* NEWSLETTERSubscribe Way Back When? The ’90s Nostalgia Boom and Why We All Long for a Simpler Time Mike Crisolago | December 5th, 2019 (BUTTON) (BUTTON) 90s nostalgia Photo: Mark Piovesan via iStock / Getty Images Plus The word “nostalgia” evokes images of everything from classic cars to Woodstock to bellbottoms, all the way back to the golden age of Hollywood. Think James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, not James Van Der Beek in Dawson’s Creek. But the ’90s began 30 years ago, meaning that nostalgia for that decade today is akin to nostalgia for the 1970s in the year 2000. And no one made a fuss about that. -- it’s the millennial generation’s turn. The ’90s nostalgia kick began in the early 2010s but gained serious traction in recent years, fuelled by total pop culture recall like the resurgence of the hit sitcom Friends — thanks to Netflix — including -- followers in just over five hours. She currently stands at 21 million followers and counting. 90s nostalgia Jennifer Aniston’s first Instagram post, a current photo of the cast of “Friends.” Clockwise from front: Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry. -- Of course, millennials make up close to 65 per cent of Instagram’s user base, which explains why ‘90s nostalgia accounts flourish, offering users a regular fix of the decade’s cultural headliners, from the Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake romance to Kirk Cobain candids to -- holiday gift items in 2019. The 1990s as Nostalgia? As If! Rapper Vanilla Ice, 52, who dropped his hit album To the Extreme in -- candy wrappers and photos of celebrity crushes. She opened the capsule in 2017 and created a viral hit when she shared the contents on Instagram, following it up with a podcast about nostalgia and now a website, Capsule 98. It’s dedicated to “the formative objects, places and experiences that shape who we are,” regardless of generation or decade. 90s nostalgia A mixtape of popular songs from 1998 that Randi Bergman included in her time capsule. It includes “As Long As You Love Me” by her favourite group at the time, Backstreet Boys. Photo: Randi -- The 34-year-old suggests one reason for the boom in ’90s nostalgia is that millennials fully indulge it online in a way that previous generations, who didn’t have the internet when they were in their 20s -- Bergman may be on to something. In 2013, University of Surrey psychologist Erica Hepper told the New York Times that feelings of nostalgia actually peak in young adults and again in old age while slumping somewhat in the years in between. “Nostalgia helps us deal with transitions,” Hepper said. “The young adults are just moving away from home and or starting their first jobs, so they fall back on memories of family Christmases, pets and friends in school.” For millennials, like other generations, nostalgia serves as a safety blanket, a source of comfort and a means of temporary escape from the demands of adulthood. The word “nostalgia” itself is a combination of two Greek words that mean “homecoming” and “pain.” Or, in other words, homesick. But Bergman adds that nostalgia also serves another purpose, serving as a kind of online shorthand. -- doesn’t immediately resonate to her the same way.” Another Canadian millennial, Lee Davis, 24, takes the idea of nostalgia as communication to the next level with HideSeek, a pop-up he co-founded that currently resides in Montreal and courts millennials -- and Instagramable.” HideSeek is unique in the nostalgia business in that it isn’t pegged to specific pop-culture references. Guests tour rooms outfitted with elements relatable to all generations: rooms themed around items like -- rooms contain oversized items, their massive scale creating a childlike sensation for visitors. 90s nostalgia Visitors enjoy the Salon Slinky at HideSeek. Photo: HideSeek/Instagram -- “That’s what we really focused on — less about specific nostalgic memories and more to create an experience that lets you feel like a kid,” Davis says. His idea of nostalgia is centred on the notion of “play,” evoking memories of recess or after school sports. “Nostalgia’s just so powerful,” he adds. “And I can just see it from the customers’ reactions. When they see something that reminds them of their past or it makes them feel like kids, they get this warm, gushy -- like a kid again? I get to step outside from my normal day-to-day routine?’” 90s nostalgia It’s not just millennials who enjoy the ball pit at HideSeek. Photo: HideSeek/Instagram Beyond ’90s Nostalgia At the same time, millennial nostalgia extends beyond the 1990s to feeling fondness for a time they didn’t even experience. -- the only way they can experience what their older relatives experienced … They see it through their eyes.” 90s nostalgia Elvis Presley tribute performer Steve Michaels as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Photo: Steve Michaels as ELVIS/Facebook For Wren, “Nostalgia kicks in when you’re trying to keep a feeling alive, keep a memory alive. I think nostalgia’s more of a feeling. It’s sometimes not even [attached to] a time frame.” And like nostalgic millennials, Wren says that many of the older audience members she -- In reality, both baby boomers and millennials yearn for a simpler time. The only difference is the decade for which they long. Generational preferences aside, though, it turns out that nostalgia is actually good for you. Clay Routledge, a psychology professor and author of Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource, told New Orleans Public Radio in 2017 that while people turn to nostalgia in times of stress, it actually makes them more optimistic about the future. He adds that studies “show this both in terms of people reporting that they’re more optimistic about the future, more inspired but also behaviourally, too, in terms of people actually going out and wanting to interact with and meet people after they’ve engaged in nostalgia.” So ultimately, while decades and generations move on, the human impulse to revisit our past for a nostalgic boost remains constant. And that’s a good thing, regardless of what you actually consider nostalgia. “I feel like everybody connects to nostalgia in a different way, whether you’re 90 or you’re 10,” Bergman says. “I think about it all the time — what are the things now that we take for granted or that are -- RELATED: Nostalgia: A Tale of Christmas Past at Eaton’s Toyland Nostalgia: A Wartime Recipe for Woolton Pie Nostalgia: A Throwback to When Papers Were Delivered by Erstwhile, Ink-Stained Kids Nostalgia: 50 Years Later, A Look Back At Woodstock (BUTTON) (BUTTON)