Stuff from a 90's childhood your kids don't understand:

[TheGhostsOfMeAndYou]

After reading CandidFruit's amazing thread about weird stuff from a 80's childhood, it got me thinking about things from my childhood and when telling my 10 year old DD about them she didn't get at all.

I was born mid 80's so although a lot of the 80's thread rang a bell I definitely remember kore 90's stuff.

My daughter couldn't grasp children's TV only being on for a set amount of time each day and if you weren't home to watch a programme when it was aired you missed it!

I was also explaining 10p mix ups to her and it blew her mind!

Waiting for 2 weeks for a delivery if you were lucky to be able to get one

That streaming was the new hotness back then - Napster anyone?

Burning CDs

Mix tapes and walkman - had the waterproof shock proof one

MTV

Dail up

Mail order catalogues

Lunch money being well money

Blockbuster, HMV and radio shack

The joy of bubblegum

Pog

Hackie sacks

Dazed and Confused but that may have been more early 00s

Blue lipstick

Belly chains and ankle braclets, although think they may be back in fashion

Coty body spray - Exclamation! And Impluse

Smoking was the done thing

Chipped nail polish and gothic tendencies

Going swimming at the YMCA and to their 'youth' dances

Prime time TV
Beverly Hills 90210
Melrose place
Friends

Pc gaming

Chat rooms/ICQ/Mirc etc

Standing in line over night waiting for box office concert releases

How normal underage drinking and smoking was

Kool Aid as hair dye

Glitter everywhere

The body shop

No air con in cars as standard

Not everyone had a cell/mobile phone

Calling cards

Calling was cheaper than sending a text

Snake on a Nokia

Reverse calls.
"You've received a reverse call from"
MumImAtAmysPickMeUpLoveUThanks.

"Do you wish to connect this call?"
Along those lines 😂.

Dialing the operator.

I was born in 1968 so well and truly an adult in the 90s but I remember having to pull over in the car and ask locals for directions, or have drivers pull over and ask me for directions - never happens now everyone has phones and satnavs.
I still dial 1471 maybe once a week or so as I don’t have an answerphone on my landline, especially if I’m later home than planned and half expecting a call.
More and more people are getting rid of their landlines though. I don’t think anyone will have one at home in maybe 10-15 years.

I was trying to explain about blockbuster video to my teen and he was aghast🤯🤯
ditto Ceefax

I had to pull over and ask directions recently. I do t have a satnav and there was no signal in the tiny hamlet I found myself in.

Blockbuster, was a real treat to pick a film, as I got older I'd rent games instead of buying them had a week to complete them before having to take them back. Auto rewind on a vhs player was life changing also.

Our Blockbuster had a freezer stocked with Haagen Daz ice cream which was THE thing back then. A film ( not a movie) and a tub of fancy ice cream that took ages to melt!

Mine was an 80s childhood and it's interesting to read here how little difference there is, apart from dial up internet and early mobile phones.

I went to university in 1996 and by the end of the first year got fully used to having free access to the internet in the library and computer centres.I didn't realise until later on how much privileged access we had to the internet at that time

TBF I thought was a bit shit for a few weeks - it took me about 2 weeks to understand the difference between the intranet and the internet and even though I had been told there were loads of really great resources online I couldn't work out how to find them - no Google then.

Yes! Blockbuster!

A special treat to pick a film, and have it with Doritos and a sour cream dip as an even bigger treat.

Also.. garlic bread!

Are you series regarding 'not everything was SEN'? WTF? Do you realise how many families STILL have to fight for SEN to be recognised or get any support?

Bad things of the 90s (some still issues today)

Not much SEN recognition
Not much mental health support
Inequality
Homophobia
Racism
Some fashion was very questionable
Authoritative parenting more commonplace
Bullying
Some fashion was very questionable
Growing up poor
Portable CD players were not practical

Good things of the 90s

Less cars on the roads
Affordable public transport
TV shows and films felt origional, a lot of recent things are remakes
Sabrina the teenage witch
Reading books more - especially for homework
Higher attention span
No mobile phones - Meeting someone and hoping they were at the place that you both agreed
Cheap sweets
Cheap magazines (£6-7 these days)
Music
Blockbusters
PlayStation

I also remember the fire station drill with fake smoke, what a time.

How could I forget composing ringtones on a Nokia 3310?

Also not being able to easily access song lyrics, if you were lucky they were printed in Smash Hits magazine.

My first phone held 10 text messages.
At university if I needed to check my email (or anything online at all) I had to go down to the computer room.
As kids we all believed the Great Wall of China could be seen from space because there was no internet to fact check stuff like that.

I was telling one of my DDs recently about the peril of having to ask directions pre phones.

I was taking my Nana to look at a care home that was newly built so not on any of the maps. We had to stop and ask directions.

First chap "Just follow this road up the hill and then turn right where the big tree used to be" - no idea where the tree used to be. No stump or anything to be seen.

Second chap "ah yes. It's on the old factory site. Just turn left here, follow the road along and then turn left at the old school. It's about 5 minutes from there." - turned left, followed the road and then got to a bit where clearly everything that used to be there had been knocked down 😂

Taking photos and having to pay to have them all developed, even the rubbish ones, is the one that astounds my kids.

I was born in the 00s but even then a lot has changed from then to now! My son told me yesterday they no longer have whiteboards or blackboards it's just a giant TV screen at school.

Plus most of their maths homework is done on fun online website whereas back in the day it was paper sheets

I remember being at uni and manning the LGB booth at freshers week as an ally, distributing sexual health packs with condoms and local gum clinic info in, because half the committee weren’t out. Also section 28 petitions.

Earlier in the decade, being trained up as a librarian at school. Using Encarta on one of the six computers that served the whole school.

The global hypercolour trend, especially in my city as the local uni developed the tech.

Operation Lifestyle, a local community programme for kids encouraging good deeds and community pride.

I am so surprised at those talking of asking directions as being weird. I still do it.

Dial up internet that cost 1p a minute on our large new home PC. We had one mobile phone which we shared and whoever went out had it so they could ring home if needed. Before this, DS was born in 92 and we hired walkie talkie things to contact each other when he was due.

Yes with regards to bullying, my kid would be surprised that bullying was often seen as just normal and if it happened to you then you were supposed to brush it off and/or change your hair/face/mannerisms etc.. to stop being such a target.

The amount of bullying that was tolerated by schools. DS goes to my old school and it's a different world.

Using a film camera and doing your own developing.