If your kids have ever asked you how on earth you survived “back in the olden days” without an iPhone, this one’s for you (and them). Before smartphones took over the world and monopolized all of our time, we were free to play, create, and hang out without ever looking at a screen. It was wonderful, and many of us long for those nostalgic days when doing any of these 15 things was the coolest thing ever.
1. Making Mixtapes for Every Mood
A true labor of love, making a mixtape involved hours of recording songs from the radio, and who can forget trying to avoid the DJ’s voice? Plus, the panic of hitting “record” at the perfect moment still haunts us. Creating a mixtape was a way to curate the perfect soundtrack to your feelings or the setting. Whether it was a crush or a road trip, there was always a mixtape to suit the mood. It was the OG Spotify playlist.
2. Playing ‘Snake’ on Nokia Phones
Long before Candy Crush, Snake was the hottest game around, and we played it on those indestructible Nokia phones. You controlled a growing snake that ate pixels, trying not to crash into itself. Snake had one objective and zero fancy graphics, yet we were completely hooked. Though explaining it to Gen Z might sound simple, it was truly a game of skill.
3. Talking on the Phone for Hours
Remember when the phrase ‘phone anxiety’ didn’t exist? Back in the day, people actually talked on the phone for hours. You’d spend entire evenings talking to friends while lying on the floor with the phone cord stretched and wrapped around you. The fact that your sibling was probably waiting to use the phone made the conversations feel all the more urgent.
4. Building Epic Forts
No iPads, PlayStations, just imagination, couch cushions, blankets, and a few chairs were all you needed to create all the fun you ever needed in the living room. Whether pretending to be on a grand adventure or simply hiding from the world, building a fortress was a beloved pastime. The time and effort put into these elaborate setups made it feel like you were building a second home. Inevitably, though, someone would crash into the fort, ruining it all.
5. Recording TV Shows on VHS
Before streaming, if you wanted to watch your favorite show later, you had to record it on a VHS tape. The real challenge was timing it perfectly with your VCR. There was no worse feeling than missing the first few minutes or recording the wrong channel. And don’t even get us started on trying to record over something without accidentally ruining an old memory.
6. Making Prank Calls
In the pre-caller ID days, prank calls were a rite of passage. You’d dial random numbers and ask things like, “Is your refrigerator running?”. There was something exhilarating about dialing people from school or random numbers in the phone book. These pranks seem ridiculous now, but they were comedy gold at the time.
7. Passing Notes in Class
Long before texting, we could only communicate with our friends by passing handwritten notes during class. It was like sending a secret message, only much riskier because the teacher could intercept it—or worse, read it aloud to the class. We went to great lengths to be discreet, folding the notes into elaborate shapes and coming up with clever code names, all while risking detention.
8. Using Disposable Cameras
You had a limited number of photos on a disposable camera and had to wait days to develop them. You couldn’t take hundreds of pictures to get the best shot—just whatever you captured at the moment. You never knew how the photos would turn out. Half the shots were blurry or featured someone blinking, but that was part of the fun. Selfies didn’t even exist.
9. Playing MASH
A simple paper game that predicted your future—who you’d marry, where you’d live, and what kind of car you’d drive. The game was played by scribbling options in categories and counting to a random number to determine your fate. Though it seems unbelievable now, how else were we meant to pass the time during a boring class?
10. Spending Hours at the Mall
Before all your friends were online, the mall was the social hub of the pre-smartphone era. You’d meet friends, grab food at the food court, and walk around for hours with no particular destination in mind – and if you were lucky, you even spotted your crush. We didn’t even buy anything most of the time. We loitered, ate pretzels, and thought it was the coolest hangout spot ever.
11. Playing Board Games with Missing Pieces
Whether it was Monopoly, Scrabble, or Clue, everyone had that one family board game with missing pieces. You had to improvise by using random objects as stand-ins or create new rules. Despite half the game being lost or broken, we still played. A button, penny, or Lego could always fill in as a missing game piece, and it was still just as fun, if not more.
12. Watching Reruns on TV
If your favorite show wasn’t on, you couldn’t just switch to a different streaming platform; you were stuck with reruns—shows you’d already seen hundreds of times. Even though we’d seen the episode before, we’d still sit through it, quoting lines and waiting for the same punchlines.
13. Going to Blockbuster for Movie Night
Picking out a movie at Blockbuster was an event in itself. You’d browse the aisles, debate with friends or family about which film to rent, and hope your top choice wasn’t already checked out. If the kids of today thought scrolling Netflix was hard, they don’t know the feat of choosing a movie at Blockbuster. And if you returned the VHS late? The dreaded late fee awaited you.
14. Creating Friendship Bracelets
You didn’t show that you loved your friends by liking their pictures; you showed them that you cared with friendship bracelets. Armed with colorful thread, you’d spend hours braiding and knotting intricate patterns to make friendship bracelets for your BFFs. The dedication it took to make the “perfect” bracelet, followed by the unspoken pressure of wearing it every day so your friend didn’t feel offended, was a next-level friendship commitment. Thank god Swifties have reignited the craze.
15. Flipping Through Magazines for Hours
Magazines like Seventeen, Rolling Stone, or Tiger Beat were our windows into pop culture, music, and fashion. We’d flip through them at home, the doctor’s office or anywhere else boredom struck. From magazine quizzes to sealed sections and cutting out the best pictures to stick on our walls, the bygone era of magazines is sorely missed.
