The 90s was an era that’s practically full of treasure troves of thingamajigs that make us nostalgic—for those of us that were kids in the 90s, at least.
It’s not just the Tamagotchis and the Polly Pockets that defined our childhood—it’s the everyday random items and gadgets that we used regularly, but are now rarely seen. Heck, they might even be extinct.
Here are stuff from the 90s that you’ve probably forgotten:
Jollibee stamps
If you got a kiddie meal from Jollibee, you were also getting toys. One item from the archives is Jollibee’s stamp collection. These collectible stamps feature Jollibee’s old mascots which light up when you use it.
It was the in thing back then and if you collect all characters, you’re practically a boss.
Kisses
Remember those colored beads that smell really good being passed around in class? We don’t know exactly how these aroma beads became a phenomena in schools, but urban legend has it that these beads reproduced overnight. And we believed it as kids.
Girls bought their own and took care of it like it was a breathing living thing. Turns out, they’re just beads.
Those hair ties that hurt
Admit it—when you saw this photo, there were war flashbacks of the pain on your scalp.
When you were in elementary or middle school, your pigtails weren’t tight AF if you didn’t use these colored hair ties, otherwise known as the ultimate scalp torture device.
Pencil case with compartments
It didn’t matter what your grades were or what your baon was—if you had a huge pencil case that houses at least 5 different compartments, you were a god.
Barbie, Hello Kitty, Kero-Keropi, or whatever the design was as long as your pencil case functioned like a Swiss Army knife, it was the bomb.
CD holder
Mixtapes were still in by the time CDs came into the picture. You’ll often hear the term “burn”, which basically means you’ll transfer your curated playlist to your customized CD. But because CDs were exceptionally expensive at that time, they had to be handled with care and placed in a CD holder or book.
The thicker your holder, the cooler you were.
Coloring set
Arts and crafts were taken seriously when you were a kid, so it only makes sense that every cool kid on the block owned this huge coloring set. It was big and heavy, but you felt like a mini Picasso if you brought these to school.
Tupperware pitcher and cups
Every household had these and probably still do. You had to press the button on the pitcher’s cap to dispense water or take it off. These were usually brought during family outings to the beach since they don’t break and are convenient to pack! Ask your mom if you still have these stored somewhere.
VHS rewinder
VHS tapes were one of the most iconic inventions of the 90s.
One of the pain points of tapes is that you had to rewind the entire film after watching it. Apart from VHS players, people also bought separate rewinders just for that purpose. Ah, the good old times taught us patience.
Floppy disks
Diskettes were big before they got small! Your Computer teacher would always ask you to bring your floppy disk to Computer class so you could save your MS Paint artwork. If you look at any open file on your computer, you’ll still see the icon of a floppy disk on the ‘Save’ button. It may be obsolete now but it’s now permanently in the 90s hall of fame.
