1 | Start Date | End Date | Headline | Text | Media | Media Credit | Media Caption | Media Thumbnail | Type | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Amazing Crazes Title Page | Many playground trends transcend time, while others come and go. Whether powered by the spirit of competition, the need to be fashionable or an ironic desire to be different from everyone else, these crazes not only defined entire towns and cities at any one time, but often the nation - and in a world where there was no real way of knowing that something was popular in any other place than someone's own school.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.ool.co.uk/">Oxford Open Learning</a> looks back in time to relive the many crazes that graced schoolyards at breaks and lunchtimes - or often in the classroom itself, despite teachers' protestations, remonstrations and repossessions. How many can you remember? | title | |||||||
3 | 1/1950 | Marbles | Marbles are traced back to their competitive origins in the 1500s, but their modern-day place in the playground was during the 50s and 60s. These glass, clay and steel spheres provided a harmless battleground for thousands of children, with traditional and homemade rules intertwining to create truly individual competitions each time the game was played. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/sean_hickin/2192219936/ | Credit: sean_hickin | |||||
4 | 12/1950 | Dinky Toys | These treasured die-cast vehicles are sought-after for a reason; their intensive use on 50s concrete schoolyards rendered many chipped, dented and scratched. That's the sign of a toy being enjoyed though, right? It's no use telling that to their biggest fans, though - many would lose an arm and/or a leg to go back in time and leave them in their packaging in a cold, dark room, ready to sell right now. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/41133377@N00/410139526/ | Credit: Bart Vermeersch | |||||
5 | 11/1951 | Magic 8 Ball | Many of life's questions that required a yes or no answer were deferred to the Magic 8 Ball back in the 50s and 60s. This Mattel-produced fortune teller offered 20 responses from its icosahedral problem-solver; half of them were positive, meaning it encouraged many to act out their desires. Of course, many would keep shaking it until they got the answer they needed. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/30952578@N00/155810667/ | Credit: joshbousel | |||||
6 | 10/1952 | Army Men | In the 1950s, war wasn't just in recent memory - it was still happening. The Korean War and plenty of other Cold War conflicts were taking place around the world, giving very real storylines for these small green plastic men in the playground. Lucky kids had miniature figures with plastic parachutes; the less fortunate had to make do with an army of minesweepers. Either way, Army Men encouraged imagination at its finest - as well as many laugh-like gunfire sounds. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/45487535@N08/4173428402/ | Credit: jennifertomaloff | |||||
7 | 9/1953 | Slinky | Still seen today as the most majestic means of navigating a set of stairs, the Slinky operated on the basic principles of periods of oscillation. However, in the playground - where children will (rightfully) go out of their way to avoid institutionalised scientific learning - it was simply a toy that enjoyed popularity in pretty much every decade up to present day, starting in the 1950s. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/17859020@N00/2405646370/ | Credit: unloveablesteve | |||||
8 | 8/1954 | Paper fortune teller | Self-manufacturing is a key asset of playground trends, and the origami-heavy paper fortune teller is perhaps the first (and best) example of this. Acting as a homemade Magic 8 Ball, it was perhaps fairer than its Mattel-created rival - it was usually used while countless people looked on, clarifying facts such as who you fancied, or who was best at football. Of course, it was biased - the maker had creative control over its written contents, and a leading question could result in a very embarrassing revelation in a moment's notice. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/sukimeanstrouble/396162036/ | Credit: suki_n | |||||
9 | 7/1955 | Hula Hoop | Invented for consumers in the 1950s before becoming an instant hit around the world, the hula hoop drew upon traditional dances of the Native Americans. In playgrounds in the UK and all over the globe, it was simply a nice way to make hips wiggle. And wiggle they did - it continued to have intermittent popularity in subsequent decades. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/75898532@N00/3764834788/ | Credit: Flare | |||||
10 | 6/1956 | Pea-Shooters | While many of us may consign this questionable weapon to Dennis the Menace and Gnasher's chortle-heavy hi-japes in the Beano, these simple straw-like tubes were a big deal in the 50s. There are, however, no documented cases at New Scotland Yard of a policeman's hat being knocked off his head by a plucky young scamp using this method of vegetable propulsion. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/druidlabs/6202592403/ | Credit: druid labs | |||||
11 | 5/1957 | Whoopee cushion | Despite being invented in the 1920s when such uncouth humour was frankly uncalled for, the 50s and subsequent decades saw whoopee cushions become a favourite among those titillated by the humour offered by flatulence. A passive look at terrestrial TV channels confirms that said comedy is still popular, meaning the whoopee cushion may yet provide some tactical funnies in classrooms and board meetings around Britain. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/10506540@N07/5717859742/ | Credit: stevendepolo | |||||
12 | 7/1959 | Scoubidou | Named after a 1958 song by Sacha Distel and not the gluttonous, ghost-chasing dog of Hanna Barbera fame, Scoubidou is an oft-forgotten or at least much-overlooked plastic crafting material that crossed the Channel from France. The hollow PVC - at times (if not usually) in bright colours - was used to create keyrings, friendship bracelets and much more. It's still pretty darn popular, and sometimes comes back to playgrounds across the country. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/9450118@N03/9518341210/ | Credit: saxarocks | |||||
13 | 3/1959 | Thumb war | 1, 2, 3, 4, did you declare a thumb war? Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren certainly did over the years. From the 50s onwards, the humble thumb war was a fantastic means of settling one's differences - all you needed to do was interlock your fingers and attempt to trap your competitor's thumb under yours. Nowadays, you can even buy plastic wrestling rings to frame the action, though purists laugh at such products - they merely need an opponent. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/21117297@N00/2762726919/ | Credit: Jamie Carter | |||||
14 | 1/1960 | Yo-yos | Dating back to 500BC, the yo-yo became legendary in the 1960s, following widespread production two decades previously. Reintroduced to captive audiences in the following years - and still popular today - the yo-yo now incorporates ball bearings and transaxles, allowing trick-makers to take their time crafting a fine art as the contraption spins furiously at its lowest point. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellie-yannis/8514765945/ | Credit: Yannis | |||||
15 | 6/1961 | Conkers | Is there anything as perfect as a school craze crafted from something fortuitously found under a tree during the autumn? Many would say no - indeed, the conker has enjoyed appeal since its widespread use in playgrounds since the 50s. Vinegar, ovens and much more have been deviously employed to harden championship-quality conkers, but no-one has ever owned a 62er, despite their claims - unless they're cleverly-disguised lumps of metal, at least. Still, the playground is well-known for tall tales. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/61955972@N00/1518906887/ | Credit: Dan Noyes | |||||
16 | 6/1966 | Action Man | The greatest hero of them all started out in 1966, courtesy of UK company Palitoy - a subsidiary of its US cousin, Hasbro, which created GI Joe. A true Commonwealth hero, Action Man eventually reflected its target British audience, before cashing out to the increasingly technologically-minded audience in the 90s with principal antagonists Cobra Commander and Dr X. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZCnRtMXYTA | ||||||
17 | 6/1964 | Clackers | Much like the act of whipping a towel, clackers were often associated with the possibility of taking one's eye out. While no examples of such an occurrence have been documented, these wooden balls attached to one another with a piece of string were, looking back, as lethal as they were loud. Indeed, they bear a lot of similarities to bolas - an Argentinean weapon used to hunt wild animals. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/36954268@N07/7340170410/ | Credit: marianne muegenburg cothern | |||||
18 | 1/1966 | Jacks | Jacks - or "knucklebones", to many others - is an ancient game appropriated by schoolchildren in the 60s. However, its popularity barely stemmed past the decade. These six-knobbed creations were scooped up between the bounces of a ball, though rules varied widely. It continues to be popular in Korea, Turkey and any American TV show that depicts gambling between purportedly less-fortunate members of society in scene-setting camera-panning ahead of heroes or villains entering, or leaving, a nearby establishment. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/36521955290@N01/292225/ | Credit: Krystle Fleming | |||||
19 | 6/1967 | Bang snaps | Combining cigarette papers, gravel and silver fulminate high explosive, bang snaps - or "snappers", "fun snaps", "poppers" and even "throwdowns" among others - were a simple, if not quite ineffective means of shocking others. Throwing them at the floor resulted in a slightly loud crack - but fun was short-lived. They can still be found in joke shops around the country, though solely remain the weapon of young, cheeky funsters and dog botherers. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/31019817@N02/6825312138/ | Credit: The AutoMotovated Cyclist | |||||
20 | 1/1968 | Tig | Tig - or Tag, if you're American and feel the need to play with good old-fashioned British vowels like our transatlantic chums - is simple. Someone is "it", they touch someone (shouting "tig!"), making said recipient "it". From here, repeat. Variants include "Tiggy Off-Ground" (you can't be tigged if you're on the floor. And no, jumping doesn't count) and "Stuck in the Mud" (where you can't move after being tigged, unless someone crawls through your legs). A timeless classic, the spirit of Tig will never die - and those still "it" by the end of a play break remain much-maligned until they shun their stigma in the following trip to the yard. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11512304683/ | Source: Thinkstock | |||||
21 | 1/1974 | BMX | Did you have a BMX? No? Then you've never lived. The humble steel-framed 70s BMX set the standard for uncomfortable bikes of the future. Combining pegs on the axles, a low seat and an often-chromed frame, these two-wheelers got you places faster than walking, at least - and offered the opportunity for a sly trick or two off a set of four stairs. Five, if you were really daring. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/34017702@N00/3025104/ | Credit: John | |||||
22 | 11/1975 | Oxford bags | The Bay City Rollers have more to answer for than 'Bye Bye Baby' - the tartan teen sensation of the 70s brought back Oxford bags, the "popular" lower-half clothing trend of upmarket university folk in the 20s. Often employing the influence of the pop band's Scottish plaid pattern stylings, Oxford bags also offered endless buttons that guaranteed you'd be fastening them all the way up to your ribcage - and flares, if you were extra lucky. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11452284155/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
23 | 5/1971 | Doc Martens | Let's be honest: have Doc Martens ever been unfashionable? These boots were the shrewd parent's choice of footwear for their youngster - they were practically designed to not only outlast the child's change in shoe size, but often the child themselves. Paired with a cracking pair of flares, Doc Martens were iconic, and continue to have appeal to this day - luckily without the flares. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/24515968@N05/2459755032/ | Credit: Andrew King | |||||
24 | 1/1972 | Turn-ups | Why wear a 30" leg when you can wear a 32" and turn up the final two inches? Such was the mindset of the fashion-conscious playground dweller in the 70s; many young ones spent much of the decade with a light blue flourish at the end of their jeans. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/9557815@N05/3563648127/ | Credit: Abi Skipp | |||||
25 | 10/1970 | Pitching pennies | Combining the age-old desire to gamble with a young person's mindset, "pitching pennies" - throwing coins against a wall to see who got closer - was the nearest children got to earning cash for skill... or luck. Whoever got nearer to the upright took both coins. Stakes were upped by selecting a higher value coin; rules differed, leading to many arguments. Participants only had to worry about one thing other than the prospect of financial loss: a teacher in the vicinity. Big in the 70s, it still has popularity today; the £2 coin has undoubtedly been used by more happy-go-lucky kids in the modern day, despite the recession. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5474420653/ | Credit: Images Money | |||||
26 | 6/1972 | British Bulldogs | Perhaps the winner of the award for "most violent game" on this list of school crazes, British Bulldogs was never for the faint of heart. Traditionally, it began with participants lined up against one sole opponent; this loner would tackle one (or more, on the off-chance) of those running past to add them to their ranks. The passers-by would be whittled down to one final "winner", who usually went out in a blaze of glory - and the immortal cry "ALL PILE ON!". Needless to say, it's not a game worth condoning. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/22326055@N06/8000488708/ | Credit: Philip Howard | |||||
27 | 6/1977 | Top Trumps | It was only a matter of time when a card game wouldn't be associated with gambling. Top Trumps offered countless packs of stat cards that competitors in the playground would use to win an opponent's deck gradually. Those clever enough would effectively learn a deck so they'd never lose; it only spurred people to buy new decks, thus perpetuating a phenomenon that returned to the playground on numerous occasions. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/noodlepie/2804864021/ | Credit: Graham Holliday | |||||
28 | 2/1974 | Hot Wheels | "Leadin' the way" in the 70s toy car market and beyond was Hot Wheels, the Mattel die-cast car maker that created thousands of shiny, colourful vehicles that eventually received their own tracks and play sets. Still available in nearly every supermarket in the UK and showing no sign of becoming unpopular, Hot Wheels are still as highly chromatic as ever, and just as collectable among eagle-eyed kids and adults alike. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/23975260@N05/8352426542/ | Credit: Bryce Womeldurf | |||||
29 | 3/1975 | Raleigh Chopper | Seemingly created solely to allow riders to pop wheelies left, right and centre, the Raleigh Chopper was the must-have bike of the 70s. With a smaller wheel at the front than the back, alongside a long, padded high-back seat and ape hanger handlebars reminiscent of a Harley-Davidson, any rider was Daddy Cool - the Sultan of Swing - Easy Rider themselves. Nuff said. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_cx/70458530/ | Credit: Steve Cox | |||||
30 | 11/1977 | Slime | Another Mattel classic, Slime was pretty simple - it was goo. Non-toxic and strange to the touch, playgrounds around the country were taken by its ability to instil annoyance and discomfort, even in those who owned it. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11452569076/ | Credit: Unknown | |||||
31 | 10/1976 | Bouncy balls | What's better than a regular ball? Yes, that's right: one that's really, really bouncy. Usually appropriated from a vending machine for 10p or more, bouncy balls were a riot on the playground's notoriously hard concrete surface, though said bounciness usually led to severe disappointment - usually when bouncing over a fence, through a window or - the worst-case scenario - into a grate, rendering the rebounding wonder irretrievable. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/40370408@N06/4892462221/ | Credit: DaraKero_F | |||||
32 | 8/1975 | Trolls | Plastic and hair combined to produce this irreplaceable Scandinavian import appropriated by the US and created for a mass market of schoolchildren. While many attempts were made to modernise the Troll and target a male audience, these failed - though Trolls remained popular as pencil toppers, if not only because the point of insertion was particularly hilarious for the slapstick minds of youth. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/28510393@N07/3428367357/ | Credit: Cheryl | |||||
33 | 6/1978 | Star Wars action figures | Star Wars' release in 1977 was one that took most people by surprise - the film went on to become one of the most famous franchises in history, and children of the 70s were right at the centre of an unprecedented marketing tie-in. Kenner's figures sold well over 300 million units in their seven years of production, and mint condition examples are highly sought-after. Now, those who once used them in the playground continue to raid their attics for an eBay super-sale. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11449766896/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
34 | 1/1973 | Weebles | Weebles wobbled but they never fell down, largely due to the combination of a constant positive curvature and mechanical equilibrium - not the fact they looked like a portly gentleman dressed like a sailor, or an old woman in her Sunday best. These toys were remarkably popular despite the fact they never really did anything - and their wobbly goodness went on to be embraced by many generations after their initial release. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/shifted/3096112355/ | Credit: Jenny Levine | |||||
35 | 1/1980 | Football stickers | Got, got, need, got, need, need, need, seriously need, got, etc. Panini, and later Merlin in the 90s, cashed in on the growing access to televised football. As many of us know, the foil "shiny" was the true currency of the playground among boys; its value was denoted in "normal" stickers, which varied from school to school (usually between two and five - ten, if it was special). | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11449862676/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
36 | 10/1980 | Rubik's Cube | Ranking high on the list of classic playground crazes is Hungary's most famous export alongside the ballpoint pen, strudel and Franz Liszt. This colourful 3x3x3 block was responsible for countless challenges, frustrations and smashed Rubik's Cubes, due to said frustrations and challenges. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11449854434/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
37 | 2/1982 | Rubik's Snake | While not sharing quite the same playground ubiquity as its six-sided brother, Rubik's Snake was still popular among schoolchildren looking for something a little less linear. This 24-prismed contraption was named after what it looked like in its most simple form, though thousands of other shapes could be created, from cats and ostriches to ducks and castles. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/53726379@N00/5026656693/ | Credit: Ian Hughes | |||||
38 | 12/1986 | MUSCLE | If you needed a toy that encapsulated an intergalactic wrestling championship between two-inch tall flesh-coloured PVC statuettes, then so-called "Muscle Men" were your investment of choice. MUSCLE - which stood for Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere - was one of many things kids bought in random boxes or packs, and was one of the first supremely collectable toy lines consisting of motionless lumps of plastic that could be traded for a full collection. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11450960475/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
39 | 4/1988 | Micro Machines | It seems hard to believe that Micro Machines are no longer with us given their rampant popularity in the 80s and 90s, yet this famous toy line was practically discontinued in 2006. As small remakes of larger toy cars, Micro Machines not only served a major purpose in foiling the burglars of Home Alone, but they also went on to star in one of the most fondly-remembered car racing video games of the last 25 years. Best of all, kids could fill their pockets with them - perfect for a sly race on the desk when a teacher's back was turned. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDBvEo1s6A4 | ||||||
40 | 11/1983 | He-Man | Following Mattel's decision to turn down the offer to produce Star Wars toys (oh dear!), the company retrospectively cottoned-on to the idea that merchandising can be planned from the outset. From this, Mattel created the entire cartoon franchise of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to simply support toy production of Prince Adam, Skeletor, Man-at-Arms and co. Needless to say, they lacked the later appeal of Star Wars toys - a trip to a local indoor market could bag you Zodac, Man-E-Faces or Fisto for pennies, not the hundreds of pounds now demanded for a boxed Luke Skywalker or Lando Calrissian. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/20961302@N00/5961093609/ | Credit: semihundido | |||||
41 | 3/1983 | Calculator watches | Casio's empire of digital watches brought in a whole new audience of maths-hating schoolchildren in the 1980s with the introduction of miniaturised calculator technology. Featuring buttons that only tiny fingers could accurately press, these watches certainly bailed out many a child in a pop quiz. Technology later developed to include TV remotes in them, causing havoc for any impromptu video in class - or leading to an argument during an episode of Knightmare or Fun House between siblings after school. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/32216821@N00/9309557327 | Credit: Self_Same_Self | |||||
42 | 6/1989 | Nike Air Max | Nike's Air Max line of trainers launched in 1987 and their popularity among young and old hasn't really declined since then, hitting its high in the UK around 1989. As one of the few means of showing one's affluence and style in the playground, Nike Air Max offered classic bubble soles that purportedly made you run faster and jump higher. Many pairs also succumbed to tacks, pins and other sharp objects, either by accident or after being laid as a trap by less agreeable youngsters in the yard. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/achimh/4823704452/ | Credit: Achim Hepp | |||||
43 | 8/1984 | Clarks Magic Steps shoes | Back when Clarks was the only place to go for a pair of shoes for school, the company had a brainwave: seize on the commonly-held notion that its stock was boring and create something altogether more attractive. Girls were offered Magic Steps - relatively prim and proper shoes with a magic key that doubled up as a brooch worn on jackets all over the UK. In later years, the key could turn a lock on the bottom of the shoe to show hidden, if ultimately strange and pointless, images. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgLz6glUfGc | ||||||
44 | 1/1982 | Spokey Dokes | Just when you thought that the BMX or Chopper couldn't be cooler, Spokey Dokes took all things two-wheeled into the stratosphere of wonderment. These simple round plastic beads snapped onto wheel spokes and, during a slow-speed ride, would have time to slide up and down the spoke to make a noise that could take adults back to memories of school 30 years ago. For others, though, they were as visually ugly as they were annoying - these brightly-coloured menaces were also available with glow-in-the-dark properties. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451722414/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
45 | 6/1985 | Leg warmers | Once solely worn by professional dancers, leg warmers exploded in popularity in schools after the release of Flashdance and Fame in the 80s. Seemingly omnipresent on the lower legs of girls around the country, these footless wonders were originally designed to stop muscle injuries and cramping; they've made many comebacks since their initial release due to their remarkable retro-vintage value. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/51378257@N00/2076739387/ | Credit: Travis | |||||
46 | 6/1983 | Wacky WallWalkers | Your standard-issue Wacky WallWalker comprised of a plastic man with his arms above his head and sticky balls for hands and feet. When thrown at a wall, gravity would take its course and the figure would flip all the way back down again. Maintenance and aim were important; too much hair or dust meant the walker's adhesive was redundant, while a vertical throw would consign many to the ceiling forever. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/66803857@N02/7583148428 | Credit: vicky yu | |||||
47 | 6/1987 | My Little Pony | As another toy from the Hasbro empire that went on to inspire a complementary TV series to push the product, the first generation of My Little Pony was perhaps the biggest. These pastel-coloured hairy equines struck at the very heart of the girls' market, and its makers went on to successfully re-release the toy line in recent years. This even led to a male market emerging - so-called "bronies" (though let's not get into that). | http://www.flickr.com/photos/9031691@N08/3040380182 | Credit: Lisa Brewster | |||||
48 | 3/1984 | Candy bracelets | School shops around the country simply adored plying children with sugar in the 80s and 90s, but no confectionery was as sought-after as the candy bracelet. The elastic band these "beads" were attached to fortuitously served as a basic firing mechanism; taking a bead between your teeth, pulling back and then biting it in half would fire the rest of the sharp, sugary mass at an unsuspecting bystander. Kids got sweets and a weapon for 10p or less; they knew a good deal when they saw one. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11437386375/ | Credit: Thinkstock | |||||
49 | 1/1983 | Action Force | Palitoy, who introduced the similarly-named Action Man a few years before, followed up with Action Force - a more miniaturised version of the armed figures. With vehicles, advanced weaponry and even a line of comic books supporting the line-up of familiar faces, Action Force was a surprise hit - and helped Hasbro once again get into the UK market with its subtly rebranded GI Joe: A Real American Hero range. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/23578939@N06/2641458227/ | Credit: CG76 | |||||
50 | 3/1986 | Handheld LCD Games | LCD games were cheap, cheerful and only needed a 9V battery or two to operate. Held in a variety of cases, they were pretty simple affairs - two or three buttons that moved your car, sports star or superhero into different positions on screen to interact with whatever was thrown at it. They were small enough for the pockets of schoolchildren, and tied many over in the yard until they returned home to ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s or - if they were lucky - a Master System or a NES. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/mac-ash/5400614208/ | Credit: Rudy Eng | |||||
51 | 10/1985 | Transformers | Hasbro developed quite the foothold on school crazes, though the most popular of these was perhaps Transformers, which has since spawned a TV series and blockbuster film franchise. The titular robots in disguise allowed kids to switch between cars, planes and in the case of Soundwave, even a cassette recorder. As fragile as they were cutting edge, Transformers succumbed to countless playground tragedies; it only took one slip of the hand to transform Optimus Prime into a candidate for the scrapyard. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv09ydaJXI0 | ||||||
52 | 12/1989 | Push Pops | Why would you have a regular lollipop when you could push one out of a plastic case like a lipstick? Such was the argument for production that confectioners had in the late 80s, before releasing the Push Pop brand. Pioneered by Topps - creators of the Ring Pop - this portable block of sugar was perfect for those who preferred to enjoy their sweets over an extended period of time - or in the classroom, when non-sticky pocket-based concealment was required at a moment's notice. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11437562213/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
53 | 4/1998 | Crazy Bones | Combining the rules of knucklebones with the plastic single-coloured charm similar to the likes of MUSCLE, Crazy Bones were yet another collectable monster franchise that kids traded at school. Spanish creators Magic Box also made sure there were rare "wanted" figures to drive up demand; it paid off, and millions were sold in the UK alone, though this led to plenty of banning orders being decreed by head teachers around the country. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11452284216/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
54 | 2/1993 | Pogs | Arising from similar games played in 17th-century Japan and early 20th-century Hawaii, the Pogs brand was a modern adaptation of this simple stacking game. Schoolchildren towered their cardboard pogs - printed with the most 90s-style graphics you'll still see to this day - and used a "slammer" to scatter the discs. Those that laid face up were theirs to keep (if traditional rules were followed). With sets dedicated to anything from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Jurassic Park to Christmas and Cadbury's, they were supremely collectible - but a flash in the pan in terms of popularity. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsofan/6077181975/ | Credit: John | |||||
55 | 5/1998 | Alien birth pods | Offering the somewhat questionable combination of slime and a simple walkthrough of the birthing process, these alien pods were a strange yet alluring product that allowed schoolchildren to squeeze an extra terrestrial's belly to force three baby aliens into the world. Enough said. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11452196334/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
56 | 1/1993 | Yikes! pencils | "They write like other pencils but they make you go Yikes!" said the adverts. This was solely due to the fact that they were brightly coloured, notably in the wood that surrounded the graphite. Despite them literally only being a pencil with new hues, a mass marketing campaign pushed them into the pencil cases of thousands of British kids. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9_Q6vO2jE | ||||||
57 | 1/1991 | Slap bracelets | Slap bracelets were essentially flat, flexible stainless steel layers covered by fabric or plastic which, when slapped onto someone's wrist, forced the bands to fire into a curve that fitted snugly around the wearer's forearm. Simple yet effective, they were jewellery - something rather frowned upon by teachers (read: necessary) at school. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11462329253/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
58 | 1/1989 | Boglins | These monsters from Mattel looked more in place as a monster from Jim Henson's Creature Shop than in the playground, yet these ugly critters found a way into the hearts, minds and cereal of youngsters when Boglins signed a deal with Kellogg's. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcor3EbCnP4 | ||||||
59 | 11/1998 | Parker pens | All kids used pens at school, but there was no scribing tool classier than the Parker pen. While it certainly wrote with elegance and style, the Sonnet fountain pen in particular brought more trouble than completed essays to the classroom due to its famous cartridge explosions, firing blue ink all over paper, desks, hands, clothing and much more. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/afterdesign/2744887776/ | Credit: Rafał Malinowski | |||||
60 | 4/1992 | Monster in My Pocket | Carrying the torch alongside many other monster-based plastic toy lines in the 1990s, Monster in my Pocket's line-up offered softer and more pliable figures than its rivals. These were pushed by Pizza Hut, Shreddies and Frosties in the early 90s, backed by a range of stickers, trading cards and even a board game. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/roach/24452135/ | Credit: Chris Roach | |||||
61 | 4/1993 | Polly Pocket and Mighty Max | Girls and boys alike were targeted in the early-90s by these ultra-portable, intricate miniature play sets. These bright plastic offerings featured a simple clam-like design and put Polly and Max in a range of overtly gender-based situations, from sleepovers and salons to fights to the death with the Nuke Ranger and Zomboid (we'll let you guess which character did what). | http://www.flickr.com/photos/32662631@N00/4431430935/ | Credit: Herry Lawford | |||||
62 | 9/1994 | Tazos | Walkers Crisps introduced something rather fantastic to playgrounds around the country in the mid-90s, yet they were only a rebrand of something released just a few years earlier. Tazos were essentially Pogs with notches around the edge, allowing them to interlock; designs started with a Looney Tunes range in 1994, leading to Walkers multipacks being ransacked on supermarket shelves. Later, a Star Wars collection was released, complemented by a collection book. Getting all 50 was a chore, but if anyone asks why the 90s led to a spike in childhood obesity, this school craze can certainly be factored into the phenomenon. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zanPth_BUdk | ||||||
63 | 10/1998 | Pokémon cards | Pokémon's huge popularity on TVs, Game Boys and N64s was not just complemented, but galvanised by, the trading card phenomenon in playgrounds. Taking on rules similar to fellow card game Magic: the Gathering yet offering the simplicity of Top Trumps, the game element itself wasn't really played - trading was the main aim for schoolchildren, much like football stickers were in years past. Indeed, real money could be made - Pokémon cards weren't cheap to start with, but rare cards could give a good return on investment. Nowadays, rare and pristine cards often sell for thousands of dollars. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXGarBXUeTc | ||||||
64 | 11/1993 | Goosebumps | RL Stine's range of teen horror novels can be credited with making reading very cool in the playground for a few years in the 90s. Over 60 titles were released between 1992 and 1997, including the particularly famous Night of the Living Mummy, Say Cheese and Die, The Haunted Mask and Welcome to Camp Nightmare. Everyone had two or three; their neon, cartoonish front covers are forever burned into the minds of their readers. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/43563891@N00/9141372648/ | Credit: teakwood | |||||
65 | 1/1997 | Tamagotchi | Seen by many as the biggest school craze of all, Tamagotchis really hit the heights of ubiquity in the UK around 1997. These small keyring-sized gadgets allowed schoolchildren to manage the lives of a pet, from feeding and exercising them to cleaning up after they did their dirty business. The aim was to keep one alive for as long as possible; anything over a week was a stretch for most kids. Eventually banned from plenty of schools around the world, Tamagotchis would go on to inspire all kinds of modern console and mobile games; these little toys did, however, offer simplicity that is somewhat unmatched by successors. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11462457164/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
66 | 11/1999 | Tech Decks | Skateboarding was relatively expensive and painful for school-going learners in the late 90s, yet the influence of an emerging skating scene off the back of computer games, such as the much-celebrated Tony Hawk-led series, only pushed kids to explore every avenue of the craze. Tech Decks - skateboards for your fingers - were perhaps the next best thing. Quick fingers could master moves in minutes that would take months to learn on a full-size board, so they took off quickly in classrooms across the UK - accessories and all. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauroenpatineta/5436732495/ | Credit: Mauricio Gómez Correa | |||||
67 | 12/1998 | Casio G-Shock/Baby G watches | Casio's simple digital and calculator watches were highly prized by previous generations, though they had nothing on their 90s successors in terms of style and necessity. The G-Shock and Baby-G watch ranges - rugged, resilient and attractive - graced many an arm at school and, at around £50 each, were seen as quite the luxury at the time. Christmases and birthdays were regularly celebrated with Casio; the company continues to produce them to this day. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11437423524/ | Credit: MIKI Yoshihito | |||||
68 | 7/1995 | Funfax/Spy File | After Filofax thoroughly cornered the business market, it shifted its corporate intentions to a new audience: schoolchildren. Its creative minds developed Funfax, a wacky, multi-coloured personal organiser that included calendar essentials alongside quizzes, stickers, jokes, wordsearches and much more. The Spy File venture followed, allowing kids to learn simple tricks and become a budding secret agent, complete with a stick-on moustache that promised to fool nobody. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451699034/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
69 | 12/1994 | Coin/medal collections | Coins were repurposed in the 90s to become so-called "medals", once again bidding to become collectors' items in playgrounds across the UK and beyond. Luckily for some coin producers, they were desirable. The most famous set was the one inspired by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which came with its own cardboard frame, though another series of note - the England Euro 96 squad set - also managed to land thousands of schoolchildren with beautiful footballer faces immortalised in metal, such as those of Martin Keown and David Platt. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451774873/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
70 | 1/1992 | LA Gear/Lights | As an almost-exclusively 90s brand, LA Gear rose to fame with US celebrity endorsements, crossing the Atlantic to find a place in the playground. While the overall brand was relatively well-received, it was the LA Lights range that attracted young teens the most. Every time a step was taken, pressure made the shoe light up. It turned heads and opened wallets, but the brand's brief fame didn't stave off bankruptcy in 1998. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/10651509@N08/5174916381/in/photolist-8ThNme | Credit: davesneakers | |||||
71 | 2/1991 | Reebok Pump | Going head-to-head with Nike Air Max's continued success since the late 1980s, Bolton's very own Reebok developed the Pump range of trainers. It was the first shoe to have an internal inflation system, which was based in the tongue and allowed them to fit more comfortably around the feet. However, it was very much the preserve of rich kids - the high price tag made it extremely sought-after, yet rarer than Nike's best-seller. | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm6UhMKF8DU | ||||||
72 | 1/1996 | Jelly shoes | Why have regular shoes when you can have brightly-coloured, squidgy plastic ones instead? Many girls couldn't find fault in this logic in the 90s, and bought so-called jelly shoes in their thousands. Sometimes glittery and often see-through, jelly shoes regularly adopted a strappy sandal style, though often didn't last long; they reminded youngsters that leather is used on shoes as much for durability as for fashion purposes. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451609966/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
73 | 1/1998 | Trouser skirts | Trouser skirts are pretty simple: they layered skirts over trousers. They were purely a style statement, worn by countless schoolgirls in the 90s. Nobody knows why, and they were soon (thankfully) consigned to attics and charity shops. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451370585/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
74 | 3/1997 | "Popper" trousers | One day, someone woke up and decided that trouser legs needed buttons all the way up the outside of each leg. The novelty value of these jogging bottoms - particularly those made by Adidas - appealed to 90s kids, and yards were soon filled with these often-garish "poppers". One sharp tug was all that was needed to reveal someone's full leg; exposure aside, the massive gaps in the fabric between each button meant they were very much an item only truly suitable for warmer climes. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11452729523/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
75 | 12/1993 | Naff Co 54 jackets | Naf Naf, a French clothing company, had a remarkable amount of success in the UK with its iconic black bomber-style jacket. Featuring a blocky, multi-coloured "Naff Co 54" logo stitched on the back, it wasn't a particularly attractive offering - but boy, was it popular. | http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs247.snc1/9431_136216596714_704486714_2726793_346425_n.jpg | Source: Google images | |||||
76 | 5/1992 | Tattoo necklaces | Tattoo necklaces were intricate fabric patterns that could be worn around the neck, giving children the feeling they were all grown-up and challenging society itself. Matching bracelets and rings were also created, and played into more alternative individuals into rock music and darker clothing. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451238564/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
77 | 2/1998 | Kappa jackets | While the popularity of the Adidas tracksuit jacket was indisputable among children of the 80s, they were not as seemingly omnipresent as those made by Kappa in the 90s. The logo - showing the silhouette of a man and a woman sat back to back - was often partially covered to highlight something rather blue, playing to the humour of the schoolchildren that wore them. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11451146195/ | Credit: eBay listing | |||||
78 | 6/1996 | Corinthian figures | While football stickers, coins and trading cards were popular throughout the decades, one sport-related item that can be solely anchored to the 90s was Corinthian's line of football figures. Typified by their huge heads and undersized bodies, these statuettes were extremely sought-after and regularly traded. While many children of the age may not remember that goal by Les Ferdinand, they'll never forget the plastic figure of him they had sat on their shelf at home. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/writemboyo/1079021003/ | Credit: Rongem Boyo | |||||
79 | 5/1997 | Hubba Bubba | Juicy Fruit and Wrigley's Spearmint were popular additions to any school-goer's pocket, but the sickly-sweet and bubble-friendly Hubba Bubba range of chewing gum ruled the roost. From Cool Cola to Atomic Apple, the flavours packed a punch, and could be delivered to the mouth in regular pieces or via the much-desired bubble tape dispenser the brand later became famous for. | http://www.flickr.com/photos/111892415@N04/11437557103/ | Credit: eBay listing |