Most of us at Frost magazine are 1980s babies who grew up in the 90s. We frequently get nostalgic for the decade and it seems we are not the only ones.
- Over half of modern parents pine for the simple childhood of the 1990s (52%)
- Music memories strike a chord as making tape recordings of the top 40, buying cassettes and Top of The Pops lead ‘90s’ nostalgia list
- Children now more likely to Skype their relatives than send letters
- ‘90s’ jargon stands the test of time as ‘Whatever’ is named as top ‘90s’ phrase still in use today
Making tape recordings of the music charts, having pen pals and growing up without mobile phone technology have been named by British parents as some of their most missed ‘90s’ childhood experiences, according to a new study revealed today.
The new study commissioned to celebrate the premiere of Girl Meets World on Disney Channel asked 2,000 parents to vote for the ‘90s’ childhood experiences that they wish their own children could experience today. The results provide a fascinating overview of the way childhood has changed within a single generation.
From buying singles on cassette to renting videos from the local shop, the ‘90s’ Nostalgia List is revealed as:
| ‘90s’ Nostalgia List |
| 1. Make tape recordings of weekly top 40 – 40%
2. Having pen pals – 35% 3. Watching Top of the Pops – 34% 4. Buying singles on cassette or vinyl – 32% 5. Hand written thank you notes – 31% 6. Waiting for photos to be developed – 29% 7. Watching Saturday night TV with the family – 28% 8. ‘90s’ toys – 27% 9. Renting videos from the local shop – 25% 10. Making plans that don’t change due to lack of mobile communication – 22%
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The poll reveals that music resonates the most with us, with three of the top five comprising of musical memories.
The study also suggests that the ongoing march of technology creates the biggest sense of nostalgia for parents, as the rise of digital entertainment and communication has seen the demise of cassettes, tape recordings, videos and written letters of the typical ‘90s’ childhood.
The list shows that letter writing is missed by parents, with pen pals and writing thank you notes both featuring in the top five. It was also revealed that children today are more likely to keep in contact with relatives through Skype or Facetime (28%) rather than by writing letters (13.5%) suggesting that whilst the art of letter writing may be dying out, modern day children may actually get to see and interact with their relatives more often than the previous generation did.
Not everything has changed – slang jargon has successfully bridged the generation gap, with popular ‘90s’ phrases such as “Whatever!”, “Talk to the hand” and “Take a chill pill” standing the test of time with modern teens.
| Jargon that has survived from the ‘90s |
| 1. Whatever! – 58%
2. Loser – 37% 3. Talk to the hand – 22% 4. As If! – 21% 5. Take a Chill Pill – 17% 6. NOT! – 16% 7. Duh – 14% 8. Don’t go there – 13% 9. Whassup – 12% 10. Yo! – 11% |
Nearly half of parents (48.85%) polled believe that the music of the ‘90s is better that the music around now, with most thinking that modern music popular with their children all sounds the same.
Map reading and having to answer calls on the house phone both narrowly miss out on the top 10.
For the fifth of young British parents who still consider the ‘90s’ friendship bracelet as a core fashion accessory, this year’s Loom Band craze is sure to be welcomed. It seems that the simplicity of ‘90s’ toys and playground trends including Beanie Babies and Troll dolls struck a nostalgic nerve with the parents surveyed, as it can be seen at number 8 on the list.
The study also suggests that many celebrities who have ridden the fame wave from the nineties to present day will always be most fondly remembered for their ‘90s’ heyday. Indeed, 57% of the parents polled would associate Will Smith as the loveable Fresh Prince of Bel Air over his recent blockbuster movies, in comparison to only 20% of children. It seems that Brit Noel Edmunds is another ‘90s’ favourite with 52% of parents associating the presenter with Mr Blobby on Noel’s House Party compared with just 11% of their children, who instead know him for tea time TV show Deal or no Deal (54%).
Disney Channel’s new series Girl Meets World, is the follow-on from the popular ‘90s’ show Boy Meets World. The show now follows Riley, the daughter of Boy Meets World’s popular lead characters Cory and Topanga, as she grows up in the modern world with ‘90s’ parents. Girls Meets World starts on the Disney Channel on 12th September at 6pm.