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Things Only *REAL* ’90s Kids Will Be Able to Remember

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Winthrop chapter.

The ’90s was by far the best time to grow up. Because of all the advances in techonology, this decade surely made an impact on those that came from it. So, this one’s for you and all of the hella great inventions that no longer exist in our lives today. 

Disney Channel Original Movies

When you saw this as a kid, you knew that an awesome movie was about to come on.   

Hanging posters on ALL of your walls…

 

…and not knowing true fear until one of these bad boys fell down in the middle of the night!   

Star light, star bright!

 

Or… when one your glowing star would fall and hit you in the face while you were sleeping.  

The scare of a cute Furby!

 

Nothing was worse than waking up in the middle of the night to hear your beloved and *precious* Furby talking to you…when it didn’t have batteries in it.   

The best way to pass notes:

 

This was the “texting” of the ’90s and there was no better way than being able to personally see what you’re crush thought of your bold statement of a note.     

‘BABY born’ dolls!

 

The dolls that taught you motherhood at a young age. Remember feeding these life-like babies to only realize quickly that your precious baby would be crying because it needed to be burped and soon would need an ACTUAL diaper change? *I personally thought the mush you had to make for your ‘BABY born’ was disgusting looking*  

Tinder? Nope, just the ’90s version!

 

In the ’90s it was common to find these love letters lying around and you would tend to freak out every time you passed one along or got one!   

Computer Games:

 

Don’t have Internet? No problem, Space Cadet pinball surely did pass the time.    

Limited space…

 

When you wanted to save information to a drive, you’d save it to your floppy disc only to be let down to realize it would hold very little–kind of like our iPhones when it says “storage almost full”. 

Indoor Inflatables!

 

When you’d see the commercial for the blow-up chair (which came in TONS of different colors) and you’d get your own to be saddened that it didn’t meet your high expectations.     

“The Sandlot”

The first #savage and the original man to show us to not be afraid to take chances!  

The worst pain…

 

What was worse than stepping on a lego as a kid? Stepping on your butterfly hairclip!     

S is for…

 

Drawing this “S” symbol on EVERYTHING and not knowing what it even stood for.     

“RUGRATS” for life! 

 

Realizing that Cynthia was you all along and that this truly, if done in a 90’s fashion, should say “B!tch please! I’m Cynthia.”    

Friday night = movie night!

 

We will forever mourn the death of Blockbuster’s everywhere. 

Always playing outside!

Realizing that even though playing outside is the bomb, sometimes it comes with a price. One part of the playground burned you like crazy while the other gave you mad electric shock.     

Jamming to some tunes like:

 

The early days of the iPod was the Walkman.    

Photoshoot, please! 

 

 

Kids today will never know the struggle of having to wait a week to finally see the pictures that you took and only then do you realize they weren’t that great…   

School Supplies AF!

When every piece of your school supplies had to be Lisa Frank.     

Teaching responsibilities.

 

Remember begging your parents to let you have this toy so it can “teach you how to be responsible”? Yeah, I do too! *Side note, mine was pink and covered in the stickers that came with it!*    

Pure excitement!

 

Being BEYOND excited when you walked into your classroom to see this TV set at the front of the room.     

Color me happy!

 

It was always the best day in gym when you got to play with this colorful parachute!     

To pass the time…

 

Walking into every waiting room as a child and seeing this maze toy.     

Teeny, tiny, hope you find me!

 

Admit it, we all sharpened our pencils down to where it was almost nothing.     

Bubble gum or medicine? 

 

Every kid had the dream of getting this DELICIOUS tasting medicine when they got sick.     

Is it a marker or a snack?!

 

Always asking your friends that had these, “Can I sniff that flavor?”     

Write it and wipe it!

 

The original iPad of the ’90s.    

My own dog!

 

Realizing that a robot dog… just wasn’t the same as a real dog.     

Game Shows

 

These popular ’90s kids shows were the best. I always wanted to be on “Legends of the Hidden Temple”.   

’90s Drivers Ed

 

Learning to “drive” on this road map.     

Complexities:

 

Never realizing how complex it was to get to where you wanted to go.     

The ULTIMATE finger crusher!

 

Not only is this the original hover board, but this rolling square would crush your fingers in a second and send you out of gym class to the nurse.    

To the moon, we go!

 

Always wanted to travel and go to the moon, well, these Moon Shoes did the closest thing! These trampoline shoes allowed you to walk and bounce making you feel like you were walking on the moon.     

Wonder Ball

 

With each Wonder Ball came a new surpise! We had to always wonder what we would find next.     

Bop!

 

The best way to get your anger out without actually inflicting pain!    

Float and land!

 

It was always a task to get those pesky little rings to float in the exact spot you desired. Most of the time, it caused you to twist the handheld toy and try to get the rings on the pegs without the help of the button.     

Jelly smelly!

Wearing these stylish jelly shoes was a staple of the ’90s!     

A BIG technology jump!

 

Say hello to one of the most astounding handheld toys that the ’90s saw.    

Fake the bling-bling…

 

Put those stick on earings on and show off that fake jewlery!     

The bruiser! 

 

The most exciting way to learn how to skip, yet, it left bruises on your ankles and shins like crazy!     

Flip book with View Master: 

 

Using that handheld viewer and inserting paper cd’s to view all kinds of pictures!    

Fish are friends!

 

Every ’90s kid would find themselves reading this book as often as possible.    

Grow your own pet!

 

Realizing that while your robot dog is cool, your real life dog is better…but these guys are just awesome!    

Favorite characters found on the shelves!

 

It was always fun searching for your favorite cartoon character or favorite movie upon the soup shelves.    

Add color to anything!

Since red is simply boring, ’90s kids insisted on adding some more colors to their lifestyle with these purple and green colored ketchup.     

Movie time!

 

Prepare for your movie with the LOUDEST. NOISE. EVER.   

‘Round the clock we go!

Trying to go through the motions with her only to realize our bodies weren’t supposed to bend allowing us to go all the way around the clock.   

We’re jammin’ dude!

’90s kids could be found jamming anytime with this pocket-sized boom box and cd’s that could attach to your backpack.     

The best of cartoons!

 

No better way to spend a Saturday morning than by watching your favorite cartoons on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.    

Scootin’ right along!

 

Can’t you just hear the sound of these training skates? *Click clack, click clack*     

The best phone ever!

 

I still can recall that special Christmas when I opened up a bag that held a “cellphone chair” that said “Don’t Touch My Phone!” I remember laughing and saying, “but I don’t have a phone!” Soon, I opened another gift that held the hot pink RAZR phone. Best. day. ever.     

Sour or sweet?!

 

Ouch! Bubblegum was exactly as it sounds–bubble gum that would suprise you with the bitterness and sweet peek.     

R.I.P. foods we will miss: 

As a ’90s baby, we were able to see the evolution of some of today’s favorite foods–it’s just that in the 90’s, it tasted sooo much better! 

So, here’s to you 9’90s, you were (as it was said back then) *dank!* and for those that didn’t get to experience it, well, we’re sorry, but you can live it through those babies of the ’90s.  

Caitlan Walzer is a sophomore at Winthrop University majoring in mass communication with a concentration in broadcast journalism. She is originally from San Diego, California and then in 2000 moved to a small town in South Carolina. She enjoys competing in pageants (is a part of the Miss America Organization) and is a licensed makeup consultant for Merle Norman Cosmetics. Caitlan is an active student at Winthrop, enjoys watching Netflix, being an active member within her sorority, spending time with her friends, and, of course, drinking Starbucks.   
Winthrop University is a small, liberal arts college in Rock Hill, SC.