Trapper Keepers, Lunchables & Glitter Gel Pens: The Ultimate 90s School Survival Kit
Greetings TimelyNerds!
Let’s take a moment to salute the forgotten warriors of our childhood: those glittery, plastic, neon-hued supplies that got us through math class and middle school melodrama.
Back-to-school season hits different when you grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. There were no iPads or smartboards—just Trapper Keepers, mechanical pencils that squeaked, and the eternal battle of whose Tamagotchi would beep mid-lesson.
Let’s rewind to the ultimate back-to-school lineup that made us legends on the playground and hallway icons.
📘 Trapper Keepers: The Briefcases of Childhood CEOs
If your folder didn’t Velcro shut with the force of a thousand sticker secrets, were you even organized?
These bad boys were part filing system, part status symbol. Extra points if yours had a holographic dolphin or lightning bolts that screamed “I’m about to dominate spelling class.”
Fun Fact: The Trapper Keeper was originally designed to help kids keep all their classes in one place—but ended up being a global style flex.
🍕 Lunchables: The OG Bento Box
Pizza. Crackers. That weird little circle of meat. Lunchables were the currency of the cafeteria, and if you had the dessert one? You were royalty.
Nothing said “Mom loves me” like a Lunchable with Capri Sun and a mini Reese’s.
Hot Take: Nacho Lunchables > All Others. Fight me in the comments.
🖊️ Glitter Gel Pens & Scented Markers
Color-coded notes? Maybe. Doodling your crush’s name with hearts in every gel pen color? Definitely.
These pens were smooth, sparkly, and totally smeared across your hand by 3rd period.
Little-known fact: Some scented markers actually had warning labels because kids kept sniffing them too hard. Gen X and Millennial resilience, folks.
🐾 Lisa Frank Everything
Binders. Notebooks. Folders. Pencil cases. If it had rainbow leopards or flying dolphins, it was Lisa Frank—and it was everything.
Boys may have pretended they were “too cool” for it, but everyone secretly loved that technicolor jungle dreamscape.
🔌 Backpack Tech: Tamagotchis, Game Boys & Talkboys
Your backpack had compartments for tech.
Tamagotchis beeped constantly (RIP to the ones who didn’t make it).
Talkboys made you feel like Kevin from Home Alone.
Game Boys = instant social circle on the bus ride.
Teachers said “No electronics in class.” We said, “Challenge accepted.”
🎧 Bonus: The Walkman Shuffle
Before Spotify and Bluetooth, there was the click, whirr, flip the tape moment of the cassette life. If you had an anti-skip CD player? You were from the future.
And nothing set the mood for back-to-school like a burned CD with "Sk8er Boi," "Blue (Da Ba Dee)," and a random Creed song.
Why We Still Crave This Chaos
Because school supplies weren’t just tools—they were tiny expressions of who we were before the internet made everything a performance.
We picked the glitter pens that matched our personalities. We guarded our gel pen collections like heirlooms. And we filled our binders with more secrets, doodles, and folded notes than homework.
Your Turn, TimelyNerds! What was your must-have 90s school item?
Was it a Lisa Frank folder? A cool pencil topper? Or maybe you were the kid with the extra batteries for everyone’s Game Boy. Drop your favorites in the comments—we’re building the Ultimate 90s School Starter Pack together.
🌀 Rewind. Level Up. Geek Out.
