Things from the 90s/00s you don’t see anymore?

[Firebird83]

What are some things you remember from the 90s or early 2000s that don’t exist anymore?

I remember old ladies used to wear headscarves or those plastic rain bonnets

Lucky heather sellers in town centres

In my gran’s rural village she used to get a mobile library van and also a man selling soft drinks in glass bottles

Any more?

Of course a lot of these things existed before that era too, I just don’t remember seeing them anymore after the early 2000s.

Personally I blame Simon cowel and who ever invented shows like big brother, Hell’s Kitchen, the Osborne’s and all things “reality tv” based. People trying to get their 15 mins, going on tv to make idiots of themselves, sharing every fucking boring bit of their lives, judging others, shagging others, verbally abusing others, paying rich entitled trustee brats to show off their rich entitled trustee lifestyles and so much more. I know looks and beauty have always been important since the dawn of time but the shit and pressure that’s now put on people is disgusting and it’s all since the growth of shows like big brother love island etc!

Now onto nice things

Gucci Envy, still love this perfume.
Tuck shops - my DDs school use to run them in a Friday until 2 years ago when the new ht stopped them.
High street shopping and going to the market for a new outfit for the weekend
Affording a night out without breaking the bank. I could go out most nights and still have plenty left over.
Music, the 90s was a fantastic decade for music.
Someone mentioned cheap alcohol, I remember a club in the city centre did 10p a pint, the larger was cheap and awful but the cider was ok. This was in 99 and I could go to a weatherspoons in London and get a beer and a burger as hair of the dog for £2.99, or go to a greasy spoon and get a couple of paracetamol along with my fry up.
I don’t miss smoking in pubs but I do miss not having phones

"naked" post boxes. Before the fecking twee knitted toppers appeared everywhere. (Yep...I am a miserable bugger!)

Ooh, and the art deco-esque sun and moon motif being on everything - writing paper, throws, bedspreads, posters, notepads...

My mate was collecting a takeaway curry and ate some pot pouri thinking it was Bombay mix..he swallowed it because there was no where to spit it out.🤣🤣🤣🤣

Mood rings and fancy papers (small notebook sheets that had a light trace of some pic or other)

Shops where kids could buy single stickers off a spool and you could buy bits of beads and stuff and make your own earrings... Or was that just my teens?

Libraries with a music and video/DVD section. I used to love borrowing CDs from the library and recording them onto tapes!

Everyone on the tube reading the same book! White Teeth, Brick Lane, Harry Potter...

Geordie Jeans shops. And Tammy Girl.

Riva bars. Spiras. Proper Milky Ways.

Rust on cars
White dog poo
Mental Health Services
Men in flat caps
Normal hair without hair extensions - everyone seems to have a lion's mane of hair these days
Thin lips

I loved buying stickers!! Those amazing long rolls, and you'd tear off a square with 4 or 5 little stickers on. Some were foil and some were furry!

Oh god it does! I just got carried away, nostalgic old gimmer that I am.

OK, Ill go with:
Thinking the Groucho Club is really cool
Ghost dresses
New Labour
Ruby & Millie make up

@Gliblet I remember the pastel coloured cigarettes called Balkan Sobrane Cocktails

You are really not. They irrationally annoy me too!
I live in the same place as an Olympian who won gold in 2012, so we've got a gold postbox. It's the one that I always try to use because it's the only one out of bounds for all the bloody knitted toppers.

Natural eyebrows 😅

@Ketzele aaaaw that’s sweet, I completely forgot Ruby & Millie the eyeshadows were nice

do you remember Virgin Vie ? It was make up skincare and jewellery and people had parties

Bliss and Sugar Magazines and Just 17 I think it was 🤔

Children playing out
A sense of hope and that things were getting better/we were on the right trajectory
Affordable food/rent/utilities/water
Sub and counter cultures that challenged the dominant culture
(And connected to this and I’m possibly just out of the loop here) but music that challenges policies/politics/governments
And also connected to the above new bands (not gone completely but numbers are massively diminished. It’s all solo artists now.
TV programmes that everyone watched on the same night and talked about at school/work etc.
Being able to live your life without constantly being tracked and watched, and without the threat of some jobsworth type or nobhead deciding to upload you to the internet to be cancelled or shamed or laughed at.
People giving other people the benefit of the doubt.
Being able to go about your business without the risk of being fined every 5 seconds if you make a mistake.
Officials giving people a bit of leeway and empathy rather than just doling out fines or punishing people for any breach of the rules.
Being able to park places in cities for free.
Similarly, cities without residents permits everywhere so even if you live there you have to pay to park.
Functioning local services.
Things being a bit more dangerous, but also a bit more fun and free.

#teampostboxtopper ❤️

Oh we still have boom boxes around here! And big speakers strapped to push bikes.

I remember the frenzied excitement because Miss Selfridge had a photo booth but instead of passport photos it printed stickers!

omg I had forgotten that sandwich and now it has totally returned to me! Like a Proustian whatsis!!!

There's still a mobile library that goes to places quite near us.
Ladies of all ages used to wear headscarves, not just 'old' folk.

Bloody Simon Cowell is definitely a big part of the rot.
Nasty, greedy, shallow bully whose only real love is himself.

@LemondrizzleShark i think they have had a resurgence with Bluetooth 🙉

I had completely forgotten Virgin Vie but you bought it back in a rush! And the launch of Mac and Urban Decay, which seemed so edgy to a generation raised on Rimmel and Mates.

It might just be coincidence but the 2 towns I lived in both had a flasher who would wear a rain mac. I always thought that was quite decent of them, to stick to type so you could avoid them and any unfortunate eye contact.
I have no idea if this was the norm elsewhere but a friend was flashed in France late 90's and confirmed the same.