17 Things That Will Make You So Nostalgic For the Holidays of Your Childhood

Campbell's Soup

When you're a kid, the holiday season is such a special time. And when you become an adult, you get to relive some of that magic with your own little ones. While certain things, like cookies, presents, and snowball fights, will never go out of style, there are some differences between celebrating the holidays back in the day and now. While our kids are busy tracking Santa's path online and taking photos of their presents for Instagram, we knew how to really have some festive fun in a much simpler time.

The season wasn't made until we had our favorite holiday VHS rewound and in the VCR and a hot cup of cocoa loaded with marshmallows in our hands. From the most memorable commercials (raise your hand if that Campbell's snowman ad gets you every time!) to physically looking through a catalog to find the best toys, Christmas was unplugged and oh so cool. Keep reading to see more nostalgic things from holidays past that will send you straight back to your childhood.

01
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Folgers Coffee's "Peter Comes Home For Christmas" Commercial

If we have this sweet commercial permanently seared into our memories, it's only because it played nonstop throughout our childhood during the holiday season. It didn't hurt that Peter was a babe, too.

02
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Campbell's Soup's "Let It Snow" Commercial

Talk about a plot twist. The snowman was really just a boy this whole time, and all he needed was a little bit of hot soup to come back.

03
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"All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey

The Christmas song to end all Christmas songs, Mariah Carey knew what she was doing when she created this '90s gem. Just try getting it out of your head now.

04
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"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" by *NSYNC

Made during Justin Timberlake's iconic "crunchy ramen hair" era, this video brings back all kinds of feelings . . . and also a lot of questions. For starters, why is Santa hungover in the beginning? And second, can I go back in time and be one of the dancing models in this video?

05
TV Christmas Specials
Fox

TV Christmas Specials

It seems like every show under the sun found a way to sneak in a little holiday magic. Here, the ninja turtles take a break from fighting crime to dance around with decorations. While TV shows still have holiday episodes, there really isn't anything like these '90s gems.

06
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Coca Cola's Polar Bear Commercial

These adorable Coca Cola polar bears were everything during the Christmas season. It was so cute that didn't even care that polar bears and penguins don't live on the same hemisphere.

07

Picking Toys From the Catalog

Remember when you would hunker down with a cup of cocoa and a pen and very carefully mark things you wanted your parents to get you? Now, it's all about online shopping, but there was nothing like spending hours physically flipping through catalogs.

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Getting a Holiday Movie at Blockbuster

Back in the day, there wasn't a way to easily get your Christmas movie fix unless you were paying close attention to the TV guide channel to see what was on. Thankfully, Blockbuster was always there for us.

09
Holiday Movies in School
Flickr user Michael Coghlan

Holiday Movies in School

When this fantastic cart got wheeled into your classroom the week before Christmas break, you knew it was time for some fun. After all, no one should expect any real learning to take place right before the holidays.

10

Building Up Your Holiday VHS Collection

If you listen closely, you can still hear the sound they make as you either slid them out of the cardboard box or opened the plastic shell. Don't forget to be kind and rewind.

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Home Alone

The '90s gave us this classic film, and whenever it comes on, we're flooded with so many warm childhood memories. Oh, to be Kevin McCallister and eat pizza and ice cream whenever we wanted.

12

Getting a Talkboy

If you were really lucky, you got this Home Alone 2 dream toy. Practical jokes, hilarity, and outsmarting robbers ensued, we're assuming.

13
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A Muppet Family Christmas

Sure, everyone raves about The Muppet Christmas Carol, but this special had everything: songs, humor, and Fozzie Bear being, well, Fozzie.

14
Writing Letters to Santa
Flickr user janielianne

Writing Letters to Santa

Before the invention of computers and email, we would have to send actual letters to Santa to let him know what we wanted. No fancy Amazon Wish List for us.

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Christmas Cereal

Even our favorite breakfast food got in the holiday spirit, especially Cap'n Crunch, who knew how to make their cereal taste even better with a little help from Santa.

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Holiday SNL Episodes

Saturday Night Live still delivers amazing holiday episodes and sketches today, but they really shined when you were a kid. Sure, we probably didn't get the jokes back then, like the ones from this iconic "Schweddy Balls" sketch, but our parents let us stay up late to watch it anyway.

17

Christmas Sweaters

Before ugly Christmas sweaters were trendy for ironic reasons, we actually wore them because we thought they were cool and stylish. Oh, how wrong (but still awesome) we were.