Things We Did as Kids a Thousand Years Ago (in the Late 1900s)

Author image for John Summers
John Summers • Contributor
Mar 9, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

You know what really gets me about growing older? The fact that the world has gotten so much easier, yet somehow my life feels so much harder. Think back to the "good old days." Life used to be tough—no internet to answer every question, just the dreaded library. The TV had three channels, and you had to actually get up to change them. We walked everywhere, there was no air conditioning, grown-ups smoked like chimneys right over our heads, and don't even get me started on lifting those giant CRT TVs. They were basically furniture!

Now? Everything is sleek, simple, and convenient. You have a question? Google knows. Want to watch a movie? It's streaming on demand. Your house maintains the perfect temperature on its own, and people don't blow smoke in your face at restaurants anymore. Even our gadgets are light and fast instead of clunky and heavy. Yet here we are, exhausted and stressed. Is it because we're older and juggling responsibilities, or has the convenience of the modern world somehow made us softer?

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  • 01
    We knew how to class up paper plates in the 80s
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 02
    KIDS TODAY ARE SOFT. I DIED ONCE WHEN I WAS FIVE, AND MY MOM MADE ME WALK IT OFF.
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 03
    MY ABILITY TO REMEMBER SONG LYRICS FROM THE 80S FAR EXCEEDS MY ABILITY TO REMEMBER WHY I WALKED INTO THE KITCHEN.
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 04
    IF YOU USED ONE OF THESE BACK IN THE DAY CHANCES ARE YOU'RE IMMUNE TO EVERYTHING
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 05
    What girls smelled like in the 90s. SUN-RIPENED RASPBERRY Body Splash With Moisturizing Aloe Vera 7.8 FL OZ/230 ml e Bath & Body Works Mould be interpreted to mean safer. Në @millennial misery MRNING FILTER CIGARETTER Marlboro SMOOTH ORIGINAL FLAVOR
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 06
    flip Shades flip Shades BOBRE RELE The regrettable teenage beauty routine starter pack LAIRO NATURAL Instincts dream MATTE Lip Shake NOXZEMA CLASSIC CLEAN COVERGIRL Sun In Lemon 3 Cute & Girlie ИГА ПАТН Pink Crusk
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 07
    The Generation X color palette AL CRUCH-PUT 000 000
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 08
    Tank.Sinatra @GeorgeResch This should have been his first Oscar Pepsi PSI PE
    via That 80s and 90s Page, @GeorgeResch
  • 09
    YOU MIGHT BE '80S BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE AS '80S AS DAVID HASSELHOFF PLAYING ATARI WHILE DRIVING A PONTIAC TRANS AM.
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 10
    If you have a favorite pattern, your back hurts when you wake up now Select Card Back OK Cancel ☑
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 11
    IF YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS, YOU'RE A TRUE 80S MOVIE BUFF
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 12
    THE BEST PART PAC- 0659 027 OF GOING TO PIZZA HUT
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 13
    We didn't know how good we had it 123'99
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 14
    Dirty Dancing is a different movie when you watch as a parent. Baby's dad wasn't unreasonable. She was [17] and sneaking around with a Catskills dance instructor who has anger issues & looks like he's at least 40. Yes, you should be put in a corner. It's called time out, you brat.
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 15
    What I think when young people say rizz:
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 16
    + kilprity ❤ Dear old people: Waking up at 6am, tending to a garden, eating dinner at 5pm, reading books, and going to bed at 9:30pm feels amazing. I was wrong. You were right.
    via That 80s and 90s Page, kilprity
  • 17
    This generation will never know the struggle WUAB Roseanne Grace Under Home (CC) Fire (CC) 2065513 2152093 49 WEAO Sesame Barney & Street 921838 Friends 55 WBNX Step by Step Inside Edi- 14548 tion 25600 The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer (CC) 43068 Cops (CC) Cops (CC) 73703 21884 dor Band Line News 88635 Animal orts bras. 24612 112180 Godzilla vs. Magalon Rescue (CC) cyborg Jet Jaguar meet 68056 black chicken sent by Sea The Simp- Improve. (CC) sons (CC) 4522635 2158277 Emp ries C ans Baseball Clevela
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 18
    Rachel Fisher @TheRachelFisher I would pay $$$$ for a fitness class that was just dancing the choreography to the late 90s/early 2000s pop songs from my teen years
    via That 80s and 90s Page, @TheRachelFisher
  • 19
    9 YEAR OLDS WANT THE LATEST IPHONE Crayola Caddy" WHEN I WAS 9 I JUST WANTED THIS
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 20
    KIDS TODAY WILL NEVER WALK ON THE WI VENUS IN FURS CHINA GIRL UNDERSTAND 1954 rep I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOU LENG - - ROLLING STONES LAULA DEREK & THE DOMINCES BLACK MAGIC WOMAN- WATCH HENDRIX BLACK NIGHT - DEEP PURPLE SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL - ROLLING STOVES HOLD YOUR HEAD UP- ARGENT Mixtape no. аре MASTER A 5964 19 3 HOW MUCH WORK WE PUT INTO MAKING THESE
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 21
    It's been 40 years and I still don't know what Sussudio means
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 22
    Was there anything better than going out to eat at Pizza Hut back in the day? I can hear and smell this picture! Take Out
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 23
    Every kid growing up in the '90s owned a pair of at least one of these sandals THROWBACKS
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 24
    If this image doesn't immediately start a long forgotten song in your head, can you even call yourself GenX... ما
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 25
    Felicity @FlossAus I feel sorry for Netflix era kids. They will never know the high stakes adrenaline of running to the bathroom/fridge/bedroom in a single ad break, with the beckoning call of a sibling screaming "It's ONNNNNN" to send you hurdling over furniture to get back in time.
    via That 80s and 90s Page, @FlossAus
  • 26
    Ross W Berman IV @RossWBermanIV nobody will remember: - your salary - how "busy you were" - how many hours you worked people will remember: -Return To Innocence -Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) -all the other great songs in this Pure Moods collection, yours for only $15.99 on cassette or $17.99 on CD with S+H
    via That 80s and 90s Page, @RossWBermanIV
  • 27
    SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE WHOSE MUSIC COLLECTION UMAR HEEP tin machine USED TO LOOK LIKE THIS
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 28
    Mysteresa @Mysteresa1 You're over 35. Better go pee before you leave, pee when you get there, pee while you're there, and pee before you leave.
    via That 80s and 90s Page, @Mysteresa1
  • 29
    mimo @mikassong if you ever feel useless, remember someone made a protective cover for Nokia 3310 Mūrūthi @Ngartia It was to protect the floor
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 30
    THINGS WE ALWAYS SAW ROYAL DANSK Lanish Butter Cookies OYAL DANSK That cabinet you can't touch AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 31
    Sneaking a piece of candy, this was the loudest lid.
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 32
    HAD NO COUGH HEP UCERS ATE THE ENTIRE BOX
    via That 80s and 90s Page
  • 33
    SPORT GYM DOLLY
    via That 80s and 90s Page

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1990s 90s memes retro nostalgia 80s music Nostalgia Overload 80s 90s kids 90s memory lane nostalgia memes millennial-nostalgia 1980s
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