When I was a lot younger, my dad used to take me to record shops with him. He didn’t have a record player and neither did I, but we both loved the experience of simply spending time with one another and leisurely leafing through vinyl.
This interest in records persisted, and as I’ve continued to go well through my teenage years, and throughout the years, I’ve noticed a trend: I find that more people have been flocking to these hole-in-the-wall record shops and not only that, they’re mostly people my age.
A quick Google search shows that in 2016, vinyl sales reached a 25 year high. Not only that, but other niche hobbies, brimming with nostalgia, like film photography, have also started to gain traction among people my age. Fuji’s Instax cameras (and the corresponding film) are selling in record numbers. But what gives? Why are Millennials so fascinated with nostalgia?
Well, what people keep telling me is that, simply, everyone likes the feeling of nostalgia. However, the point isn’t simply that everyone likes feeling nostalgic. Because it isn’t nostalgia. It’s something else entirely. We have this innate longing for a time we never lived through and things we never experienced. Why?
The answer: no one really knows. Everyone is different, and as such, everyone has different hobbies and preferences, so it’s difficult to say why certain things become popular while others never really get off the ground. Furthermore, I don’t think the answer is as simple as having one, all-encompassing explanation for this phenomenon.
One explanation I have come to is that these items and hobbies are a sign of a yearning for a simpler life. This generation went through such a transitional period while we, ourselves, were in a critical period of transition that it affected the way we interacted with the world around us. Perhaps a fascination with the past is just a sign of the growing pains we endured as technology became more prevalent and we became more plugged in.
Furthermore, as a result of technology advancing, we received a 24-hour news cycle to boot. And as if that weren’t enough, our phones are now on our persons at any given time, giving us constant access to the world around us, and a 24/7 highlight reel of the horrors it has to offer.
There is no such thing is a blissful ignorance in this day and age. So perhaps small acts, such as winding down at the end of the night by putting on your favorite record or watching a show like Stranger Things that emulates another era, is a sign of a longing for something simpler, and less constantly chaotic.
Another explanation I’ve hypothesized is that the rise of social media had something to do with it. As social media gained more traction, and everyone essentially had some form of it, a magnifying glass was put over our society, our generation specifically highlighted. This magnifying glass showed us that everything we were told growing up (“you’re unique/beautiful/special,” etc.), didn’t really mean that much anymore.
There became an oversaturation of the average and a realization of how rare individuality really is. So perhaps this new trend of clothing styles and unorthodox hobbies came from a need to break away and separate one’s self from the crowd. Polaroids became a way to express individuality, and then, ironically enough, became a means by which to highlight the lack of it, as well.
Or maybe it’s just a 30-year cycle. Perhaps every generation goes through a yearning of the past and that this phenomenon is not unique to Millennials. Rather, it just feels like it is because we’re the ones living with it and we see it unfolding in our everyday lives.
In the same vein, perhaps our generation made the transition to phones and digital everything too quickly, and we miss the act of experiencing and holding something tangible in our hands.
But maybe these things are simply just more accessible and seen than previously, through the growth of the internet. For example, in the 90’s if you wanted to find a song that you heard at the supermarket, you couldn’t just Shazam it; it was lost forever unless your friend could pick out the tune and tell you what song it was.
Furthermore, if one wanted to buy a CD, they had to be sure it was something they liked and they were going to listen to, as this was a tangible object that cost money and would take up space in their house. Now, you can explore and listen to music on Spotify for hours without having to pay for anything, allowing one to discover new music much more easily.
Not only that, but people have more options for the things they buy, the hobbies they partake in, or the music they listen to, as it’s all available for purchase online and there are growing communities on each end, making one feel less alone in newly forged identities and interests.
Overall, I don’t think there is one set reason why this generation is so fascinated with the past. I think there are multiple reasons; many of which will not be evident to us until we are far enough in the future to be able to study this cross-section of our history. Our world is constantly shifting and these generational phenomena are simply par for the course. Call it a sign of the times.
