Search archive
Search the vault
354 results
Filter by decade or category
Laserdisc
“An early optical video disc format the size of a vinyl record, offering sharper picture quality than VHS but never becoming mainstream.”
Buying options
Betamax tape
“Sony's videotape format that lost the format war to VHS despite arguably better picture quality, now a symbol of the wrong horse to bet on.”
Buying options
TV Guide magazine
“A weekly pocket-sized magazine listing every channel's programming, essential before onscreen guides existed and often left open on the coffee table.”
Buying options
Camcorder
“A shoulder-mounted or handheld video camera that recorded straight to tape, responsible for hours of shaky home movies and birthday party footage.”
Buying options
Walkman
“A portable cassette player with foam headphones that let you take your music collection anywhere, one AA battery at a time.”
Buying options
Discman
“A portable CD player known for skipping if you so much as jogged with it, eventually solved by "anti-skip" buffering technology.”
Buying options
Super 8 film reel
“A small reel of home-movie film shot on a Super 8 camera, projected onto a bedsheet or wall for family movie nights.”
Buying options
Reel-to-reel tape recorder
“An open-reel magnetic tape recorder that threaded tape between two spinning reels, used for high-fidelity home audio recording before cassettes simplified things.”
Buying options
Slide projector carousel
“A rotating tray of 35mm photo slides loaded into a projector for family slideshow nights, complete with the click-whir sound of advancing to the next slide.”
Buying options
Overalls
“Denim overalls worn with one strap deliberately unclipped and dangling, a defining 90s look from playgrounds to boy bands.”
Buying options
Cargo pants
“Loose-fitting pants with oversized pockets down each leg, worn baggy and stuffed with everything a kid could carry.”
Buying options
Suspenders
“Elastic straps clipped to the waistband and worn over the shoulders, alternately preppy or punk depending on what else you paired them with.”
Buying options
Poodle skirt
“A wide felt circle skirt appliqued with a poodle design, synonymous with 1950s soda-shop style and sock hops.”
Buying options
Saddle shoes
“Two-tone lace-up shoes with a contrasting "saddle" panel across the middle, a preppy staple of 1950s school style.”
Buying options
Slide rule
“An analog calculating tool with sliding logarithmic scales, used by students and engineers to multiply, divide, and find roots before calculators existed.”
Buying options
Abacus
“A frame of sliding beads on rods used to teach basic arithmetic, one of the oldest counting tools still found in classrooms.”
Buying options
Overhead projector
“A boxy machine that projected handwritten or printed transparencies onto a screen, the centerpiece of countless classroom lessons before digital projectors.”
Buying options
Blackboard eraser
“A felt-covered wooden block used to wipe chalk off the blackboard, famously banged together outside to clear out a cloud of chalk dust.”
Buying options
Classroom globe
“A spinning model of the Earth mounted on a stand, used to teach geography long before digital maps took over.”
Buying options
Typewriter
“A mechanical writing machine with a keyboard that stamped ink onto paper through physical type bars, once standard equipment for typing class.”
Buying options
Magnifying glass
“A handheld lens used in science class for close-up observation, from inspecting leaves to catching sunlight in a very inadvisable way.”
Buying options
Electric pencil sharpener
“A motorized desktop sharpener that ground a pencil to a point with the push of a button, replacing the hand-crank sharpener in most classrooms.”
Buying options
Trucker hat
“A mesh-backed cap with a curved foam front panel, worn flat-brimmed or curved, that went from farm-supply freebie to genuine fashion statement.”
Buying options
Combat boots
“Chunky lace-up boots borrowed from military surplus and worn with everything from band t-shirts to babydoll dresses.”
Buying options