30 Things That Were Once So Normal To ‘90s Kids, But Would Be Incredibly Weird To Do Today

    We truly loved talking on the phone back then.

    1. Being able to learn/see the correct lyrics to a song only by reading them from the album's liner notes:

    A '90s kids lying on the floor listening to a CD from his yellow portable CD player while he has a CD case opened in his hand and has a stack of CDs next to him

    2. And being able to listen to special remixes or exclusive B-side songs only if you bought pricey import CD singles:

    Opened CD import single for Britney Spears' "You Drive Me Crazy"

    3. Buying pricey import magazines because they had a celeb or artist you loved on the cover and you wanted to read the interview:

    Black-and-white photo of the magazine rack inside a Tower Records

    4. Joining a fan club for an artist or fandom THROUGH THE MAIL and getting things like pins and newsletters mailed to you periodically:

    Janet Jackson Fan Club button

    5. Having to look up a direction in an atlas (that was always in the car) if you were helping one of your parents navigate while they drove:

    A 1995 Thomas Guide atlas for Los Angeles and Orange Counties

    6. Or just going to the nearest gas station and hoping you remember everything (if your parents made you go inside and ask):

    #IRememberWhenYouHadTo run into a gas station to ask for directions when you got lost.

    Twitter: @nikkibloomsmith

    7. Having to rewind a movie before you watched it because the last person to watch didn't rewind it:

    Blockbuster VHS tape with the sticker "Please remember to rewind" sticking out of the VCR

    8. Having the dreaded moment of realizing your VCR ruined your favorite movie and knowing it wasn't likely to be replaced — especially if it was out of print (*coughs* in the Disney Vault *cough*):

    A VHS tape with ruined tape pulled out

    9. Having to go in person to buy concert or show tickets at the venue or at Ticketmaster (if you and your parents didn't want to take the gamble of doing it over the phone):

    Man holding two yellow tickets

    10. Having the movie theater be the only place you could watch new trailers:

    The green screen before a movie trailer starts, text says, "The following preview has been approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Association of America"

    11. And having to get to the theater extra early and wait in long lines in order to get a good seat whenever a blockbuster movie was released:

    People camped outside a movie theater in daylight

    12. Having to always set your TV to channel 3 in order to use your VCR or your gaming system:

    A VCR with a tweet over it that says "Remember when you had to change the TV to channel 3 to use the VCR?"

    13. Accepting that you'd likely have to compromise with your siblings whenever you and your family were selecting what movies to rent:

    Exterior of Blockbuster at night

    14. Having to research school assignments in encyclopedias and praying that there was enough of an explainer on the subject matter you were writing about:

    Encyclopedia Britannica on a shelf

    15. Having ZERO idea who was calling at any time:

    Screenshot from Scream of Drew Barrymore's hand about to pick a the house phone

    16. Having to leave a voicemail on your friend's family's answering machine if they weren't home and you wanted them to call you back:

    Little girl talking on the phone in her kitchen

    17. Replacing the mini-cassette tape in the answering machine 'cause it was starting to warp:

    A hand holding a package of Maxell mini-cassettes

    18. Having to search through one of these giant books just to order a dang pizza:

    A finger pointing at a phone number in the Yellow Pages

    19. Using a payphone and always forgetting not to put the receiver close to your mouth:

    A hand holding the receiver and putting a quarter into the payphone

    20. Paging someone and having to sit around next to the phone until they called you back:

    Hand holding a black pager

    21. Ordering clothes, toys, books, or other things from a catalog and waiting WEEKS for them to come:

    An L.L. Bean catalog opened to the PJs page

    22. Or ordering something off a TV commercial and waiting WEEKS for it to come:

    Woman holding a credit card while on the phone and watching TV

    23. Making sure you didn't miss an episode or season premiere of a TV show you liked because you saw an ad for it in the newspaper or TV Guide:

    A TV Guide for "Moesha" promoting the new season premiere with the text "be there when two worlds collide. Brandy and Moesha come face to face for the first time" written on it

    24. Looking through the Sunday circulars so you could find out what albums, movies, and video games were being released:

    Best Buy Sunday circular

    25. Using a watch out of necessity just to know what time it was:

    Hand with with wrist watch on it

    26. Buying souvenir books:

    Disneyland souvenir book with the castle on the cover

    27. Mailing your friends postcards while on vacation so that they knew how miserable or happy you were — and it was the only way to communicate with them if you were far away:

    Five Cleveland postcards fanned out

    28. Squinting and then "aiming" in order to take your pictures:

    Remember when you had to put a camera right up to your eye to see what you were going to take a picture of? #weird

    Twitter: @LizzyMace

    29. And having dozens of pictures remain a mystery right after you took them:

    30. And lastly, trying to watch porn like this:

    Scrambled porn image on TV screen