Essays at Nostalgia Notebook are where memory meets meaning. Here you’ll find reflections and coming-of-age stories on growing up in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, mixed with quips that show how those decades shaped who we are today. From mall jobs to mixtapes, Saturday morning TV to summer concerts, these essays connect the everyday moments of youth with the bigger cultural shifts of the time.
Whether you’re revisiting your own past or discovering it for the first time, these pieces are designed to spark connection, recognition, and maybe a laugh or two along the way.
Reflections in Rewind
A collection of stories and memories that look back with heart — essays about growing up Gen X, rediscovering the analog years, and finding meaning in what we keep.
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1980s Toys Nostalgia: Stickers, Pins, and Cabbage Patch Kids
Before smartphones, we collected things — stickers, friendship pins, Care Bears, and Cabbage Patch Kids. Take a trip back to the mid-’80s, when school supplies were status symbols and Saturday morning cartoons ruled the weekend.
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Thrifting the ’70s in the ’90s
In the mid-’90s teens turned thrift stores into treasure hunts, and bell-bottoms, vintage jackets and flannel became DIY 1990s thrift shopping statements.
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1990s Music Festivals: HFStival, H.O.R.D.E., and the DMB Era
The Soundtrack of a Generation If you were a teen in the ’90s, summer didn’t smell like sunscreen, it smelled…
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Keep exploring nostalgia.
In addition to personal essays that reflect on the culture of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, you can browse step-by-step nostalgia guides, curated TV & Film rewatch lists, and hand-picked Music and Book recommendations. Every section of Nostalgia Notebook is designed to help you reconnect with the people, places, and pop culture moments that defined a generation.