete without a line of people awkwardly doing the Macarena? And there was always that one person who would jump the wrong way before the next verse so your arms bang into each other. Sigh.
11. Carrying a CD Walkman in your school blazer pocket
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Bonus points if you threaded the earphone wire up through your school shirt so the teacher wouldn’t spy it in your ear during class! Ah, good times. Before we had Spotify or wireless on demand, having to carry physical CDs to put in your bulky Walkman was just the way things were done.
12. The Goosebumps books being the pinnacle of your collection
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Who remembers raiding the school library for the latest edition, too? If you couldn’t afford all of them, you were guaranteed to find one that you hadn’t read in the library – and then regret it when you couldn’t sleep without a night light on. Even as adults now we’d be hard pressed not to be disturbed by a Goosebumps book or two!
13. Thinking your Beanie Babies would make you rich
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Getting a proper job was for losers when you had a Beanie Babies collection complete with original tags! Well, at least that’s what you thought, until the reality sunk in when you got a little older. That adorable tiger with its red tag wasn’t fetching much in terms of income, was it?
14. Coming to the realisation that nothing is ironic in Alanis Morissette’s song
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English teachers everywhere must have been pulling their hair out after Alanis Morisette’s hit song was released. News flash, Alanis: rain on your wedding day isn’t ironic, it’s just bad luck. The whole song should have been called “Isn’t it bad luck?”. Unfortunately for 90s kids, they went about their business now using ‘ironic’ wrong in every sentence.
15. Collecting physical catalogues to circle the things you want
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Sending your mum a link to the Amazon product you want was never a thing back then – you had to have the store’s physical catalogue so you could rifle through the pages, circle what you want and deliver it promptly to the dining table so your parents could see it. Hello, Christmas list!
16. Thinking you were cool because you had a pager
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Doctors and nurses might think they’re cool, but they had nothing on us! Sat in your living room working out specific codes for this random pager you had before the times of proper mobile phones was a core memory for most of us. And walking round with the pager attached to your waist? Even cooler.
17. Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ defining your era of music
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If there’s one song that was the anthem of the 90s, it was Barbie Girl – and that will never change. It remains, to this day, a testament of how pop music should be. We bet you still know the lyrics off by heart, don’t you? Back then, it was a bit of a guilty pleasure – these days, we listen to it with pride.
18. Magic Eye illusions being a peak pastime
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You could either do it, or you couldn’t – there’s no in between. Either you enjoyed Magic Eye in the corner of the living room in wonder, or you ended up throwing the thing at the wall in frustration because your sibling could do it, and you couldn’t. There’s no thrill like that picture coming into focus, though.
19. Never wanting to tickle Elmo ever again
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Tickle Me Elmo was like Turboman from Jingle All The Way – everyone wanted one, parents were going crazy in stores for them, and Fight Me for Elmo would have been a more apt name for this particular toy surge. Not only that: when you actually got one, the mechanical laughter was enough to make you never want to tickle anything again.
20. Having 2000 glasses be the greatest millennium attire
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Who remembers having a massive pair of ‘2000’ glasses in silver glitter, or adorned with champagne glasses, when the Millennium hit? We bet you remember where you were, too – probably at a family party wearing those exact glasses. And at the risk of making us all feel old – just a reminder that was 23 years ago (you’re welcome).
