Hey there, and welcome back to Nostalgia 90s corner! This week we’re walking down nostalgia lane by looking at nine things you’d find on a 90s desk! Any of these bring back some bittersweet memories?
Desktop Computers
Nowadays we slip our slim laptops into our bags and carry them to work and back, and even desktops are sleek and shiny, but there used to be a time when moving your computers was unimaginable because well, look at the size of these things!
Telephones
We all have our mobiles, some of us have two. Sure landlines still exist but most of them are cordless phones. When was the last time you saw a phone like the one above? Dialing was sure more fun when those existed, don’t you think?
Filofax
Before organizational apps came into play, Filofaxes were a staple in most employees’ must-have stationary. Every meeting’s highlights and notes, as well as reminders, were jotted down diligently to peruse as needed.
Casio Digital Diary
A Casio digital diary was multi-purpose in that it had a calendar where you could save birthdays, events, anniversaries etc; as well as a calculator, a clock, and could store your contact details.
Rolodex
Business cards may slowly be driven to extinction given that mobile phones can store contact details, with pictures and personalized names. However, there was a time when business cards were all the rage and one of the innovative ways to make sure you didn’t lose one was to store it in a Rolodex. A Rolodex would store all your cards in alphabetical order.
Teleprinters
This might look like a fax machine but in reality it’s called a Teleprinter. While fax machines could scan whole documents and send it to another machine, Teleprinters were used for the sole purpose of sending and recieving telegraph messages.
Paperweights
Glass, wooden, even marble paperweights used to occupy most tables back in the 90s. It was the classy way to keep your papers from flying off your table. With most of our ‘paperwork’ being digital now, paperweights are slowly becoming obsolete in office spaces.
Pagers
In the 90s pagers were one of the most popular modes of telecommunication. Pagers could send and recieve messages, and even announce voice messages depending on which model you had. While pagers aren’t widely used anymore, some hospitals still choose to use pagers as one form of communication.
Tipp-Ex Mini Pocket Mouse
An error in your document? Don’t worry Tipp-Ex has you covered. Slide the mini pocket mouse over the word or phrase you don’t want in your document and it’ll whiten it neater than a whitener. You can also write on top of that. Ta-da! Who said words are written in stone and can’t be erased?
Had pretty well all of that on my desk or in my office in 1990, but by then the telex machines were being removed. The service was expensive, and fax machines were rapidly replacing them. I don’t remember seeing one by the mid 90s.
The Apple computer in the photo was semi portable. The accountants arrived in 1992 with them in zip up bags, and set up for an audit.
Filofaxes were coming to an end – they were really in vogue 1985-95. I had my whole world in mine, especially on overseas business trips. Passport, airline tickets, cash, credit cards, agenda, contacts. An entire life in a leather book.
Desk phones by then were touch dial, often with some “smarts” – redial, recall etc. They often had inter office functionality as well.
It was a pivotal era.