It's no secret that the times, they are a-changin'. While you might assume that some things, like school, would stay the same, this is not the case.
Even though your prized possession might have been your metal "Scooby Doo" lunch box, or a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper, in this day and age kids probably don't even know what a Trapper Keeper is, and their lunch boxes are insulated cooler bags.
Do you remember these once-popular school supplies? And better yet, can your kids identify them?
A Trapper Keeper was the must-have school supply for kids of the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
Trapper Keepers were first launched by the Mead Corporation in 1978, and are essentially three ring binders that hold folders, and close with a flap.
Trapper Keepers came in many different colors, patterns, and designs — even Lisa Frank (who appears on this list) got in on the fun. They're still around today, but are definitely not as ubiquitous as they once were.
Scented markers were all the rage — even if they weren't the best quality markers.
Just a whiff of a Mr. Sketch scented marker will take most adults back to elementary school. Remember drawing a mustache with one, so you'd smell the marker all day?
Though there was an urban legend that these markers were banned because the government didn't want kids huffing markers, this wasn't true. Their first ad in nearly two decades aired in 2014.
Gel pens were the coolest way to spice up homework, even if they were barely legible.
Gel pens, which entered our lives in the '80s, came in much more fun colors than normal pens, and turned notes and homework into works of art.
Kids these days barely even use pens — they take notes and do homework on their laptops.
Entire rooms, let alone school supplies, could be plastered in Lisa Frank goodies.
Lisa Frank, which was founded in 1979 and hit its peak during the '90s, plastered adorable neon animals on practically any school supply you can imagine.
Even though Lisa Frank products fell out of style, noted hipster clothing store Urban Outfitters recently collaborated with the brand and released an online collection, Lisa Frank x UO.
Metal lunch boxes with a matching thermos were a must-have for every kid from the '50s all the way until the '90s.
Metal lunch boxes have been around since the 1880s, but using a lunch box as a personal statement began in the 1950s, when TV became popular, and thus TV characters became frequent motifs, according to the Smithsonian. Mickey Mouse, however, appeared earlier, around 1935.
Metal dominated until the '80s, when plastic took over. By the '90s, they were almost completely phased out.
Floppy disks were a tangible object, not the "save" icon on a computer.
Floppy disks have been around since 1967, and for a time were the most efficient way to store data and transfer it from computer to computer. But, like most technology, it has since become outdated. Today most kids only recognize it as their computer's save icon.
The replacement of floppy disks, the flash drive, is also on the fast track to becoming obsolete.
Nowadays, everything is available on the cloud, so why would anyone need what is essentially a smaller floppy disk? Its life has been short and sweet — the first USB flash drive was made commercially available in 2000.
Erasable pens were the next step when learning cursive — except nobody learns cursive anymore.
After learning how to write in script (strictly in pencil), the next step was to start writing in erasable pen. But, according to the Washington Post, "cursive instruction has been slowly declining nationwide since the 1970s." And now, in 2018, it's barely present.
But these erasable pens, established by Papermate in 1979, will always be remembered fondly as a sign of growing up.
The slide rule, also known as a slipstick, is a non-electronic calculator — it's what was used in math class before everyone had their very own scientific calculator.
A slide rule, which has been around for four centuries, is around the size of a normal ruler and is separated into three sections. The top and bottom two sections are fixed, while the middle slides back and forth. It's mainly used for addition and subtraction, but can also solve more sophisticated equations like multiplication, division, and square roots.
But, with the rise of the personal calculator in the 1970s, which could do all of this with very little effort, the slide rule has all but disappeared.
Nowadays, if kids have pencil boxes, they're plastic. But they used to be completely made of cardboard.
The very first pencil case patent is believed to have been issued in 1946. But it didn't look like the ones we know and love today — it was mainly just a box with slots for each individual pencil.
Cardboard pencil boxes have given way to plastic ones, covered with popular cartoon characters, holograms, stickers, and other personalized things.
In a way, calculator watches still live on as part of our smart-watches, but they used just be an easy way to cheat on a math test.
The first calculator watch was released by Pulsar in 1975. Besides the fact that digital watches in general were brand-new, the calculator watch was a sure-fire way to be able to cheat on math tests.
Calculator watches are still sold today, but most kids would probably think it was some ancient version of the Apple Watch.
The Speak & Spell was developed by iconic calculator brand Texas Instruments to help kids learn to spell.
First developed in 1978, the Speak & Spell was a must-have for any kid learning how to spell. Essentially, it would say words out loud, and you would have to figure out how to spell them, using memorization and the pronunciation.
They stopped being produced in the '90s, and now there are hundreds of apps that kids can use that do the same thing — without the weird robot voice. Plus, if you ever miss your Speak & Spell, you can find them in "Toy Story" and "E.T."
Before there were computers, there were typewriters. And before there were was the "delete" button, there was the typewriter eraser.
Even though it looks like a jellyfish, the typewriter eraser worked in essentially the same way as a pencil eraser, except it erased ink, not lead.
If you're under the age of 35, you probably haven't even seen a typewriter IRL, let alone its eraser. But quickly: a typewriter was essentially a laptop without the screen — and the keys would print out directly onto paper, so if you needed to delete something, you'd have to whip out the eraser. They've been around since 1867, but started to fall out of fashion in the '80s.
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