Top 30 nostalgic 90s items Gen Z don’t recognise – and some might surp

Six in 10 young Brits have no idea what the Yellow Pages are, according to new research. A poll of 2,000 adults revealed a host of 90s items and experiences that many Gen Zers couldn’t identify—including Teletext, Walkmans, and even the Windows 95 startup sound.

The survey also found that three-quarters of young respondents didn’t know what dial-up internet was. Many admitted they weren’t sure what CD-ROM encyclopedias or AA route planners were, and other unfamiliar relics included Saturday morning TV shows, floppy disks, disposable cameras, and the nostalgic experience of blowing on a game cartridge to get it to work.

The study was commissioned by Müller Corner to mark the return of its apple crumble-inspired yogurt. To celebrate, the brand teamed up with 90s TV icon Timmy Mallett to create a mural of the snack made from iconic 90s memorabilia.

Helen Carswell, spokesperson for the brand, said: “There’s a reason the 90s was such a great time. It was a decade of bold flavours, chunky gadgets, and unforgettable TV and movie characters that are still revered today.

“From the snacks we enjoyed after school to the tech that felt like the future, everything came with a sense of excitement and simplicity that’s hard to replicate today.”

Other items among the top 30 things from the 90s that Gen Z didn’t recognise included chunky CRT TVs, MSN Messenger statuses, and overhead projectors in classrooms. VHS tapes, the Argos catalogue, and the popular game Snake – played by many Nokia phone owners – also featured.

Across all age groups, the top things associated with the 90s included The Spice Girls (71%), Take That (61%), and Blockbuster Video (55%), as well as Saturday morning kids’ TV (42%) and Art Attack (33%).

The research also found that many people believe things were better in the 90s, citing less phone use (50%), more face-to-face interaction (47%), and more outdoor play (45%).

Over half of 25-34-year-olds (53%) and 35-44-year-olds (51%) felt snacks were better before the turn of the century—a sentiment even 38% of Gen Z agreed with. In fact, 25% of all those polled said they’d like to tuck into 90s snacks today.

While 69% of adults feel today’s technology is more convenient, they also think it’s less fun than it was in the 90s. As a result, 49% admitted that, given the opportunity, they would happily go back in time to live their life in that decade.