Nostalgic Gifts for 90s & Y2K Kids

A lot of nostalgic gifts sold online are slogans on mugs. They name the decade without bringing any of it back. The nostalgic gifts that land are the ones that recreate a feeling the person actually had: the first time they heard a song in a friend’s car, the disposable camera at a party, the CD they burned and wrote on in marker.

Why is a burned mix CD a good nostalgic gift?

A burned mix CD of the songs from their high school years is a strong nostalgic gift, because for anyone who was a teenager around 2000, burned CDs were how music got passed around. You made one for the bus, for a crush, for a road trip, and wrote the title on the disc in marker. Giving someone a mix CD now hands them that whole feeling back.

Make it their years, not the decade

Work out when they were roughly 14 to 18, and fill the disc with what was playing then. Ask their friends or siblings what they listened to. If they were in high school around 1999, that might mean “No Scrubs” by TLC and “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls; a few years later, “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne, “Hey Ya!” by OutKast and “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. Their own list will be different, and that’s the point.

Include one song they’d be slightly embarrassed to admit they loved.
Close with the song from prom, graduation or the last summer before everyone left.
For a best friend, add the songs you both knew all the words to. Our songs for your best friend list has the sing-along classics.

Our discs are plain CD-Rs, which is exactly how a burned mix looked back then. Write the title on in marker, or put a photo from those years on the case cover. Need a title? Our mixtape names list helps.

Don’t have a burner anymore? Send us the song list and we’ll burn it to a custom CD mixtape, with an old photo as the cover if you like.

Do they still make portable CD players?

New portable CD players are still sold, along with small bookshelf stereos with a CD tray for a desk or kitchen. A mix CD and something to play it on makes a complete gift, especially for someone whose car no longer has a CD slot.

Look for anti-skip protection if it’ll be carried around, and a standard headphone jack if they still use wired headphones. A pair of wired over-ear headphones in the box completes the early-2000s bus ride.

Wondering whether this is a fad? Our piece on whether CDs are coming back looks at who is buying them now, and what is a mixtape covers where the tradition came from.

What are other good 90s and Y2K gifts?

Other good 90s and Y2K gifts include a disposable camera, a re-released virtual pet, a mini retro console, an instant camera and a box of the snacks they traded at lunch.

A disposable camera

Still sold, still fun at a party, and the wait for prints is half the charm. Film labs, including mail-in ones, develop them, and many will send scans along with the prints.

A re-released virtual pet or handheld game

Several of the pocket virtual pets and handheld games from the 90s have been re-released. Pick the one they actually had, if you can find out.

A mini retro console

Compact versions of 80s and 90s game consoles come with the old games built in and plug into a modern TV. Good for a sibling you used to fight over the controller with.

An instant camera

A camera that prints the photo on the spot. It’s the closest modern thing to passing around a stack of prints.

A box of the snacks and stationery

Retro candy boxes are easy to find, or make your own of the specific things they loved. Add gel pens, a notebook and butterfly clips for the full Y2K desk drawer.

A photo from then, printed and framed

Dig out a photo from their teens, from a parent or an old friend, and frame it. Pair it with the mix CD and you’ve covered sight and sound.

What are good millennial gifts that aren't novelty?

Good millennial gifts use their own memories rather than the decade’s: a mix of the songs from their bedroom radio, not a slogan mug. “Millennial gifts” often means a joke about avocado toast. A few rules we’d follow:

Use their memories, not the decade’s. A generic “90s hits” collection is fine; a mix of the songs from their bedroom radio is better.
Choose things they’ll use. A mix CD in the car gets played. A slogan mug goes in a cupboard.
Add a note. One line about the memory behind the gift turns a fun object into a keepsake.

Questions people ask

What are good nostalgic gifts for adults?

Good nostalgic gifts for adults are tied to a specific time in their life: a burned mix CD of the songs from their high school years, a disposable camera, a photo from back then printed and framed, or a toy or game they had as a kid. Specific beats generic retro.

What do you get a 90s kid?

For a 90s kid, choose something that brings back how the 90s felt to them in particular: a mix CD of the songs they grew up on, a portable CD player to play it, a re-released virtual pet, or a box of the snacks they traded at lunch.

What are Y2K gifts?

Y2K gifts recall the late 1990s and early 2000s: burned mix CDs, portable CD players, disposable cameras, butterfly clips, gel pens and the pop and pop-punk of the TRL years. A mix of their actual favorites from that time is the most personal version.

Do they still make portable CD players?

New portable CD players are still sold, along with small bookshelf stereos with a CD tray. Look for anti-skip protection and a standard headphone jack if they'll use wired headphones.

Can you still develop disposable cameras?

Disposable cameras can still be developed. Film labs, including mail-in labs, still develop them and can usually send scans along with the prints. Call a local lab to check what they handle and how long it takes.

What songs should go on a 2000s mix CD?

A 2000s mix CD should hold the songs they actually played between about 14 and 18, not a generic decade list. Ask what was on the radio when they learned to drive, what played at school dances, and what they burned for their friends, and fill one CD with 18 to 22 of them.