The 1990's were a big decade for fads. Some of them you might have felt were unimportant, annoying, or really cool. But whatever you thought, you most likely followed one of them at some time. I mean, come on, a decade is a long time to go without going with the flow. So, let's see a list of some of those old fads in order to refresh your thoughts on them.
Tamagotchi's and Virtual Pets
Tamagotchi's were handheld virtual pets that you would feed, play with, bathe, etc., so it could grow into a larger version of the original creature you started out with. It seemed like you had to spend every other second pressing some buttons just to keep this little virtual creature alive. They came in different colors and designs. Soon other companies started to make their own virtual pets that featured cats, dogs, and other more common creatures than the alien-like tamagotchi.
Pokemon
This fad all began with the TV show featuring a kid who encountered these strange creatures and started collecting them. There turned out to be hundreds of these creatures, which started a big fad. Then, the Pokemon trading cards started appearing and every other kid seemed to be battling with these cards. Soon, Pokemon were everywhere from stuffed animals, to toys, to movies, and more. It was a worldwide craze. However, like all fads, it started to die down as the kids who were introduced to it grew up, and grew out of this Pokemon fanatic phase.
Push Pops
Push Pops are lollipops that come in something which resembles a lipstick tube, but you can put your finger in it to push the lollipop up. They range in all different flavors. They're pretty convenient, still widely available, and still taste fairly good, but the fad itself has died down.
Boy Bands
Whether it was the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, O-town, 98 Degrees or any others, millions of girls all over the world went crazy over them. Who could ignore the groups of good-looking guys with good voices, though? All the fans led to many boy bands having platinum albums and raking in millions of dollars. After 2000, the boy bands started to split up for a while and members focused on their own solo careers, such as Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timblerlake of N'Sync. Others went into the acting business while others settled down. Some of the bands say that they are going to come back, but who knows if they'll still be as popular as they were in the 1990's.
Grunge
On the opposite side of the pop/boy band music scene came the grunge scene. Grunge even became a way of fashion including worn out, ripped jeans and flannel shirts. Grunge brought a more rebellious state to the world.
Yo-Yos
Although yo-yos are toys that have been around for many years, more advanced versions of the popular toy started coming about in the 1990's. These fancy yo-yos had special abilities to stay down longer than the usual yo-yo which made performing certain tricks with them far easier. Everyone learned different tricks from yo-yo books, videos, and friends. Aside from the people that made yo-yoing a hobby, this fad pretty much faded away.
"Waaasssuuuppp"
Thanks to the memorable Budweiser commercial, the famous "Waaasssuuuppp" phrase was introduced. It seemed like you couldn't make it through one day without hearing someone say this phrase. People would answer their phones with the saying or use it in E-mails and instant messages. They even found ways to sell the phrase, just by printing it on a bumper sticker and various other products. Ever since the 1990's though, the "Waaasssuuuppp" has seemed to turn into a simple, "What's up?"
Teletubbies
Anyone who was a student during the 1990's knows who tinkywinky, Dipsy, Lala and Po are. Otherwise known as The Teletubbies. This TV show was aimed at young children but generated mass appeal around the world. The Teletubbies did not speak English but instead spoke in a gurgling baby language similar to its target audience. Like many of the popular TV shows during the 1990's there was a lot of merchandise released off the back of the show.
Beanie Babies
Who could resist those cute, bean-filled animals? Beanie Babies were lots of fun; they came with their own tags containing their name, birthday, and a poem. The TY company was the most popular for beanie babies which originated in 1993. Then, other companies started to make their own and become part of this Beanie Baby craze. Even McDonalds and TY partnered up in order to provide mini beanie babies as the prize in Happy Meals. They're still around today, but they aren't as popular.
Although there are plenty of other fads from the 1990's, this list was made with the purpose to show some of the more popular ones. It's fun to look back at some of the fads and being able to make new opinions about them in present day. Some we may look at as a great fad. Others we look at as a waste of time, but whatever way you look at them, you know that they were a part of your life. After a decade, you can keep all of your favorite things from those past ten years and look back on them in the next ten years. They bring back plenty of memories that, unlike fads, will never go away.
電子雞和虛擬寵物
電子寵物雞是一種掌上虛擬寵物,你可以給它喂食,跟它玩游戲,給它洗澡等等,然后它就會(huì)長(zhǎng)得比你最初喂養(yǎng)它們的時(shí)候形態(tài)更大一些。貌似每隔幾秒你就得按幾個(gè)按鈕,這樣才能維持這個(gè)虛擬小東西的生命。這些電子寵物雞顏色各異,設(shè)計(jì)多樣。很快,其他一些公司也開(kāi)始生產(chǎn)電子寵物,外形有小貓、小狗,以及其他更為常見(jiàn)的一些生物,來(lái)代替看起來(lái)酷似外星生物的電子雞了。
寵物小精靈(神奇寶貝)
這股潮流最開(kāi)始是源于一個(gè)電視節(jié)目,故事講述的是有個(gè)小孩遇見(jiàn)了這些奇怪的小生物,而后開(kāi)始收集他們。結(jié)果,這些小動(dòng)物足有成百上千種,從而掀起了一大潮流。之后,寵物小精靈集換卡開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)了,每?jī)蓚(gè)小孩中就有一個(gè)在拿這些卡片游戲。緊接著,寵物小精靈變得到處都是,它們被制成絨毛動(dòng)物、玩具、電影和其他產(chǎn)品,在全世界引發(fā)了一股狂潮。然而,就像所有流行潮流一樣,最初熟悉它的孩子們漸漸長(zhǎng)大,走出了這個(gè)狂熱期,寵物小精靈也就隨之消失了。
口紅棒糖果
口紅棒糖果是一種裝在類(lèi)似于口紅管中的棒棒糖,但你可以將手指伸進(jìn)去把棒棒糖從底下推出來(lái)。這種口紅棒糖果有很多不同的口味。它們吃起來(lái)十分方便,時(shí)至今日,這種糖果還在被廣泛出售,仍然非常好吃,但是這股風(fēng)潮本身卻已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)了。
男孩樂(lè)團(tuán)
無(wú)論是后街男孩、超級(jí)男孩、歐城男孩、98度或者其他的男孩組合,世界各地都有無(wú)數(shù)的少女為他們瘋狂。畢竟,誰(shuí)又能對(duì)一群長(zhǎng)相俊美、嗓音動(dòng)聽(tīng)的帥哥熟視無(wú)睹呢?拜這些粉絲們所賜,很多男孩樂(lè)團(tuán)贏得了白金唱片和大把的鈔票。2000年之后,這些男孩樂(lè)團(tuán)開(kāi)始暫時(shí)解散,很多成員單飛,專(zhuān)注于自己的獨(dú)立事業(yè)發(fā)展,比如后街男孩的尼克·卡特和超級(jí)男孩的賈斯汀·汀布萊克。其他人有的向影視圈發(fā)展,有的則退出了娛樂(lè)圈,過(guò)著安定的生活。一些組合宣稱(chēng)他們將來(lái)會(huì)復(fù)出,但誰(shuí)知道他們還會(huì)不會(huì)像20世紀(jì)90年代時(shí)這么受歡迎呢。
垃圾搖滾
在流行組合/男孩樂(lè)團(tuán)大為風(fēng)行的同時(shí),另一方面,垃圾搖滾也開(kāi)始在音樂(lè)舞臺(tái)上嶄露頭角。垃圾風(fēng)格甚至成為了一種時(shí)尚潮流,包括穿著破爛的乞丐裝牛仔褲和法蘭絨襯衫。垃圾搖滾將世界帶進(jìn)了一個(gè)更為叛逆的時(shí)期。
溜溜球
盡管溜溜球這種玩具多年來(lái)一直都有,但是這種流行的玩意兒在20世紀(jì)90年代開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)了更為先進(jìn)的版本。這些神奇的溜溜球其特別之處在于,它比一般的溜溜球在下端停留的時(shí)間更長(zhǎng),這就使得用它來(lái)玩出一些花樣就容易得多了。每個(gè)人都從溜溜球的書(shū)籍、錄像還有朋友那里學(xué)習(xí)不同的花式玩法。如今,除了有些人還將它當(dāng)作一種興趣愛(ài)好以外,溜溜球已經(jīng)和我們的生活漸行漸遠(yuǎn)了。
"最近混得怎么樣?"
多虧有了讓人記憶深刻的百威啤酒廣告,這句現(xiàn)如今流傳甚廣的"最近混得怎么樣"開(kāi)始為人所知。似乎每一天你都能聽(tīng)見(jiàn)有人使用這句話。人們接電話的時(shí)候說(shuō),寫(xiě)電子郵件的時(shí)候?qū),發(fā)短信的時(shí)候也用。甚至有人找到了用這句話來(lái)賺錢(qián)的方法,把這句話印刷在汽車(chē)貼紙或者其他各種各樣的商品上。然而,從20世紀(jì)90年代開(kāi)始,"最近混得怎么樣"這句話似乎變得更為簡(jiǎn)化了,只需說(shuō)"怎么樣?"
天線寶寶
任何在20世紀(jì)90年代當(dāng)過(guò)學(xué)生的人都知道丁丁、迪西、拉拉和小波是誰(shuí)。他們也被稱(chēng)為天線寶寶。這個(gè)電視節(jié)目原本是打算給小孩子們看的,但卻引發(fā)了全世界觀眾的興趣。天線寶寶說(shuō)的不是英語(yǔ),而是"咿咿呀呀"的嬰兒語(yǔ)言,與這個(gè)節(jié)目原本的目標(biāo)觀眾使用的語(yǔ)言相似。就像很多在20世紀(jì)90年代廣受歡迎的電視節(jié)目一樣,很多周邊產(chǎn)品也隨之涌現(xiàn)。
比尼寶寶(豆豆娃)
誰(shuí)能拒絕那些乖巧可愛(ài)、用豆豆填充的小動(dòng)物呢?豆豆娃十分有趣;他們每一個(gè)的標(biāo)簽上都印有自己的名字、生日和一首詩(shī)歌。1993年誕生的豆豆娃最為著名的生產(chǎn)廠家是TY玩具公司。而后,其他公司也開(kāi)始生產(chǎn)豆豆娃,加入到了這股豆豆娃的風(fēng)潮之中。麥當(dāng)勞甚至還跟TY公司合作,將迷你豆豆娃作為歡樂(lè)套餐的贈(zèng)品。如今,市面上依然能夠看到豆豆娃的身影,但卻不再那么受歡迎了。
其實(shí)自20世紀(jì)90年代以來(lái)還流行過(guò)很多其他的東西,這個(gè)清單只列出了其中比較受歡迎的幾種;剡^(guò)頭去看看這些過(guò)去的時(shí)尚,在如今的時(shí)代重新認(rèn)識(shí)它們也是一件很有意思的事。有一些潮流我們認(rèn)為很不錯(cuò),另一些我們會(huì)覺(jué)得是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間,但無(wú)論你如何看待它們,你都知道那曾是你生活的一部分。十年之后,你仍可以保留這十年來(lái)你喜歡的東西,然后在下一個(gè)十年后再看看它們。它們可以喚回很多回憶,而回憶和時(shí)尚不同,它永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)消失。