Last month, Landon and I set up a landline for our home. We did this mainly thinking ahead to when our children are old enough to be left at home on their own; we wanted a long runway to teach them how to use it, how to answer it, how to leave a voicemail, how to find and dial our numbers. These are, actually, lessons: when Emory received the voicemail prompt after calling her grandmother, she just sat there, frozen, unsure what to do. I’d forgotten that there are also family norms around answering the phone politely in the first place! Growing up, we answered (with some measure of begrudgment) with: “Hello, Nurmi residence, may I help you?”, and weren’t supposed to pick up after nine o’clock. Our standard Shoop family response is decidedly less formal, but they’ve gotten the hang of it and delight whenever a call comes through. (What they don’t know is that the landline installation is the first step in ensuring they are furious with us when they later discover they will not be getting cell phones until they leave for college…)
What I hadn’t realized was how nostalgic a home phone would make me feel. Just the audio-tactility of hanging it up! That sharp mechanical click! So satisfying — a masterful caesura. My parents had an old rotary phone in our basement, assuredly inherited from their parents, with a long curlicue cord and elegant tapered handle. Oh my gosh, the delightful clatter of returning the receiver to its cradle! You’d look at it and immediately start using phrases like “put him through, please!”
I find myself fixated on the crackle of our new phone’s dial tone and the pierce of its ring throughout the house. These return me to a different, simpler era, and give me a “full circle” sensation. All of it has made me think about something I once read, which is that all technology (paraphrasing wildly) advances by aiming to erase its own footprint. Each version makes the workings of the widget less and less visible to the user. So — computers shrink. We no longer have to know about DOS commands to open an application. We don’t hear the dial up sounds when connecting to the Internet. And yet what we erase is exactly what make us nostalgic for earlier forms: the needle scratch on the record player, the static crackle on the radio, the dial tone, the sound of a rewinding cassette. Even “skipping” on CDs! (Remember when that was an issue with our Discmans?!)
What other (technological or otherwise) niche things make you deeply nostalgic for your youth?
A few others that spring to mind:
+The crinkle of a plastic library book cover (I loved this so much when I was younger, I used to pretend to be my school’s librarian, Ms. Farina, by reading books with plastic jackets to my American Girl dolls, taking great pains to crinkle the spine just like she did, holding it up with one hand);
+The specific energy in a Blockbuster on a Friday evening;
+Skip-its, hoola hoops, and jump ropes (I was good at double dutch!);
+The Gap logo;
+”Romance” by Ralph Lauren (this was later, in my teens, but my God does it take me right back to a specific moment; do you remember the ad?!);
+The slightly sweet plastic smell of a fresh pack of Mrs. Grossman stickers;
+Brownie bowls and root beer floats (we called them “brown cows”?);
+The pixelation of games like “Jordan V Byrd” and “Chip’s Challenge,” played on my Dad’s enormous computer;
+The Disney Golden Sound Story books, which mysteriously played their sounds unprompted from the toy bin across the room;
+French and fishtail braids — I learned how to do them from a Klutz book!
There are so many others, but I’ll pause there — share your favorite nostalgia-inducers in the comments!
Post-Scripts.
+Meals that take us back to our childhood dining room tables.
+Memories of my childhood home.
Shopping Break.
+LOVE Alice Walk’s new crochet shorts!!! With a white tee and some jellies? So cute!
+Another fab knit short option: these just-released Tuckernucks. So cute for FOJ!
+Did you all see these GINGHAM NBs?! I had to have them!
+A good week for launches; Faherty just released a very, very chic bikini. I love the fit of this — the high waist, the balconette top! Love love love. Also into their ringer tees (and ringer tees in general; I just got one of Tuckernuck’s performance ringer tees for exercise!)
+More great athleisure to live in this summer: these “beach” shorts! Use code SHOOP20 for a discount.
+CUTE gingham pants — these are in my cart.
+Zara standouts: this gingham set (top, shorts); this chambray effect belted midi (love the sleeves and neckline); and this D&G-coded sundress.
+Hunter Bell’s new arrivals are SO GOOD and selling very quickly: this seashell dress; this fringe skirt. Chef’s kiss.
+Closing in on Father’s Day — treat him to one of these terry cloth polos! These are the best-selling item from my guide to men’s summer style, and with good reason. Landon has two and loves to wear them with his swim trunks to the pool. Run TTS. Another cute pick: buy matching father-and-son Rhoback polos or swim trunks! How cute is this shark print? (And thinking ahead to FOJ…)
+Quince picks: this striped dress and this 90s-influenced bubblegum pink one-piece!
+Found my Suzie Kondi terry pants (and matching sweatshirt) on sale for 40% off! Love this set. This brand runs a tiny bit narrow/small. I still took my true size but if at all in doubt, go up
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AHH the phone greeting…… that triggered nostalgia as we had the same one: “Henderson residence may I help you?” and we were definitely grudging about it! The landline idea is brilliant. Other nostalgic things: the smell of a Texas river – there’s a certain prolific tree that grows along the riverbed and has a distinct scent. To this day I don’t know what tree it is but the smell gets me every time. Donuts early in the morning on the first day of a summer road trip. Homemade ice cream. Old Disney movies… the really old ones from the 50s and 60s. Anyone else remember Tinkerbell makeup?? What a fun topic!
Love the idea of that tree smell — I have a similar connection to the sound of Aspen trees in Colorado. It’s super specific but it takes me right back to my ten-year-old self. Love. Donuts in the early morning on the first day of a summer road trip! THAT is such a vibe! Thanks for this!!
xx
I have to add to those who have mentioned the pool! That was a big part of my childhood. As an adult, I go and take my book – sometimes to float and read, sometimes to lounge and read. The key is to get a fun snack from the concession stand to add to the magic.
Love!! What’s your concession stand pick?!
Jenny, I love the idea of Goosebumps and choose your own adventure!! I’ve also loved “two minute mysteries” and all the Alfred Hitchcock story collections, and I remember reading Agatha Christie as a ten year old. Kids love to be a bit scared!
Picking wineberries. Putting in a DVD or VHS. Babysitter’s Club (including the show though I was already a mom when that came out). Klutz cat’s cradle. Four square. Kites. The smell of sunscreen and French fries together. Hammocks. Shooting stars. Chlorine, specifically the smell of cleaning the pool filter. Lightning bugs (we don’t have them here but I wish we did). Turning the knobs on the radio. The games we got from sending in box tops, Putt Putt and Spy Fox and Carmen Sandiego. The music from my Toy Story 2 GameBoy cartridge. The way the air felt when my dad turned on the fan at night. Potholder looms, Perler beads (and how they smell), that colored sand we carefully layered into jars. Sleeping bags. The old fashioned candy store with its molasses taffy and peanut brittle. Bath and Body Works Sweet Pea. There were popsicles one summer called “Tigger Tails” that were striped orange and grape, or the ones that were red outside and revealed a rainbow, real ice cream truck stuff. The Bobbsey Twins series (did anyone else read these?). Carrying around my Walkman with CDs I got from selling magazines for the Girl Scouts. The way my parents’ porch felt under bare feet. Shucking corn.
I bought my children miniature sailboats to sail in the fountain near us. Their childhood summers are blue slushies, beach days, the tiny Tetris console they share, drinking coconuts, lunch al fresco, one million popsicles, summer Carnaval when we’re baking in the heat, playing soccer after dark in the plaza, building forts out of cardboard, vanilla soft serve, running around nearby while the adults have spritzes. Hikes in the woods. Library days. Being allowed to watch TV in my bed with the windows open to a summer storm. We showed my son Air Bud for the first time and he absolutely loved it, and it took me back to when PG movies were genuinely for the whole family, I heard The Sheep Detectives captures some of that magic.
Please do tell me which landline option you went with! Something standard, or a Tin Can or Pinwheel? If they ever launch over here I’ll be first in line.
Loved this list and absolutely ADORED the Bobbsey Twins. I passed along those and my Boxcar Children to my daughter but she’s not ONCE expressed interest in reading them! Maybe this is the summer…although I think she might now be too old for them! I also remember Tigger Tails and those HUGE fist-sized sour jawbreaker gumballs? Do you remember those? Shucking corn is a Maryland summer rite of passage — the Silver Queen!
We saw “Sheep Detectives” over our rainy MDW and everyone loved it. I was so charmed by it! It definitely had a 90s family movie energy to it — Babe, Air Bud, etc.
We went with an old-school, standard landline! I’ve learned that newer homes aren’t even built with phone jacks anymore but ours has them.
xx
If you have a Yoto player they have a boxcar children card! I made my brothers pretend to be the Boxcar Children all the time. Might be fun as an audiobook in the car sometime too, we always did audiobooks on the drive to the beach.
Yes to the huge gumball! Also the massive Sugar Daddy caramel lollipops.
Every time I shuck corn I’m instantly 8 years old and on the front porch with my Nana!
Great idea on the audiobook. I actually might DL this for our flight to Norway. I wonder if the kids will tolerate listening to it on the plane / when trying to sleep? Hadn’t thought this far ahead but thanks!
I remember those Sugar Daddy lollipops! I thought those were disgusting then even — LOL
xx
I just unearthed an enormous box of R.L.Stine FearStreet books and a small stack of Choose your Own Adventure books from a closet in my parents home. Immediate transport to younger me, reading by the pool with a bunch of cold grapes and watermelon slices. Now my 13 year old daughter and 11 year old son have a plan to tear through them this summer. *wipes one glistening tear away*
Nostalgia on purpose, last summer I organized a group campsite for my fam to include cousins and their families in Western MD. Camping always feels nostalgic to me- even if the gear is majorly improved, the slowness and analog nature is timeless. We went whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River, found some swimming holes, and took family hikes. We brought DMC thread to make macrame anklets. I brought CARTONS of candy cigarettes which were both hilarious photo props and majorly nostalgic (if a smidge ick). We brought water on tattoos and gave all the kids sparklers. It was intentionally nostalgic and just the best.
Others that immediately transport-
The smell of incense will forever be lower and high schoolCatholic masses.
Bath and body works ‘Country Apple’.
Buying (and listening to) a whole album
The smell of Coppertone lotion
Neon zinc on my nose
The Price is Right (ooooh sick days from school)
Yes to the smell of coppertone! And I’d sub The Babysitters Club and Encyclopedia Brown for Fear Street (too scary!) and Choose your own adventure 🙂
Also…was just thinking about jello pudding pops the other day. Do they still make those?? And cars with hand-crank windows and ashtrays in the door (for shoving gum wrappers into).
The ashtrays in the cars! Had almost forgotten this. And remember those electric lighters that came with cars and basically only ever burned holes in the fabric seats?!
xx
Ha! Co-sign the Babysitters club and pudding pops!!! Two great ones! Omg my grandmother’s boxy old 1992 Camry had a cig lighter and ashtrays she used for her Lucky Strikes.
BSC forever!!
This is SO good. I’m obsessed with your deliberately nostalgic camping trip, right down to the sparklers and swimming holes. But OMG. B&BW Country Apple?! This took me right back. I can smell it so clearly! And amen to “buying (and listening to) a whole album.” Also, remember deliberating over the CD insert? Sometimes it would be a poster? You could read all the lyrics!!
xx
B&bw juniper breeze was my fave and all my friends liked plumeria – also a local candle store brought back love spell Victoria secret and that also brought back so many memories!!
So many memories attached to those scents!! xx
We have a new community pool as of last summer and it never fails to take me back! I do laps a couple mornings a week, and the nostalgia of walking in, setting up my towel then walking out with a wet suit under my arm brings me right back to swim team practice (a constant up until my teens!). I’ve been having an increasing number of conversations with friends where we want to prioritize doing all the summer things we did as kids (long hikes, berry picking, swimming holes, drive in movies!) plus an open door policy to just come on over after work for a glass of wine nothing big, no plans, just enjoying each others company. All of the aforementioned makes me think of old Ralph and J.Crew ads, what luck it all seems to be back in vogue!
This is everything I want for summer, too! I love this energy. The open door “let’s just hang” feeling of it — screened doors, landlines, grass underfoot!
xx
I had such a flashback to childhood yesterday when my friend and I sat, wrapped in enormous towels, eating snack pack sized bags of chips. We had stayed in the pool way past the point of pruney hands and we were too tired to change out of our suits. The smell of sunscreen and sounds of people splashing around also completed the moment. Also, I absolutely loved the plastic library book crinkle sound too!! So funny!
I can totally imagine the nostalgia of sitting in the towel with a poolside snack! LOVE. I was going to add I have a very specific memory of what French fries taste like while you’re shivering in a pool towel — slightly chlorine-y! Ha! xx