Updated on January 10, 2024
10 things you’ll recognise if you’re a 90s kid from America
If you’re a 90s kid from America, you’ll definitely remember when Britney Spears was cool, how obsessed everyone was with Pokemon card collections, and watching your favourite Nickelodeon show on a Saturday morning. In addition to those, here are a few other favourites that’ll have you feeling the 90s nostalgia.
Nowadays Britney Spears has the reputation of being an addict with a shaved head. But we 90s kids once knew her as the singer that made plaid skirts infamous with her hit song “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. Who knew that soon after her worldwide fame would bring her such struggles in the future.
90s kids were seriously obsessed with Pokemon cards – both boys and girls. Kids forced parents to trudge around shopping malls searching for new cards on the regular, while on the playground, there were circles for trading cards that were very strict and serious. Pokemon cards were legit the equivalent of gold nuggets.
It honestly astounds me that we went from the massive brick of a VHS tape to a streaming platform like Netflix in such a short amount of time. I remember asking my dad once as a kid if he thought we’d replace VHS tapes with something new at some point, and he answered “Yes, eventually we won’t need anything to watch movies but our TVs.” How right he truly was!
Speaking of VHS tapes, the best place to rent them was from Blockbuster. Nearly every kid I knew had a membership there and we couldn’t wait to replace the old tapes with the new ones on a Saturday afternoon. These days the phrase “Be kind, rewind” is out of style, especially since there’s only one Blockbuster in the world left. The fact that it’s in Oregon (where I’m from) makes absolute sense, because we’re still obsessed with the 90s there.
Kids with their automatic WiFi connections and ultra-speed laptops will never know the struggle of dial-up internet, especially the horribly annoying screeching sound it used when connecting. Though I certainly don’t miss dial up and how slow it was, it was somehow a lot less complex to use a computer back then. Only 3 or 4 functions and that’s it.
My favourite thing to do on a Saturday was to watch Nickelodeon, the most popular cartoon TV channel in America during the 90s. True 90s kids will always have a soft spot for the Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Kenan & Kel, CatDog, and The Angry Beavers. Kids don’t know how lucky they are these days that they don’t have to watch their favourite shows at exactly when they’re played on TV.
Another craze that took over the 90s were Furbies, these weird furry creatures with bright colors that could speak if you pulled a string. At the time, they were what every girl wanted for Christmas. On a funny note, the Furby reign came to an end when they were banned on January, 13 1999 because the National Security Agency (NSA) believed they were being used as listening devices for spy operations.
“The Macarena” by Los del Rio was not only one of the most popular songs of the 90s, it also came with an infamous dance that was most certainly a part of every school dance at the time. Actually the 90s in general was famous for group dances and also included “Cha Cha Slide” and “Cotton Eye Joe”. If you were at a school dance and didn’t know the moves, you were automatically considered a weirdo and shunned.
No 90s girl can forget the music heartthrobs ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. ‘N Sync is actually where Justin Timberlake first started his music career and he only branched out on his own long after they were popular. These two bands in particular were so popular that you had to pick a side: JT vs. Nick Carter. Obviously JT was the winner.
Robin Williams was insanely popular during the 90s. His movies included Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams, Hook, Jumanji, Patch Adams, and more. His comedy was truly a pillar of American culture, especially Mrs. Doubtfire (I’ve probably seen that movie more than ten times). Though he sadly isn’t around anymore, all Americans remember these movies fondly due to their family values.
