Remember when school supply time rolled around with a gigantic list and high expectations? There was something magical about unboxing a brand-new folder or snapping open a pencil box. Each folder color, each pen smell, each eraser was a badge of honor for who you were (or who you so badly wanted to be). And let’s face it — certain supplies did not necessarily serve a purpose, but we needed them nonetheless.
Troll Pencil Toppers
Those nasty little critters with crazy neon hair—and we adored them. Half the class had one sitting on top of their pencil. Some even “styled” their troll’s hair in class. Practical? Efficient? Not a chance. Iconic? Without a doubt.
Pencil Boxes with Compartments and Secret Buttons
Do you remember the ones that changed like Transformers? You press one and a sharpener comes out, you press another and BOOM—secret eraser compartment. It was almost like a toy rather than a tool. And come on, you showed it so much more than you ever actually used it.
Multicolor Click Pens That Never Wrote Right
Twelve colors, one dismal line of ink. These were technology-overkill pens, truly useless—but we did not care. We clicked through color by sentence, like it was our full-time job. The black ink was perpetually dry, and the green worked… once.
Highlighters as Big as Your Forearm
Neon pink, green, yellow—these were made for one thing: vibes. Didn’t matter if you were underlining real notes or marking flowers on the margins. If your page wasn’t rocking a sick glow like a rave flyer, what were you even doing?
Trapper Keeper Thunderclap
Velcro ripped open with a sound that you could hear from across the room. What it held: neon dividers, secret note pocket, perhaps even a forbidden sticker pad. A new Trapper Keeper was new year chic; the more ridiculous the print—lasers, unicorns, crazy geometry—the more bragging rights it carried.
Glue Sticks That Were Shaped Like Lip Balm
We all had that one friend who would use it accidentally like Chapstick. (Or perhaps you were that friend.) These chubby little sticks were always dry or somehow missing their caps, but they gripped construction paper like champs.
Crayons That Were Always Missing the Good Colours
You’d open the box and bam — no red, no black, and the white smoothed down to a gob. That strange flesh-tone beige? Perfect. The gold crayon was the holy grail, and you defended it with state-treasure-position security.
Stackable Lead Mechanical Pencils
Do you recall the pencils where every tiny plastic tube contained its own piece of lead, and when you lost one, it was the end? Still, clicking those was oddly satisfying. They always seemed high-end, like you were better than wood pencils.
Tiny Pencil Sharpeners That Always Made a Mess
Fragile, useless, and in some odd way always jammed. They lived on the floor of your backpack, smattered in graphite and shattered aspirations. You would sharpen once, or maybe twice, before the blade gave out or your pencil came out.
Rulers That Ended Up as Swords
Yes, they were for drawing straight lines, but for the most part, they were for whacking desks, eraser-cutting, or in-class fake sword duels. The wooden ones would break your finger. And the steel ones would cut your skin.
Plastic Book Covers with Cartoon Prints
Rather than boring old brown paper, you used shiny plastic covers with Power Rangers, PowerPuff Girls, or whatever was popular. And you were 10 times cooler coming to class. Extra points if your cover didn’t tear apart within a week.
Pencil Cases That Seemed to Be Soft Toys
Half of the class possessed those huge, fluffy pencil bags that served as a cushion for the trip. They never held enough stationery at all, but that didn’t matter. They were soft, disheveled, and somehow always had ink smudges.
Glitter Notebooks
If your notebook didn’t blind someone when the light fell on it, was it even worth bringing to class? The glitter would fall off on your hands, your face, your bag, and you didn’t care. These notebooks were not about notes; they were about making a statement. And you never used it, because they were too good to use.
The Compass from the Geometry Set
This object resembled a shiv more than a school supply. Did anyone ever even use it to do math? Extremely unlikely. But it sat in that plastic holder alongside a protractor that no one had any idea how to use. And for some reason, it always managed to poke someone.
Mini Staplers That Barely Worked
These staplers were adorable, they were pastel, and jammed every other use. But they occupied your pencil case with pride, like they were real business. Every time they did work? Felt like a mini triumph.
Correction Pens That Blew Up for No Reason
You’d jab the point softly and then SPLAT. A huge blob of white paint everywhere on your worksheet. You waited ten years for it to dry, then hoped your teacher didn’t smell it.
That One Fancy Pen You Weren’t Allowed to Lose
There was always that one pen. Dad’s gift, your “exam pen,” or just super expensive to ever use. You kept it under lock and key. You loved it in your possession for years and never used it. Where is it now? Lost? Vanished? Who knows.
The School Diary You Never Actually Used
It had room for homework, schedules, even goals, but you simply used it to doodle, forge your parents’ signature, or scribble hearts around your crush’s name. It was supposed to keep you organized. But it became your book of nonsense doodles.
17 Things That Made You the Cool Kid in the ’80s
If you walked through school with the right gear, the right ‘do, and the right Walkman, you ruled the hallway in the ’80s. If you had even a few of these 17 things, kudos — you were actually cool, and likely still sort of are.
17 Things That Made You the Cool Kid in the ’80s
Sounds From the Past That No One Hears Anymore
We didn’t know it then, but some sounds were woven into the fabric of our daily life — loud, awkward, comforting, even annoying. And just like that, they disappeared. Here are the sounds that you likely haven’t heard in a very long time — but after you read them, your brain will supply the audio.
Sounds From the Past That No One Hears Anymore