15 Things That Were Common in The 90s

There were at least 15 things that were common in the 90s that might not have endured the transition into the current era. Some of them might be better off gone.

It was okay to remain unreachable by anyone

It was common in the 90s to go off on your own to do your own thing. It wasn’t considered rude to go hours without talking to anyone on the phone.

People often didn’t know if they’d be able to use their pictures before getting them back

Think about it. Today people will take a multitude of pictures and fuss over small details. It was common in the 90s to not even know how your pictures came out until you picked them up from the photoshop.

The M in MTV wasn’t just for decorative purposes

Yeah, at one point in time, MTV still played music videos, y’know, to keep up with their own moniker. These days it’s kind of a cute throwback.

The idea of the mall was a lot different back in the day

Remember coin arcades and malls? Yeah, back in the day a person could spend all day in the mall and not consider it a wasted life.

A list of emergency contacts on the fridge

In all fairness, there are smart fridges now, but a piece of paper and a pen are still much cheaper alternatives. Plus, most people still know how to operate a pen and piece of paper.

At one time people actually looked in the paper or called the theater to check on showtimes

We didn’t have cell phones back then, nor was the internet big enough yet to pump out websites for various theaters. Despite how it sounds, this was much simpler in some ways.

Multiplayer video games required everyone to be in the same room

Sure, it’s cool to play with someone across the globe. But the personal touch was nice since it was common in the 90s to fashion an entire party around this type of thing.

Showing up just to say hi

These days people find this suspicious at times, or inconvenient. But back in the 90s, it was still kind of nice to see your friends or family show up just because.

Talking to your friends’ parents while waiting for your friend

Yes, the phone was actually answered by a parent more often than not back in the 90s. This was common since caller ID still wasn’t as big as it is now.

Airport security wasn’t quite as strict

It might still be a sore spot, but navigating the airport was still an easy thing to do back in the day. You could actually wait at the gate for someone without going through the rigorous security checks.

Video rental stores were everywhere

There were still a lot of mom-and-pop shops out there that could contend with bigger stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood. They didn’t have longevity on their side, but they often had other incentives to keep people coming back.

The Yellow Pages was still around

Sure, they were kind of inefficient, but it beat having your name and number out there for everyone to see. In other words, you could go unlisted.

Assigning a meeting place and time in case you get lost

This is something that’s still in effect in some families. But the whole point was to have a spot to meet and a designated time if you did get separated.

Directions were different back then

You either had to know where you were going, how to read a map or find someone who knew. Google wasn’t a thing in the 90s, and unfolding a roadmap was a headache in the making.

Remember those things called ‘payphones’?

You could find one just about anywhere, but sometimes you had to call collect or find change. It was a pain in the butt, but at least they never lost their charge or service area.