20 Things That Are Making Us Feel Old, So Very Old

Ashley Hunte
Five packaged dolls modeled after each of the members of the Spice Girls.
reddit | AlyTheKat

You know how at the end of every year, you look back and wonder how all those months passed by so quickly? Yeah, I really wish that would stop happening. As the song goes, the years start coming and they don't stop coming.

I swear, sometimes I forget how old I actually am until I see something from a decade or two ago that jogs an old memory. Nostalgia is nice and all, but when looking at these pics, you might be tempted to feel like you're withering away.

"A screenshot of my iPod 3rd gen, January 2010."

A screenshot of an iPod touch home screen from 2010.
reddit | SnovyGrad

You might think, "oh, that wasn't that long ago." But it was — 2010 was 12 years ago now. There are kids alive today who probably don't even know what an iPod is.

"The hole on top of every TV to mount the rabbit ears."

A plastic loop affixed to the back of an old boxy TV.
reddit | thenewyorkgod

You know, I had plenty of TVs like this back in the day, and I had no idea what that was for. This isn't just making me feel old, but kind of dumb, too.

Back before there were emojis, there were these guys.

A set of 90s/2000s era emoticons.
reddit | dwartbg5

Seriously, before emojis showed up and changed the game, these things were literally everywhere. In all the chatrooms and instant messaging apps. You know, before social media and all that.

"These little FM Radios."

A yellow translucent plastic FM radio.
reddit | Boogachoog

This is absolutely something I totally forgot existed until this very minute. In fact, there was a whole period of time where you could buy little electronics made of plastic from the dollar store, wasn't there?

"90's TV cabinet. I remember needing to push on the glass doors to open them."

A vintage TV and cabinet from the 1990s.
reddit | Lonely_Cow_2742

It's so funny how that style of cabinet has gone out of style. Nowadays, you probably have open shelves under your TV. And you might not even have a DVD player, let alone a VCR.

"Blockbuster Gumball machine."

A second hand store with a blockbuster gumball machine in it. It still has gumballs in the bowl.
reddit | RangeViper

Because nothing is guaranteed to make you feel old quite like Blockbuster.

The fact that there are still gumballs in there... They're probably the original gumballs from when the Blockbuster this thing came from first opened its doors.

"Waking up in the middle of the night to the menu screen music that was left on all night."

The Shrek DVD menu screen.
reddit | Watersplash25

The fact that the image is photoshopped on is pretty hilarious, but the point still stands. That Shrek menu is going to haunt me forever.

"Lens cleaner disc I found in the attic."

A DVD lens cleaner disc set.
reddit | LightUpDaSky

This single disc case has unearthed so many memories. Actually cleaning computer discs. Not being able to play a game because the lens got scratched. Buffing a fingerprint out with your shirt. All of it.

"Did anyone else have these pants?"

A pair of purple and black Gecko pants from the 90s.
reddit | Champagnegatsby

I feel like you couldn't actually make it through the '90s without owning a pair of these pants. Or at the very least, having someone close to you own one. Kids today just won't understand.

"Upgraded my old Ericsson GF768 phone from drawer to wall."

A deconstructed Ericsson GF 768 cell phone.
reddit | Milkmannetje

It's amazing how we had these old phones that were hard to text on and charged you five cents for a webpage, and all of a sudden phones with touch screens took over. It feels like it all happened so fast.

"Who else remembers LodgeNet in hotel rooms?"

A LodgeNet menu for different hotel television options.
reddit | Tonlick

Another Reddit commenter added, "Gaming systems in general that were available at hotels was definitely something to look forward to as a kid." Yeah, there was definitely something special about that.

"Unpacking and found some old 90s concert tickets. Some real gems in here!"

Concert tickets for various bands in the 90s.
reddit | Savasanaallnight

I'll fully admit that I didn't go to my first concert until a few years ago, so I have zero clue how people used to get concert tickets before the internet. But obviously, it was possible.

"Kool-Aid packets."

Vintage Kool-Aid drink packets.
reddit | Conversation_Dapper

Look, I'm not saying that the way junk food/sugary drink companies used to advertise toward kids back in the day is a good thing (since it promotes unhealthy eating habits), but sometimes... I kind of miss it.

"Found my original Jurassic Park ticket today."

A Jurassic Park movie ticket from 1993.
reddit | profmcstabbins

I really miss going to the movies, especially for $3.50. What I don't miss, though, is how every theater seat used to be that weird fabric, instead of the leather-y material they've all been switching to these days.

"An ad for caskets on the back of my Kroger receipt."

An advertisement for caskets in a flyer.
reddit | lightlysaltedbanana

Nothing makes you feel old quite like a reminder that every day is a day closer to death. I'm sure that ad will be helpful for some people, but like, did we all need that reminder?

"Littlefoot bought 34 years ago for my daughter and bought again last year from vintage shop for granddaughter."

Two Littlefoot plush toys; one relatively new, and the other clearly used.
reddit | chrisfpdx

Seeing "Littlefoot" and "vintage shop" together in the same sentence made me feel super old just now. That's it. That's the one that does me in.

"I thought this old fashioned gas pump is neat."

An old-fashioned gas pump.
reddit | singlelens313

Okay, I guess I'm not that old, because I see this as old-fashioned too. But if you end up in a super small town, you're probably going to find gas pumps like this.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this.

I swear, the kids today are probably going to think that VCR stands for Virtual Crypto Reality or something. The fact that this parental verification uses it just shows that if you know what VCR actually means, you're old.

"I have all 5 members of the Spice Girls dolls, still in box, from 1997."

Five boxes with dolls in them; each doll is modeled after one of the five Spice Girls.
reddit | AlyTheKat

It's amazing to think about how there was a time when the Spice Girls were everywhere; on the radio, on TV, in the toy section. Everywhere.

I kind of miss those days...

"Unopened 23 year old box of 'Millenios' Cheerios from y2k."

A vintage box of Millenios from Cheerios.
reddit | Cobblestone-boner

This is the most 1999 thing I've ever seen. The y2k obsession was very strange and short-lived, and yet one of the most culturally significant things from the '90s. Weird, huh?

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