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5 core values Gen X-ers had in the '90s that could save the world

Let's kill fast fashion and bring back vintage thrifting.

via Unsplash
A mix tape from 1992.

A few weeks ago I came across an article about a kid who watches television at 1.5x speed so he can cram as much viewing in as he can. It seemed that his unquenchable desire to get through shows in the Golden Age of television meant he’d sacrifice the entertainment value of the show just to get to the end.

“Man, this guy would have been crucified in 1993,” I thought.

As a 45-year-old card-carrying member of Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1979), I remembered a time when nobody bragged about the amount of TV they watched. In fact, they bragged about not owning a TV. “I don't watch TV, man,” people would say. “It only exists to sell you stuff.”

This complete reversal on the social acceptance of gluttonous TV viewing made me wonder what happened to the values we were raised on as Gen Xers?


1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back technology that was the perfect blend of digital and analog.Sean Eyre/Flickr

We were taught that sincerity was for simpletons, everything corporate is evil, old school is always better than the latest and greatest, authenticity is king, conformity is death and there is nothing worse than being a sell-out or a poser.

Nobody would have ever referred to themselves as an “influencer” in 1991—that’s the definition of a sell-out.

“After writing this book, I’m back in the mindset of ’90s thinking, which is that nothing is worse than selling out,” Chuck Klosterman, author of “The Nineties: A Book,” told Esquire. “Nothing was more embarrassing in the ’90s than trying to convince people to like the thing you made."

Deep inside the heart of almost every Gen Xer is a deep-seated feeling of nihilism. We didn’t trust the corporations that laid off our parents or gutted their pensions in the ’80s. In fact, everything corporate was predatory. We didn’t have a lot of faith in family values because we were the first generation raised by single parents or in daycare. We didn’t care much about politics either. Back in the ’90s, Gen X’s aversion to politics was historic.

Of course, these are all generalities about a generation of nearly about 65 million people, but studies show that there are some definite hallmarks of being a Gen Xer.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back not being a sellout.Giphy

According to a generational differences document circulated through the business community, Gen X’s core values are “skepticism,” “fun” and “informality.” They’re described as “self-reliant,” “independent,” “unimpressed with authority” and motivated by “freedom.”

In the young Gen Xer, the culture of the era “instilled a wariness and skepticism, and a kind of ‘figure it out for yourself’ mindset,” Paul Taylor, author of “The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown” told The Washington Post. And with that came a sense “that you don’t have to shine a light on yourself. You’re not the center of the universe.”

But things have changed since the ’90s when Gen X was coming of age. We live in an American culture that is fractured by political partisanship, fueled by a constant culture of outrage, crippled by a preoccupation with technology, plundered by greedy boomers and annoyed by overly sensitive millennials. All of this is happening while we face the greatest challenge of our times, climate change.

The answer to all of these problems is simple: admit that Gen X at one point had it right and if we followed its lead, we could reverse these terrible trends. OK, it might not fix all of our woes, but the way things are going now surely aren’t working. Plus, weren’t the ’90s great?

Also, with hat in hand, I must admit that this message is for Gen Xers as well. Many of us have lost our way by forgetting our disdain for authority and skepticism toward institutions. This is a call for us to remember what we once stood for and to fight back by doing what we do best—staying above the fray.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back everything that made the 80s and 90s great!Giphy

Gen X, it’s time to strap on your Dr. Martens boots and get back to fighting the “Battle of Who Could Care Less.” It’s time we collectively got our “whatever” back and showed the other generations how powerful dismissiveness can be.

Here are the top five Gen X values that we need to embrace again.

5. Buying vintage items

Nothing was less hip in the early ’90s than wearing mall clothes.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back Goodwill style. Photo by Sean Benesh on Unsplash

If you had any style you shopped at a thrift store and bought used duds from the ’70s and early ’80s and remixed them into something awesome. If you were into hip-hop or skating you shopped at the surplus store and rocked some super-durable Dickies or Carhartt gear. The mood of the times was totally anti-fashion. These days, we live in a world where fast fashion is killing the environment. By embracing the Gen X value of old-school cool, we can help the planet while looking much more fashionable in the process.

4. Corporate skepticism

In the early 2000s, people fell head-over-heels in love with smartphone technology and social media so quickly that nobody stopped and said, “Hey, wait a minute!” Now, we have a world where kids are depressed, the culture has become divided and nobody talks to each other in public anymore, they just stare at their phones. I can totally understand why young millennials and Luddite boomers would fall for the big-tech ruse, but sadly, Gen X was asleep at the wheel and fell victim, too. The generation that embraced the notion that TV rotted your brain needs to remind everyone to go outside and play in the sunshine or read a book. And if you read a book it should be by Bret Easton Ellis.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back not trusting big corporations.Giphy

3. Just say “whatever”

Two of the most popular Gen X phrases were “whatever” and “talk to the hand (because the face don’t give a damn).” These may seem to be flippant responses but they are the correct way to deal with other people’s nonsense and in 2025, we have to deal with a constant barrage of it.

Somewhere along the way, people forgot that it’s even more powerful to ignore someone than to admit they got under your skin. In the world of social media, we unintentionally amplify the most wretched voices by subtweeting, commenting and liking the posts from the army of grifters fighting for our attention.

We also live in an era where many seem to be addicted to outrage. The quickest way to stop fanning the flames of outrage is with a simple, “whatever.” Like dogs distracted by squirrels, we’ve got our heads on outrage swivels these days. Throwing around the occasional “whatever” gives us the time and energy to focus on the problems that really matter and take action.

These days “whatever” matters more than ever.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back ignoring annoying people.Giphy

2. Bring back snobbery

Good taste used to matter. In the 2000s, millennials decided that people have the right to like what they like and that it’s worse to judge someone’s personal taste than to have bad taste. Gen Xers based their entire personalities on taste and demanded integrity from artists and were rewarded by living in a time of superior films and music. These days, no one listens to new music and we’re stuck in a world dominated by comic book movies because no one stood up and shamed people for liking low-effort culture.

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back high-quality films and booksGiphy

1. Political apathy

America’s political divide has calcified over the past decade because more and more people are basing their personal identities on their politics. This has created a culture where the dialog between liberals and conservatives has become a shouting match that only makes people dig their heels in further. It’s also created a culture in Washington, D.C. that has attracted a more debased form of politician and led to the gridlock that has halted any sense of progress. Sadly, Gen X has also been sucked into this vortex.

Things were a lot different in the ’90s. Back in 1999, Ted Halstead at The Atlantic noted that Xers “appear to have enshrined political apathy as a way of life.” He added that Gen Xers “exhibit less social trust or confidence in government, have a weaker allegiance to their country or to either political party.”

Compared to what’s going on in America in 2025, this type of apathy seems welcome. Back in the ’90s, taking a “chill pill” could solve everything. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone took one, and then we could open our ears and hearts and have some constructive discussions?

1990s, gen x, '90s values, 90s, 80s, gen z, millennial, generations, nostalgiaBring back not making politics your entire identity.Giphy

There was a common lament in the 1980s that the boomer hippies had sold out and became boomer yuppies. They went from being concerned with peace, love and the planet to stocks, bonds and conspicuous consumption. Gen X is now in its 40s and 50s and it’s fair to say that we've moved from being the outsiders to creating technological and political machines that are generating the type of conformity that we once railed against.

Now that Xers are at the age where we get to run the world for a few decades, it’s time to recommit to the core values that make us well … us. The great news is that as Gen Xers, it’ll be easy to get back to our roots because we were raised to ironically love the past.

This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

Pop Culture

Duran Duran's new luxury perfume is unintentionally making fans think of a very dirty word

"Every time I see the name ... I see another word. I can’t be the only one who feels this way."

Images via Canva and Wikicommons

Duran Duran's new luxury perfume really sounds like something else entirely

For many of us Duranies, the pop band Duran Duran has held a top spot in our hearts over the years. We love the music, the videos, the groovy Nile Rodgers-inspired John Taylor bassline, and the delightfully bonkers lyrics, often brought to us by front man Simon Le Bon (though, over the decades, other bandmates have offered lyric collaborations),

In fact, there are entire Reddit threads dedicated to the seemingly nonsensical nature of their lyrics. One fan eloquently advises, "I would suggest you study poetry and the poets that influenced Simon. Do they 'mean' anything in a literal sense? Not really, nor are they supposed to. He’s said before that he was highly influenced by impressionistic poetry, and one of his favorite poets was Wilfred Owen. A couple of other obvious ones are T.S. Eliot, and I believe the great metaphysical poet John Donne."

Duran Duran, show, band, performance, 80s, lyricsduran duran 80s GIFGiphy

One such lyric is from one of their most popular hits, "Hungry Like the Wolf," from their second studio album, Rio, released in 1982. While the entire band (which consisted of Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor, and Andy Taylor at the time) is credited with writing the song, it's widely believed that Simon had the most influence on the words. "Smell like I sound," he sang, while clad in a khaki "safari" suit, a fedora, and a shirt unbuttoned so far down that his many necklaces glistened in the swamps of Sri Lanka.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

But it often begged the question: How DO they smell? If it’s like they sound, then it must be pretty awesome. Well, now we have an actual answer to that question. Duran Duran has released two unisex scents in collaboration with the Italian fragrance perfumery Xerjoff. And a few folks online are having a fun time with its name. But we'll come back to that.

One scent, NeoRio, can be purchased in four different-colored flacons: pink, green, orange, or yellow. According to the Xerjoff website, it contains notes of "candied fig and rum with the sparkling freshness of elemi absolute, before unfolding with the fiery warmth of saffron and the elegance of soft rose oil, all anchored by the creamy richness of Tonka bean and the timeless depth of balsam from Peru." Not sure whether to wear it, eat it, drink it, or just listen to it, but it goes for nearly 400 USD a pop.

At the same price point, Xerjoff is also offering Black Moonlight, a heavier scent where "Bergamot and mandarin awaken the senses, whilst saffron, lavender, sambac jasmine, and hazelnut envelop the senses in an intimate embrace. It’s all grounded by the base notes of patchouli, vetiver, tonka bean, and benzoin to create a sensual, timeless scent that mirrors Duran Duran’s legacy: constantly transforming yet introspective—a harmonious blend of art, innovation, and emotion." Now that's a good sell.

The issue on Reddit? Fans have thoughts about the name of the perfumery. On the subreddit r/DuranDuran, someone posted a "New Duran Duran Perfume" thread. The first comment comes in hot: "Every time I see the name of this company, I see another word. I can’t be the only one who feels this way." This gets over 50 upvotes, with many Redditors in agreement.

Though some defend the company: "Xerjoff is a highly regarded perfumier. Also, damned expensive." But after a few more in the comments use creative and descriptive ways to explain how the mind tends to trick us into reading Xerjoff in a less-than-savory way, it really just comes down to the cost. "I think I’ll stay with the way I think they smell like. Too expensive for me."

The comments even come up on Duran Duran's official TikTok page.

@duranduran

@Xerjoff x Duran Duran x LDN. The night took place in Lost City, a secret London location. Here’s a sneak peek….share at your highest discretion. #xerjoff #duranduran #NeoRio #blackmoonlight #london

Xerjoff, for what it's worth, is an extremely popular and well-reviewed perfumery. And in the words of keyboardist Nick Rhodes on their website, they created the scents with the same standards as they approach their over 40-year career. "We realized we were striving to achieve similar criteria as we do when writing songs—ultimately aiming for something seductive, unique, and irresistible.”


Does anyone hitchhike anymore?

If there's one truism we can all agree on, it's that times change, and as you get older, that truth becomes clearer and clearer. Things that were once commonplace have disappeared, norms and expectations have shifted, technology has fundamentally changed how we live and work, and time just keeps ticking on.

That's not a bad thing, necessarily. Progress is progress, change can be good, and we shouldn't expect an ever-evolving humanity in an ever-changing world to stay the same. At the same time, it's easy to have nostalgia for the good old days, and some part of those days are worth thinking of fondly.

90s, nostalgia, the past, growth, timeMusic Video 90S GIFGiphy

When someone asked Gen Xers and Boomers, "What's something that used to be normal, but would shock people today?" the responses were a mixed bag of awesome memories from the past, things that are probably best left behind, and those that fall in between somewhere depending on your perspective. Here are some of the most popular responses.

Unreachability

We are so used to carrying cell phones with us everywhere and being able to call or text anyone at any time that it's hard to imagine not being able to do that. But people used to simply fall off the map for a while, and nobody really worried about it. And if you called someone and they didn't answer, there was no leaving a message until answering machines came about.

gif, messages, voicemail, phones, reachable answering machine cbc GIF by Kim's ConvenienceGiphy

"People being completely unreachable, even children, for multiple days. Not in a they aren't answering work emails on purpose, but are posting on Instagram kind of way-- but truly, no one knows where the hell this person is or how to get in touch with them... oh well, ok. Carry on."

"I went to Europe for a year after high school, and my family got a letter maybe once a month and an occasional phone call - international calls were too expensive to stay in contact frequently."

"God, I soooooo miss this. Not just for myself, cause it's possible to still drop off the planet for a while, but what I miss is this being NORMAL for all people. Like in the before cell phone, before answering machine days. Call and leave a message with someone who answered. Or not. 'Where is Jake?' 'Oh, he went down south for a few days. Check back next week.'"

"Right Family vacation, camping, fishing. In a week, you might go in to town to the pay phone to call Gramma one time. No one thought twice about it."

"People tend to forget what a jaw-dropper answering machines were. They weren't cheap either. Most people didn't have one for a very long time."

Kids roaming free

Helicopter parenting was not a thing when Gen X and Boomers were kids. In fact, kids were often told to "go out and play," which meant wandering and exploring around—and often beyond—your neighborhood with your friends for most of the day, with your parents not really knowing where you were or what you were doing (a la The Goonies). You knew it was time to come home with the streetlights went on or when your stomach told you it was dinnertime.

kids, goonies, freedom, wandering, free rangethe goonies this is our time GIFGiphy

"Free range kids with no tracking. I left home on Saturdays after the last good cartoon, and my family didn't see me again until dinner. I was in the woods fighting imaginary Russians or having bottle rocket wars with kids on the block."

"I miss this so much. For all kids nowadays. Being constantly contactable (and more importantly it meaning 'something bad' if they are not) has warped everyone's brain. Everyone IMMEDIATELY goes to 'OMG where is ___ something bad must have happened' in mere minutes!."

"This! My mom kicked us outside when we got rowdy and told us to come back when she whistles! We knew not to pass the stop sign at one end of the road, and the mail box on the other. We had treehouses made from random shit we found in the woods and would battle each other 😂 Man my kids now could never."

"We were on our bikes riding around the whole neighborhood with other kids all day! Miles away, nobody worried about where we were, only vague ideas about who we were with."

Airport access

Those who remember life before 9/11 know how much airport security changed afterward, and it's hard now to imagine the way it used to be. On the one hand, limiting gate access to ticketed passengers only has made airports a little less crowded (believe it or not) but on the other, there was something so sweet about stepping off of a plane to someone greeting you immediately.

airports, airport security, accessibility, travel, greetings Airport Why Am I Here GIF by Girls on HBOGiphy

"if you were picking someone up at the airport especially if it was your kid coming home from college or something big like that you would meet them at the gate."

"People who didn't have tickets could wait with you at the gate until you boarded or meet you when you got off."

"Walking to airline gates without a ticket or TSA. When I was a kid mom would take me to BWI airport and we would watch the planes from the pier."

"My parents’ favorite cheap date when they were young and poor was to go to the airport and people watch."

"I used to fly to my grandparents by myself every summer. My mom would walk me to the plane and get me settled in my seat. Once they accidentally closed the door and started pulling away from the gate while she was still on board and they had to pull back in to let her out."

Lax car rules

When some of us were kids, seatbelts weren't even standard in the backseats of cars—you had to pay extra to have them installed. And even then, they were just lap belts, no shoulder straps. Booster seats? Non-existent. Baby car seats? Eh, kind of, maybe, sometimes. (To be fair, the increased safety regulations on cars and seatbelts have saved many lives, so not complaining about these changes.)

car, driving, seatbelt, seatbelts, safety Car Wagon GIF by DiscoveryGiphy

"The amount of kids who could fit in the back of a station wagon."

"We drove cross country on a family trip. Removed the seats and 7 kids just sat in the back on the floor."

"My sister and I rode in the back of a pickup truck on a six hour ride in Oklahoma when I was about 8 or 9 years old. We were both badly sunburned, and I ended up with ear infections. It was not a good time."

"1972 Towing a race car on the interstate with two moms and 5 kids in the back plus two canisters of gasoline towards the tailgate with the moms leaning against the back of the cab smoking. Oh, one of the moms was pregnant too. On our way to watch the dads participate in a demolition derby and stock car race, which my dad won. It's quite likely that the driver had an open can of beer between his knees."

"Dad had a full sized van with the passenger seats removed. We sat in bean bag chairs in the back from Missouri to South Carolina when moving cross country."

Smoking, smoking, and more smoking

I've tried to explain to my Gen Z kids how ubiquitous smoking used to be, but I don't think they fully believe it. People smoked everywhere. There were smoking sections and areas everywhere. Ashtrays everywhere. Cigarette butts all over the ground. Candy cigarettes. You get the picture.

smoking, cigarettes, smoke, ashtrays, smoking sectionsmothers day smoking GIFGiphy

"Smoking on airplanes."

"The grocery store, hospital, school, movie theater…"

"I was in the hospital when I was 8. My roommate was 16 & she smoked."

"I used to be a cashier and light cigarettes at the register."

"Hell, I worked in a municipal office, and everyone had an ashtray at their desk and smoked all day at work. As someone allergic to smoke, it really sucked. I worked with a bunch of men, and the worst was when one of their wives would have a baby, because the guy would hand out cigars and the whole office would be smoking cigars that day. Brutal."

"Smoking everywhere. I worked at a bank that had the offices in the basement. No windows, one stairway down (fire would have killed everyone). Ashtrays everywhere. Zero ventilation."

"Or high school had a student smoking area. There wasn't an age requirement. Also restaurants did not have no smoking areas."

"Sending your child to the store for a pack of cigarettes. Like not even a teenager. Child."

simpsons, the past, boomers, gen x, changeEpisode 1 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy

People shared some other things that were common like not wearing sunscreen (in fact, slathering yourself with baby oil to bake yourself in the sun), not being able to get cash whenever you needed it (and you always needed it—credit cards weren't as common and weren't accepted everywhere), layaway, sonic booms, corporal punishment in schools, and more. Times do change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, but it's always fun to look back and see how they have. Makes you wonder what a list like this will look like in another 40 or 50 years, doesn't it?



Pop Culture

16 sounds that send Gen Xers and boomers down memory lane and young people don't recognize

From the purr of a rotary phone to the "ka-chunk" of manual credit card machines, so many sounds have disappeared.

Who remembers these sounds?

When we conjure up memories from our past, we usually see them as images or pictures, perhaps even as reels in our minds. But visual memories are only part of our recall. Anyone who's tasted a long-forgotten meal or smelled a loved one's perfume or heard a specific song and been sent straight back to another time knows how all of our senses play a role in memory.

Other than music, may not think of sounds as particularly memory triggering, but when someone asked Gen Xers and boomers what sounds were commonplace when they were younger that we don't hear anymore, it became clear that they are. Most of probably don't think of these things often, but seeing a whole list of outdated sounds quickly sends those of a certain age straight down memory lane.

For instance:

VHS tapes rewinding

You physically went to Blockbuster. You rented a movie on VHS. You watched it. Then you had to "Be Kind, Rewind" before returning the movie, and that sound of the tape rewinding is a totally distinctive sound. Some people even had machines that were just for rewinding tapes at a faster speed than the VHS player.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Dial tones and busy signals

The first time one of my Gen Z kids picked up a landline phone and heard the dial tone, they jumped and said, "Ah, why is the phone yelling at me?!" And playing the sound of a busy signal totally creeps them out—"That so eerie!" But back in the day, these sounds were just a normal part of making phone calls. In fact, it took us older folks a while to get used to not having a dial tone on our cell phones.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The purr of a rotary phone dialing

There was something so soothing about the sound of dialing a phone number on a rotary phone. Everyone hated when a phone number had a lot of zeroes in it, simply because it took so long to dial, but oh was it satisfying to hear the purr of the wheel as it wound back.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Sonic booms and cars backfiring

It wasn't unusual to hear what sounded like a big explosion or what sounded like gunfire back in the day. When the goal in aviation was to get faster and faster, it became common for supersonic flights to break the sound barrier, creating what's known as a sonic boom. However, supersonic flight has been banned over land in many countries for decades, so it's not a common occurrence anymore.


@cleoabram

Sonic booms dont work like many people think... As any plane flies, it pushes air out of its path, creating pressure waves. When a plane flies FASTER than sound, the air molecules get compressed into bigger shock waves which our brain processes as a loud BOOM. But a common misconception is: That boom doesn’t just happen once when the plane hits that speed. It boooooooooms the whole time, along the entire path of the plane. That booooooooom is the reason supersonic flight is banned over many countries today. But now, NASA is trying to build a quieter plane and bring back supersonic flight. We got to go see it, and you can watch our longer episode about what we saw... This video is part of our show Huge If True. If you like optimistic science and tech stories, follow for more. #tech #supersonic #plane #airplane #animation #NASA #fast #stem

Cars rarely backfire anymore, either, due to advances in car manufacturing.

Dial-up internet modem squawks

Nothing was more futuristic sounding than dialing into the internet in the early 90s, but it quickly became antiquated with the advent of broadband internet. But that little slice of time when dial-up internet was all we had left a distinct sound memory in all of our psyches.

It's an almost impossible sound to imitate accurately, but we all recognize it when we hear it. (And yes, kids, it was always this annoying.)

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Manual credit card machines

"Cha-CHUNK." Ah, the days before electronic credit card swiping, when cashiers had to pull out the manual credit card processor, set the credit card in it, put the carbon paper on top, and then "Cha-CHUNK."

Everyone who has memories from the 90s and before can attest to remembering that sound.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Coins falling into a payphone or a toll booth

A payphone, children, was a telephone that was out in public where you could insert some coins and to make a phone call. Or, if you didn't have any coins, you could call "collect," meaning that the person who received the phone call had to agree to pay the charges on their phone bill. (Calling collect was a desperate move, by the way, totally uncool.) But the sound of the coins falling down into the telephone is still clear in many of our minds.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Same thing with a toll booth if you happened to live in an area of the country where tollways were or are a thing. Today tolls are almost all processed with digital passes, but it used to be that you had to drive through an actual tollbooth and toss your coins into a machine, with the clinking sound of the coins as they hit the metal bowl.

Emergency Broadcast System tests

These may still happen some places, but with streaming services, not many of us watch regular television or listen to the actual radio anymore. When those were our only choices, we were regularly interrupted by such tests.

"This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test." BEEEEEEEP. And if you happen to turn on the TV during the beep, you questioned whether or not you were actually in the middle of an emergency until it was over and they repeated the announcement that "This was only a test."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Typewriter carriages returning

Even when typewriters were the norm, there was something uniquely satisfying in the sound of someone typing. Modern keyboards still offer some semblance of that soothing clickity-clickity-click, but one thing that's missing from the typewriter era is the sound of reaching the end of a line, hearing the "ding," and then returning to the typewriter carriage to the left side of the page.

This video will bring back some memories:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Dot matrix printers

Apparently, many young people don't even have printers these days, but modern printers are so much quieter than the printers we used back in the 80s. It was a pretty big deal to be able to print anything at home, so we didn't complain too much (having nothing else to compare it to) but looking back, those dot matrix printers were extraordinarily loud and annoying. And slow. If you had a long paper to print, you were going to wait a while.

Still a fun little nostalgia trip to hear one, though.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Manual pencil sharpeners

In the age of electric pencil sharpeners, most kids don't know the satisfaction of using a heavy duty, mounted metal pencil sharpener that felt like it was made to last for generations. Those things could probably survive a nuclear blast, for real.

Remember the sound of the grinding as you turned the crank? They just don't make them like they used to.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Film projectors

Few things will send a Gen Xer or boomer back to their school days like the sound of a film projector. When that machine came out, we knew we were going to be subjected to some kind of 1960s learnin' and the sound of the projector is almost enough to lull us to sleep even today.

When the film was finished and the tail of the film flipped around and around in the machine until the teacher turned it off? Classic sound none of us can forget.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Television "static"

Much like the dial tone, kids these days don't know what it's like to turn on the TV or change the channel and be met with "static" or "fuzz." It's the worst sound ever, really. And it was made worse with the film "Poltergeist" of course.

In fact, there's now a whole genre young people are into called "analog horror" that draws from sounds like those in this list to create a sense of creepiness. Who knew our normal life sounds would someday be considered scary?

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

What other sounds would you add to this list?