40 Things Only '90s Kids Will Remember
- 1/41
40 Things Only '90s Kids Will Remember
So many things happened in the 1990s that it's kind of impossible to sum it all up. The internet went mainstream, grunge and pop dominated music charts, and the president had an affair. And that's just a tiny fraction of what went down. Even if you lived through it, it's easy to forget all of the things that made the '90s truly unique. 'Member this?
- 2/41
Feeling like a rockstar when you opened a Capri Sun without breaking it.
Capri Suns are straight-up delicious and their foil casing was pretty revolutionary when it first came out. It took some practice, but figuring out how to open one without jamming your straw through the top (or into your finger) was a serious skill.
- 3/41
Building up a serious troll doll collection.
Troll dolls were everything back in the day, and you couldn't have just one. A major downside: It was hard AF to brush their hair.
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- 4/41
Obsessing over 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch.'
It was the stuff of high school dreams: 16-year-old Sabrina found out she's a witch and gets to perform magic all the time. How could you not watch?
- 5/41
Living your best life on a pool noodle.
When pool noodles became popular, it was kind of mind-blowing. Being able to float on something you didn't have to blow up just made you feel really, really cool—that, and being able to shoot water out of one end like an elephant, of course.
- 6/41
Trying to keep your parents from vacuuming up your Polly Pockets.
They were teeny-tiny figurines that were forever getting lost. But you just so happened to have a zillion of them, so it was all good.
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- 7/41
Blowing on your CD before playing it.
CDs were way cooler than tapes, but they were kinda finicky. Blowing and shirt-rubbing were all socially-accepted ways to try to make your CDs play without skipping.
- 8/41
Watching TGIF every Friday night.
Way back before everyone had Netflix and Hulu, there was the family-friendly TGIF lineup to fill up your Friday nights. Full House, Family Matters, Step By Step...now that was good TV.
- 9/41
Feeling like your American Girl doll just got you.
American Girl dolls technically came out in the mid-'80s, but they really blew up in the '90s. Reading about the adventures of your American Girl doll while she chilled nearby on her stand was pretty freaking cool.
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- 10/41
Getting pissed when your sister taped over your favorite show.
Back before there was DVR, you had to rely on a VHS when you couldn't make it home for your favorite show. Unfortunately, you could tape over those tapes, which often sparked epic wars between siblings.
- 11/41
Listening to nothing but girl bands.
The Spice Girls, Destiny's Child, TLC...it was pretty much you, but in a band. And, you know, with cooler outfits.
- 12/41
Unless you were listening to your favorite boy band.
You were either heavy into 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, or 98 Degrees, and obviously you were going to marry someone from "your" band someday. You couldn't ride the fence with these, either—you had to go all in with one or the other.
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- 13/41
Spending all your time at your friend's house because she had a trampoline.
You could spend hours jumping up and down on one of these, and the fact that your parents thought they were dangerous only made them cooler.
- 14/41
Watching TRL after school.
Total Request Live, aka TRL, as everyone called it, was must-watch after-school programming. Voting for your favorite video to make the top 10 was the perfect way to use up time you should have been spending on homework.
- 15/41
Completely bugging out over Y2K.
No one knew what would happen at midnight on January 1, 2000. Would the internet crash and the world shut down? Despite people completely freaking out, nothing happened.
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- 16/41
Worshipping Britney and Justin as the ultimate power couple.
If anyone else dated Justin Timberlake, 'N Sync fans would have hated her. But this was Britney freaking Spears. The two were everywhere in the late '90s, and everyone wanted to be them.
- 17/41
Trying (and failing) to keep your Tamagotchi alive.
Getting a Tamagotchi seemed like a good idea at the time—it was like a pet, but you didn't have to clean up after it. But after two days of forgetting to feed and play with it, you were kinda over it.
- 18/41
Getting up to pee during commercial breaks.
It's easy to pause your favorite show now when you want to eat, pee, or do whatever. Back then, you just had to wait for commercial breaks and scramble to jam everything in before they were over.
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- 19/41
Shouting 'Run, Forrest, run!' at any given opportunity.
Forrest Gump came out in 1994, and it was huge. Everyone would quote "Run, Forrest, run!" anytime they saw someone running because, you know, it was so original.
- 20/41
Using the internet for the first time.
The World Wide Web was technically invented in 1989, but it really took off in the '90s. Sure, you had to use dial-up and it took forever for really basic websites to load, but the internet was so, so cool.
- 21/41
Watching 'Titanic' until you could recite every line.
Titanic came out in 1997, and everyone and their mom obsessed over the love story of Jack and Rose, and that damn boat ruining everything. Getting misty-eyed while listening to Celine Dion sing "My Heart Will Go On" was practically a rite of passage.
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- 22/41
Trying to rub candy necklace indents off your neck.
Edible jewelry was the height of fashion—or so your '90s self thought. Unfortunately, candy necklaces left pastel stains and indents on your neck, but a snack you can wear? What's not to love?
- 23/41
Blowing your allowance on Beanie Babies.
It was crucial to score these soft, floppy toys in the '90s, and you couldn't have just one. After all, some of them could be worth a lot of money one day—or, so you thought.
- 24/41
Thinking Lindsay Lohan was the coolest.
The updated version of The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan, rolled out in 1998, and suddenly everyone wanted to dye their hair red. Little did we know, LiLo mania was just starting...
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- 25/41
Thinking you were hardcore because you listened to grunge music.
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden exploded in the '90s, and suddenly you were all edgy if you listened to them. Of course, there were social bonus points if you captured that Seattle scene look by wearing flannel shirts and work boots.
- 26/41
Trying to recreate Brandi Chastain's sports bra moment.
After she scored the winning penalty kick in the Women's 1999 FIFA World Cup final, Brandi ripped off her shirt, exposing her sports bra. It was spontaneous and oh so cool so, naturally, you were dying to do it at your pee-wee soccer matches, too.
- 27/41
Playing Nintendo Game Boy when you should have been outside in the fresh air.
You saved up your allowance for months to buy one of these bad boys so there was no way you were going to waste that hard-earned cash playing outside when there was a Tetris puzzle to solve.
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- 28/41
Asking your stylist for 'The Rachel.'
It looked absolutely amazing on Jennifer Aniston so, of course, you and all your friends had to have The Rachel. Unfortunately, it was a total b*tch to style.
- 29/41
Saying, 'You got it, dude!' as often as humanly possible.
Michelle Tanner whipped out this line for pretty much every occasion, and it was adorable. Who could blame you for stealing this gem of a catchphrase for yourself?
- 30/41
Watching the O.J. Simpson trial on the news, 24/7.
People were fascinated when former NFL star and actor O. J. Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the June 12, 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Even though you knew you probably shouldn't have been watching, you obsessed over the trial anyway.
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- 31/41
Swapping friendship bracelets with your BFF.
Your friendship wasn't legit if you didn't have a friendship bracelet on your wrist. And, once it rotted off, you'd better believe you scored another one.
- 32/41
Driving your parents nuts by playing 'The Macarena' nonstop.
Never mind that the song was created by two men your dad's age, "The Macarena" was awesome. The dance moves were also doable, even for people with two left feet.
- 33/41
Learning about oral sex from the Bill Clinton affair.
First you knew that President Bill Clinton had an affair with someone named Monica Lewinsky, even though you didn't really know what an "affair" meant. And by the end of the scandal, you also learned more about the president's sex life—and sex in general—than you gleaned from Sex Ed.
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- 34/41
Rocking handlebar streamers on your bike.
It was pretty much the only way to be extra on the go. And if you had spoke beads, you were out-of-this-world cool.
- 35/41
Hearing 'Seinfeld' jokes everywhere.
Seinfeld kept cranking out the jokes, and people kept whipping them out practically everywhere. "No soup for you!" was hilarious...the first 10 times you heard it.
- 36/41
Trying to dress like Alicia Silverstone in 'Clueless.'
Cher had a Beverly Hills wardrobe that made her a total Betty. Trying to recreate it from your The Limited-heavy closet was kind of a challenge, to put it mildly.
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- 37/41
Mourning Princess Diana.
The entire world mourned when Princess Diana died in 1997. Watching her funeral on TV, and seeing William and Harry walk behind her casket, created all kinds of feelings.
- 38/41
Lusting after Zack Morris.
You didn't watch Saved by the Bell for its corny one-liners. You were there for Zack Morris and Zack Morris only.
- 39/41
Busting out the Slip 'n Slide in your backyard.
No pool? No problem! The Slip 'n Slide was way cooler anyway...at least, that's what you told your pool-owning friends.
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- 40/41
Cracking up over 'Double Dare.'
It was a show where people actually got slime poured on them. It was so awesome, you just had to buy the Double Dare shampoo and recreate the whole thing in your tub at home.
- 41/41
Wearing jelly sandals with everything.
They were waterproof, pretty, and way cooler than flip-flops. Plus, it pissed your mom off when you insisted on wearing them for dressy occasions. Jelly sandals 4 life!
Why was it so hard to keep your Tamagotchi alive?!