A lot has changed in three decades, and there are things, moments and adventures that South Africans secretly miss about the '90s.
It doesn’t really feel like almost 30 years ago, but the 90s are long gone. But not the memories and the ‘remember when’ or ‘it used to taste delicious’ nostalgic comments at braais and dinner parties.
A lot has changed in three decades, and there are things, moments and adventures that South Africans secretly miss about the ’90s. That in-between decade on the brink of a new century and, on the back of the 80s’ craziness.
Snacks we miss
Front and centre on that list is O’Gradys thick cut chips in baked cheese and also sour cream and chives flavours.
It was the one chip that guaranteed lots of flavour. Tempo chocolate bars, Chocolate Logs, Tutti Frutti sweets and sherbet, lots of it.
Mall-ratting
It used to be much, much safer to go out at night in the 90s. Teenage dreams of going it alone, hanging out in malls, going to the movies and having your first kiss behind the fire escape. Holding hands in the cinema. Chilling with friends.
These days, it’s all online and jolling is limited to whatever’s considered safe enough.
K-TV on Saturday mornings
Waking up early on weekends was important because K-TV hit our screens as the sun came up.
It was cartoon time, Candice Hildebrand time and the kind of screen time that had a beginning and an end, before we headed outside to continue playing, inspired for the day.
Advertising was actually good
Sun City’s glam, Lunch Bar’s Much Much More and ‘It’s not inside, it’s on top’ along with Volkswagen’s epic commercials were actually enjoyable, creative and many phrases became part of our local slang. Not anymore.
Advertising as we knew it is dead and buried, and while the creatives still ponytail about, we’d rather avoid the ads.
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Kwaito was born
It’s music that defined a generation. In the 90s, Boom Shaka was it, man. There was kwaito in taxis, malls, weddings and anywhere a boombox was present. In between, don’t forget Mma Brr, Brenda Fassie, the queen of South African pop.
Retail therapy was real
We had department stores like John Orrs, Stuttafords and Garlicks where you could browse for hours.
They had coffee shops inside, and it made shopping romantic. There were the grocery store commercial wars between Checkers’ Clive Weil ads and OK’s Gordon Hood. Who can ever forget the phrase ‘trolley for trolley’. It ended when the 90s died.
Videos
Before DVDs, we had VHS tapes and video stores where you could rent movies. It was a vibe and a half in the ’90s.
Weekend nights were spent browsing at the local video shop, walking out with a single flick and heading home to watch with popcorn.
You had to remember to rewind the tape, return the movie on time and most of all, hope that your player didn’t swallow the cassette.
Slang and local talk — words that felt especially 90s (‘jol’, ‘lekker’, ‘howzit’, ‘eish’). Threads (and explainer posts) about South African English and township slang show how these expressions tied people together in the 90s and are still fondly repeated. Guides and lists explain origins and examples.
Soft rebellion
The 90s were the era of grunge, soft rebellion and self-identity. Nirvana, Alice In Chains. Seattle rock.
On the other side, it was rave culture. MDMA joined the narcotic circuit. Chokers, slip dresses and tees under sundresses were fashion’s hottest tickets, and DJs became as famous as real musicians.
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