If you are like 99.9% of the world, we love the nostalgic feeling of going down memory lane in our lives. Particularly, our childhood and what made it so special and different from other generational childhood memories. I was recently contacted by the community manager for a company called, “Man Crates“, after she read my blog post from a few months ago titled “90’s TV Show Theme Songs“, to contribute ideas towards an old school create idea. Man Crates is a company who specifically concentrates on putting together “out of the box” creative gifts for men. We all know how difficult it can be to think of an anniversary, birthday, or Father’s Day gift for the special men in our lives, and this company has made life a little easier for all of us. What is even more unique about their gifts is, instead of being wrapped up or put in a decorative bag like most presents, the gifts are shipped inside actual crates with a personal crowbar to open them. Which is where the name “Man Crates” comes from.

As a person who was born in the late 80’s, 1988 to be exact, I am extremely nostalgic about the 90’s. From the TV shows, to the popular toys and food, it takes me right back to my childhood. Some of the memories are so vivid I can even remember what I wearing and/or where I was at the exact moment. If I was able to get ahold of any items from the 1990’s and I had to build my own Old School Crate from scratch, I would put these items in the crate:

1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (movie)

I was quite the tomboy when I was younger so if there is one movie I know for sure would bring back a rush of great memories it is for sure this one. I mean what more could we want at our age that was better than turtles who happen to be ninjas, fighting bad guys in the city, who ate pizza all day long? Exactly. There is nothing better than this image when you’re a child. Not to mention they were all named after Renaissance artists, which means not only was the movie entertaining, but it was also partially educational in teaching us about artists’ names we would learn down the road in school. Go TMNT!

2) Power Rangers (seasons 1-5)

While on the topic of movies/television shows, Power Rangers was the all time classic TV show for our generation. Boys and girls rushed home after school to be sure we were in front of the TV to watch these amazing people transform into the greatest animals and dinosaurs, and kick butt to save Angel Grove from all of the bad guys. Especially those annoying putties! Okay, so I’m getting a little into it, but you get the point. The theme show music alone was enough to hype us up and want to jump off of our parents furniture doing kick splits and front flips.

3) Pokemon Cards

Fun fact: I have known my husband since before we were old enough to remember meeting each other. This information is relevant because I remember being younger and him collecting Pokemon cards in a binder to keep them organized. Or as I should say, my husband, and every other little boy in our age group. I was not a die-hard Pokemon fan as most other girls, but I did watch it here and there. However, Pokemon cards/trading sessions were seriously like a well constructed cult that demanded you know the secret password, know all 2 million names of the Pokemon off the top of your head, oh…and be a boy.

4) Surge

There were plenty of foods and drinks in the 90’s that were very specific to our generation. However, I believe Surge is the one drink nobody could forget if they tried. The advertisement for the drink alone was enough to scare parents to not buy this drink for their children. But we all know how it goes; we took a shopping trip to the grocery store with Mom, we saw Surge, we asked begged for it and we were told “NO”, we asked begged even louder (added some extra whining and borderline tears for special effects), and eventually drove Mom crazy enough for her to say “PUT IT IN THE CART ALREADY”! Once we were home and able to drink it, Mom quickly realized the mistake she had made. Ahhhh, yes, childhood memories.

5) Sock’em Boppers

I’m pretty sure ALL of my cousins and friends had these. I guarantee as soon as someone opened my crate the song from the commercial would get stuck in their head immediately. “Sock’em boppers! Sock’em boppers”! This was such a wonderful and terrible idea wrapped into one. Fighting wasn’t good unless you were fighting with big balloon like plastic bubbles wrapped around your fist as you threw several punches to someone’s stomach or possibly their eye. Either way, all that mattered was you had the time of your life while doing so. I wanted a pair very badly, but my Mother told me my Power Rangers gloves were enough. Now that I am a parent, I completely understand her thinking.

I hope this post has most of you going down memory lane and reminiscing about the 90’s. I know it definitely has me feeling quite nostalgic after thinking and typing it out. Maybe one day, if you or a loved one plans to send and/or receives an Old School Man Crate, some of these items will be in there to enjoy. If any of you order a Man Crate after reading this post, please leave a comment or send an email to me about your experience and if you recommend it to anyone else. I now know what I will be getting my husband for Christmas this year. Thanks to Alex for reaching out to me for my own personal ideas and sending me on a wonderful memory journey! 🙂

Brie <3

[07.21.15]