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If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, buckle up – because this post is about to hit you with a tidal wave of nostalgia. Whether you were rewinding VHS tapes, sipping Ecto Cooler, or trying not to mess up your mixtape by recording over your favorite song, the little things from those decades still hold a special place in our hearts.
A few years ago, I wrote an Ode to the Class of 1998. I won’t deny that the older I get, the more nostalgia I seek.
As a proud Gen X or elder millennial, you probably remember a time before cell phones, when plans were made by calling your friend’s house and hoping their parent didn’t answer. When Friday nights meant pizza, Blockbuster, and the TGIF lineup. When our biggest worries were whether your Tamagotchi would survive school or if your favorite Lisa Frank folder went missing.
In honor of all things neon, crimped, dial-up, and totally awesome, I pulled together a giant list of 500 symbols, places, products, and pop culture gems from the 1980s and 1990s. Use this list to stroll down memory lane, spark some conversation, or even inspire your next themed party or Facebook post.
So grab a Capri Sun, settle into your inflatable chair, and enjoy this blast from the past!
P.S. Love this list? You’ll LOVE my new Gen X adult coloring book!
It’s packed with nostalgic throwbacks, hilarious one-liners, and memories only an ’80s or ’90s kid would understand. Grab your favorite gel pens and check it out here – it’s the ultimate blast from the past!
Tech & Gadgets
- Walkman
- Discman
- Nintendo Game Boy
- Tamagotchi
- Cassette tapes
- VHS tapes
- Boombox
- Floppy disks
- Polaroid cameras
- Film canisters
- See-through phones
- CRT TVs
- Cable box with the slide switch
- Corded landline phones
- Payphones
- Beepers/pagers
- Answering machines
- LaserDisc
- Macintosh Classic
- Sony Handycam
TV Shows & Networks
- TGIF lineup (Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Step by Step, etc.)
- Saved by the Bell
- The Wonder Years
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- 90210
- X-Files
- Unsolved Mysteries
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?
- Saturday morning cartoons
- DuckTales
- Double Dare
- Legends of the Hidden Temple
- Nickelodeon Slime
- SNICK
- MTV with music videos
- TRL
- Pop-Up Video
- Beavis and Butt-Head
- Clarissa Explains It All
- Dawson’s Creek
Movies & Characters
- The Goonies
- Back to the Future
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- E.T.
- Gremlins
- Labyrinth
- The Princess Bride
- Ghostbusters
- Jurassic Park
- Home Alone
- Clueless
- The Sandlot
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- Matilda
- Hocus Pocus
- Wayne’s World
- Forrest Gump
- Titanic
- My Girl
- Pretty Woman
Toys & Games
- Lite-Brite
- Easy-Bake Oven
- My Little Pony
- Cabbage Patch Kids
- Troll dolls
- Barbie Dreamhouse
- Etch A Sketch
- Pogs
- Slap bracelets
- Skip-It
- Koosh balls
- Furby
- Moon Shoes
- Bop It
- Talkboy
- Magic 8 Ball
- Simon
- Creepy Crawlers
- Stretch Armstrong
- Super Soaker
Music & Culture
- Michael Jackson
- Madonna
- New Kids on the Block
- Paula Abdul
- Nirvana
- TLC
- MC Hammer
- Vanilla Ice
- Backstreet Boys
- *NSYNC
- Spice Girls
- Boyz II Men
- Grunge
- Mixtapes
- CD towers
- Hair metal bands
- Boombox on your shoulder
- Hit singles on cassette tape
- Cassette rewinder
- Music store listening stations
Fashion & Accessories
- Scrunchies
- Vanilla Fields perfume
- Hypercolor shirts
- Jelly shoes
- Doc Martens
- Umbro shorts
- Starter jackets
- Baggy jeans
- Overalls with one strap down
- Fanny packs
- Acid wash everything
- Mood rings
- Chokers
- Exclamation Perfume
- Butterfly clips
- Zubaz pants
- Track suits
- Shoulder pads
- Plastic charm necklaces
- Crimped hair
Places & Experiences
- Blockbuster
- KB Toys
- Sam Goody
- The mall
- Claire’s
- Limited Too
- RadioShack
- Hot Topic
- Roller skating rinks
- Bowling birthday parties
- Shopping at Sears
- McDonald’s PlayPlace
- Pizza Hut with red cups
- Chuck E. Cheese
- Arcades
- Mall water fountains
- After-school latchkey kid hangouts
- Carnivals
- Drive-in theaters
- Waldenbooks
Food & Snacks
- Dunkaroos
- Gushers
- Fruit by the Foot
- Hi-C Ecto Cooler
- Kool-Aid
- Surge
- Crystal Pepsi
- Pepsi Blue
- Push Pops
- Ring Pops
- Bubble Tape
- Squeeze Its
- Jell-O Pudding Pops
- Flintstones Push-Up Pops
- Kid Cuisine
- SpaghettiOs
- Handi-Snacks
- Lunchables
- Toaster Strudel
- Ice cream trucks
School Life & Supplies
- Lisa Frank
- Trapper Keepers
- Pencil boxes
- Scented markers
- Scholastic Book Fair
- Book covers made from paper bags
- Erasers shaped like food
- Gel pens
- Mechanical pencils
- Folders with puppies/kittens
- Weekly Readers
- Multipoint pencils
- Overhead projectors
- Stickers as rewards
- “Smelly” stickers
- Metal lunch boxes
- School bus notes
- Yearbook messages like “LYLAS!”
- Paper fortune tellers
- Passing notes in class
Sayings, Trends & Misc.
- “As if!”
- “Talk to the hand”
- “Booyah!”
- “Wuzzup?”
- “All that and a bag of chips”
- “No doy”
- “Whateverrrr” (with the hand W)
- “Psych!”
- AIM away messages
- Dial-up tones
- Burned CDs
- Chain emails
- Birthday party loot bags
- Wall phones with super long cords
- Kick the Can
- JNCO jeans
- Rollerblades
- Sleepovers with scary stories
- Friendship bracelets
- Jelly Bracelets
School/Teen Entertainment
- Goosebumps books
- The Babysitters Club
- Sweet Valley High
- Animorphs
- Book Orders
- Book It! Pizza Hut
- Reading Rainbow
- Captain Planet
- Carmen Sandiego
- Oregon Trail
Cartoon & Comic Favorites
- Rugrats
- Doug
- Hey Arnold
- Ren & Stimpy
- Recess
- Animaniacs
- Tiny Toon Adventures
- Garfield
- The Simpsons
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Power Rangers
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- X-Men (90s cartoon)
- Care Bears
- Rainbow Brite
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- G.I. Joe
- Transformers
- He-Man
Around the House
- Wood-paneled TVs
- Remote with a wire
- Popcorn ceilings
- Vertical blinds
- Ceiling fans with brass and glass
- Glass knickknack cabinets
- Crochet toilet paper doll covers
- Avon lady visits
- Bean bag chairs
- Inflatable furniture
- Lava lamps
- TV Guide magazine
- Rotary phones
- Water beds
- Glow-in-the-dark stars
- Double-decker VCRs
- Big stereo systems
- Clapper lights
- Shag Carpet
- TV carts on wheels
Brands & Retail Icons
- Sears Wish Book
- JCPenney catalogs
- Delia’s catalog
- B. Dalton Bookseller
- Jamesway
- Toys “R” Us
- FAO Schwarz
- Kmart Blue Light Specials
- Ame’s
- Payless ShoeSource
- The Sharper Image
- Montgomery Ward
- Woolworth’s
- The Limited
- Merry-Go-Round
- Fashion Bug
- Structure
- Esprit
- 5-7-9
- Deb
Outdoor & Summer Fun
- Slip ‘n Slide
- Sprinkler through the hose
- Backyard trampolines
- Tree swings
- Tetherball
- Four Square
- Freeze tag
- Flashlight tag
- Sidewalk chalk art
- Lemonade stands
- Kickball
- Riding bikes with no helmets
- Roller rinks
- Swatch watches
- Water balloon fights
- Sno-cones
- Tanning oil
- Blow-up kiddie pools
- Water wiggles
- Lawn darts
Early Internet & Computers
- AOL free trial CDs
- “You’ve got mail!”
- ICQ
- Yahoo Chat
- Netscape Navigator
- GeoCities
- Ask Jeeves
- Webrings
- Internet Explorer logos
- Encarta CD-ROM
- Windows 95 startup sound
- Screen savers with flying toasters
- Clippy the Office Assistant
- QBasic
- Oregon Trail dysentery
- Print Shop banner printouts
- Dot matrix printers
- 56k modems
- Mouse with a rubber ball
- Kid Pix
Kid Stuff & Pop Culture
- Teddy Ruxpin
- Barney the Dinosaur
- Big Bird
- Mr. Rogers
- Zoobilee Zoo
- Lamb Chop
- Wishbone
- Bear in the Big Blue House
- Gullah Gullah Island
- Zoboomafoo
- Captain Kangaroo
- Bozo the Clown
- Fraggle Rock
- The Muppets
- Pee-Wee’s Playhouse
- Magic School Bus
- Schoolhouse Rock
- You Can’t Do That on Television
- Salute Your Shorts
- Hey Dude!
Sports & Trends
- Michael Jordan
- Space Jam
- The Dream Team (1992 Olympics)
- Lisa Leslie
- Mia Hamm
- “You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls”
- POG slammers
- Air Jordans
- LA Gear
- Reebok Pumps
- Fisher-Price Roller Skates
- Skip-It
- Slamball
- Sock ‘Em Boppers
- Nerf guns
- Sports Illustrated for Kids
- Baseball card binders
- NBA Jam
- Ken Griffey Jr.
- Cross Colours
After-School Life
- Coming home to an empty house
- After-school specials
- PB&J and a Hi-C
- Watching cartoons while eating SpaghettiOs
- “Do not touch that dial!”
- Sitting too close to the TV
- Dance recital VHS tapes
- Home videos with terrible zoom
- “Mom said it’s my turn on the Nintendo!”
- Bedtime before The Simpsons
- Tape-recording songs off the radio
- Trying to hit “record” during your favorite song
- Popcorn in a foil pan (Jiffy Pop)
- Cinnamon toothpicks
- Lip Smackers
- Bonne Bell glitter gel
- Bath & Body Works Cucumber Melon
- Sticking glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling
- Sharing a landline
- Cordless phones with antennas
Subcultures & Vibes
- Mall goths
- Mall rats
- Grunge flannel
- Emo bangs
- Raver kids with glow sticks
- Preppy plaid skirts
- Skaters
- Punk pins
- Plaid tied around your waist
- Platform shoes
- Brown lipstick
- Butterfly hair clips
- Temporary tattoos
- Sticker photo booths
- “Not a phase, Mom!”
- Hemp necklaces
- Puka shell necklaces
- Bucket hats
- Corduroy everything
- Magic Eye posters
Commercials & Ads
- Crossfire board game commercial
- “Gotta have my Pops!”
- “I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid” jingle
- Mentos ads
- “Don’t copy that floppy!”
- California Raisins
- “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”
- Herbal Essences moaning commercials
- Budweiser frogs
- “I want my MTV!”
- Pepsi Generation
- Got Milk?
- The More You Know
- “This is your brain on drugs”
- Tootsie Pop owl
- Kool-Aid Man “OH YEAH!”
- “Two scoops of raisins!”
- Reading Rainbow “Take a look, it’s in a book”
- Toys that “transformed” in the commercial but never in real life
- Skip-It jingle
Miscellaneous & Niche
- Mall fountains with coins
- Puffy sticker collections
- Old Navy tech vests
- Inflatable backpacks
- Roller Racers
- Scratch ‘n Sniff stickers
- Beanie Babies tags protectors
- McDonald’s Halloween buckets
- Holiday decorations at the mall
- Rulers with sliding calculators
- Clothespin bag clips
- Rainy day indoor recess
- School field day
- Santa at the mall
- Class pictures with laser backdrops
- World Book Encyclopedias
- Polly Pocket
- Puffy paint
- Crayola 64-Box of Crayons with built-in sharpener
- DIY Tie Dye
Friendships & School Life
- Signing shirts on the last day of school
- Matching best friend necklaces
- “Circle Yes or No” notes
- Playing MASH
- Making cootie catchers
- Birthday parties at McDonald’s
- Friendship pins on your shoelaces
- Making prank calls during slumber parties
- Dance mix tapes
- Field day
- Playing “Light as a feather, stiff as a board”
- Chain letters
- Campfire ghost stories
- Summer camp pen pals
- Lanyard keychain crafts
- Watching fireworks from the roof of the car
- Yearbooks with jelly pens
- “Stay sweet, never change”
- “Keep in touch!”
- Decorating lockers
Holidays & Special Memories
- Christmas morning camcorder footage
- Waiting for the JC Penney toy catalog
- Opening a Furby on Christmas
- Homemade Valentine boxes
- Classroom holiday parties
- Easter egg hunts with jellybeans
- Getting socks in your stocking
- Birthday parties at Burger King
- School Halloween parades
- Valentine’s Day candy-grams
- Trick-or-treating with pillowcases
- Wrapping paper with cartoon characters
- Turkey handprints
- Fireworks at the local fair
- 4th of July parades
- Craft kits from Michael’s
- Homemade ornaments
- New Year’s Eve with sparkling grape juice
- Getting a Cabbage Patch Kid
- Learning how to ride a 2-wheel bike
Trends & Cultural Shifts
- Y2K fears
- The Millennium Bug
- “Will Smith is a rapper?!”
- The dot-com boom
- Chain wallets
- Mood jewelry
- Bead curtains
- Fuzzy notebooks
- Jansport Backpacks
- Iron-on patches
- Custom denim jackets
- Babysitter’s Club fan clubs
- MTV Spring Break
- AOL chat rooms
- Virtual pets
- Printable coloring books on dial-up
- “Let’s all meet at the mall”
- Counting down with Casey Kasem
- Making collages from magazines
- Napster
- Burning a CD mix for your crush
- Hanging your graduation tassel from your car rearview mirror
- Taping shows with VCRs
- Waiting a week for the next episode
- Decorating your room with magazine clippings and posters
- Homework hotlines
- Magnetic locker mirrors
- “Wite-Out” nail polish
- Having a “quote book”
- Getting picked last in gym (again)
From mixtapes to mood rings, floppy disks to Fruit by the Foot, the ’80s and ’90s were packed with unforgettable moments, trends, and totally rad stuff that shaped an entire generation. Whether you were Team Troll Doll or Team Tamagotchi, a roller rink regular or a master of MASH, I hope this epic list brought back some sweet memories.
If you’re feeling inspired to color your way down memory lane, don’t forget to check out my brand new Gen X adult coloring book – it’s packed with all the retro vibes you love. Thanks for joining me on this nostalgic ride! Now go dig out your slap bracelets and VHS collection and keep the good vibes rolling!
Which memories above are your favorite?
