Polly Pocket Toys
A popular toy for girls in the 1990's. The toy actually came out in 1989, but was most popular in the 90's.
Tickle Me Elmo
This popular toy would giggle when you tickle its belly then it would end with a "Oh boy, that tickles". Elmo, who became the most popular character from Sesame Street in the 90's was on every kids Christmas wish list and stores were selling out quickly. People who really had to have one for Christmas had to resort to buying them for more on auction websites.
Rachel Haircut
Many women in the 1990's starting cutting their hair in the same hair style as Jennifer Aniston's character 'Rachel' on the popular television sitcom Friends.
Napster
This music sharing community which is now a paid service was once free. All internet users had to do was download the software and get any mp3 music file they wanted. After a couple years, the Record Industry caught on to this, considered it piracy and took Napster to court. The result was Napster being shut down.
Children's Games/Toys
Pogs, Pokemon, Beanie Babies, Koosh Balls, Tamagotchi virtual pets, Tickle Me Elmo and Furby.
Beanie Babies
As one of the most popular, endearing and widespread fads of the last 25 years, one would imagine that Beanie Babies must have some type of unique and incredible attributes. Instead, they are simply small, inexpensively priced, stuffed animals with a tag stating the animal's name and birth date. Despite logic, the stuffed animals created an almost cutthroat collecting frenzy, which inadvertently spawned magazines, websites and fan clubs.
In 1993, Beanie Babies made their debut and were being sold in early 1994 in Chicago area stores. As word of mouth cast attention on the stuffed animals, interest, and therefore, sales of the toys grew significantly. By mid-1994, Ty, Inc., was offering more than 30 additional versions in order to meet the collecting craze that was now spreading across the United States. By 1996, more than 100 million Beanie Babies were sold and the craze was now spreading across the world. The popularity of the craze was not lost upon corporate America. In April 0f 1997, the McDonalds Corporation entered into an agreement with Ty, Inc. and began bundling certain Beanie Babies with the company's "Happy Meals." Within 14 days, over 100 million of the Beanie Babies had been issued through the food chain.
Because of their success, the toys have spawned numerous websites, magazines and fan clubs.. Many collectors have hundreds of the dolls stored in their attic, hoping that they will one day be worth a king's ransom. With the huge number of Beanie Babies in the hands of the public, they will be very lucky just to reach their investments
Fanny Packs/Bum Bags
Purses that buckle on to the waist. Very popular in the early 1990. Now it's considered to be a fashion faux pas.
Overalls
Although popular in the 1970's, in the early 1990's teens wore their overalls in two ways: they wore their overalls with a belt, and let the 'front flap' and 'back straps' hang straight down. The other way was to only hook together one side of the overall straps, and leave the opposite side open. The popular over-all styles were: light blue; or gray stonewashed; overalls, with lots of zippers and metal buttons down the sides.
Piercings
Getting your tongue, belly button, eyebrow, nipple, etc. pierced was the popular thing to do to show your "coolness."
Tattoos
Formerly a preference for gang members, jailbirds and other rebels, tattoos are now so common that even the Spice Girls have them. You used to get a tattoo to stand out, now you get one to blend in.
Bleached Hair
This fad was popular with high school and college students. Many just bleached their tips. This fad really caught on in the mid 90's and continued into 2000.
Push Pops
Lollypops that would be in almost a lipstick tube type container you would push at the bottom to get the lollypop to get out of the tube. This pushing in the tube made your finger all sticky.
Grunge
Whether it was worn out jeans or a flannel shirt grunge music and grunge fashion was big in the 90's.
Budweiser Wassup Commerical
This popular Budweiser beer commercial started a new trend for the 90's. It caught on quick. People were answering their own phones and saying, "Wassssssuuup!!". There were even many different mocked versions all over the internet.
The Macarena
During the 90's you couldn't turn on the tv, radio or go to parties without hearing this song. People would dance The Macarena to the song made popular by Los Del Rio.
Furby
First introduced in 1998, this interactive furry toy had a mind of its own. It spoke its own language and communicated with other Furbys. It was so popular that many stores sold out early for Christmas.
Gigapets / Tomogatchi
Very popular little electronic device that needed to be feed and cared for. If not then it would die. Kids used to carry them around everywhere they went..
