24 Items to Blast Your Mind Back to the Past

Remember the 2000’s? Remember stuff? Remember stuff from the 2000’s?

I do. Kinda. Barely.

It’s not that I was too young then or that I’m too old now, it’s just that I’m really bad at remembering stuff on account’a I don’t brain so good.

Which is why it’s genuinely refreshing and fun to scroll through lists like this and be reminded of all that weird stuff I forgot.

Here are some random bits of 2000’s nostalgia to get your brain going.

24. Hot Topic

Hot Topic is still around but their inventory is no longer 95% Twilight.

23. John Edwards

My grandpa once asked for this guy’s book as a Christmas gift. He was a “psychic” who could “”cross over”” and “””””talk to the dead”””””, and for some reason we all knew about him for a while.

22. Hilary Duff’s Stuff

For the Disney-obsessed Target shopper in all of us.

21. The Olsen Twins’ clothing line

I guess it’s pretty much mandatory for young starlets to put their name on some kind of clothing and/or perfume.

20. Linens ‘n Things

You came for the linens, but you stayed for the things.

19. Ruehl No. 925

A more expensive Abercrombie & Fitch whose strategy was apparently to keep the lights so low you couldn’t read the price tags.

18. Sarah Jessica Parker selling GAP

This was an era of pure color.

17. P. Diddy for Proactiv

The clearer the skin, the closer to God.

16. Sudoku

Still a favorite pastime for many, of course, but there was a time when you couldn’t be caught NOT doing these.

15. The DaVinci Code

If you happened to be a part of conservative Christian church when this book was big, you KNOW the meaning of controversy.

14. Real Kwik-E-Marts

When the Simpsons movie came out, 7-Elevens converted to Kwik-E-Marts to promote it. Now Apu has been removed as a character altogether. How quickly things change.

 

13. Chef Emeril

Or as he’s better known to us Futurama fans, Chef Elzar.

12. Blockbuster popcorn

I still have my name tag from when I worked at Blockbuster, which was in the era *just* before Netflix brought them down. Feel like that thing should be in a museum now.

11. Livestrong Bracelets

Everybody who bought these things had a weird awkward moment when the doping scandals were revealed…

10. The Sims

Back when you needed 4 entire CD’s to hold a game. Fun fact, you’d need 250 of these to fit Call of Duty: Warzone.

9. The iPod

Not to mention its weird, flat little earbuds.

8. Endless iPod accessories

In case your mp3 player got chilly, I guess.

7. Weird music solutions

Before Bluetooth, before aux ports, we tried to use these weird little radio broadcasters for our car music. It didn’t go well.

6. Geek Squad bugs

Ready to overcharge your mom for rebooting her computer or whatever at a moment’s notice.

5. The Zune

Microsoft’s attempt to compete with the iPod didn’t work out too well.

4. iTunes on Phones

These awkward sort of half-functional phone apps were a precursor to the age of the full-fledged smartphone.

3. Car DVD players

Before everyone was carrying around an HD movie player at all times, these bad boys were your best bet for keeping the kids quiet on the road. Until the discs started skipping.

2. Toys “R” Us game section

This once-thriving chain is still technically around, but not by much. According to their website they have two stores open, one in Texas and the other in New Jersey.

1. Trash DVDs

What living room would be complete without a bunch of DVDs nobody should own that never got watched more than once?

Now THAT’S the dopamine rush I was looking for. Come back, simpler times. Bring some Gigapets with you.

What was your favorite thing about the aughts?

Tell us in the comments.