90s Items Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A friend’s pager displays a phone number after beeping. What would the user typically do next?
Speak directly into the pager to answer
Insert the pager into a fax machine
Use the pager to send an email reply
Find a telephone and call the displayed number
2. Why could a household member’s use of the telephone interrupt a typical 1990s dial-up internet session?
The computer needed sound from the television to decode websites
The modem drew electrical power from the telephone handset
The modem and voice calls were using the same analog phone line
Every telephone call automatically restarted the computer
3. A portable music player repeatedly skips while its owner jogs, but the headphones and batteries are working. Which 90s device is the most likely culprit?
A portable cassette player
A portable CD player without effective anti-skip protection
A handheld FM radio
A solid-state MP3 player
4. Which storage item commonly used with 1990s computers had a rigid plastic shell, a sliding metal shutter, and a capacity often measured as 1.44 MB?
A Zip cartridge
A VHS cassette
A MiniDisc
A 3.5-inch floppy disk
5. You are returning a rented VHS movie marked “Be kind, rewind.” What are you expected to do first?
Remove the magnetic tape from its shell
Turn the cassette over to play its other side
Erase the recording with the VCR
Wind the recording back to its beginning
6. During a game of Pogs, what is the purpose of the heavier piece called a slammer?
It is thrown onto the stack to flip over lighter discs
It measures the height of the stacked pieces
It marks which player must miss a turn
It stores the discs between rounds
7. Which 1990s product was a handheld audio recorder associated with Kevin’s voice-changing tricks in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”?
Yak Bak
Talkboy
Speak & Spell
HitClips
8. Which pocket-sized 1990s toy placed a virtual creature on a small screen and required its owner to feed, clean, and care for it?
Polly Pocket
Bop It
Tamagotchi
Skip-It
9. Collectors examining a 1990s Beanie Baby often paid close attention to which attached feature?
A battery compartment in its back
A holographic sticker under each paw
Its heart-shaped Ty swing tag
A plastic adoption certificate stored inside it
10. After taking the final exposure on a typical disposable camera, how would someone obtain the photographs?
Connect the camera to a computer with a serial cable
Wait for the images to appear automatically on instant film
Open the camera and place its film directly in a printer
Take the complete camera to a photo-processing service
11. A busy 1990s professional taps appointments and contacts onto a small handheld screen with a stylus. Which item best fits the scene?
Sony Discman
PalmPilot
Nintendo Game Boy
Motorola pager
12. A cassette tape has unspooled, but the tape is not torn. Which ordinary object was commonly used to turn one reel and wind the tape back in?
A pencil
A coin
A paper clip
A drinking straw
13. Which device best matches this description: a Nintendo handheld with interchangeable cartridges, physical controls, and an original monochrome screen?
Game Boy
Nintendo 64
Tiger Electronics handheld game
Sega Dreamcast
14. Which 1990s electronic toy had large ears and eyes, spoke a fictional language called Furbish, and appeared to learn more English over time?
Furby
Troll doll
Giga Pet
Teddy Ruxpin
15. What made a slap bracelet snap from a straight strip into a loop around the wrist?
A hidden elastic cord tightened when stretched
A magnetic clasp pulled both ends together
A flexible spring-steel strip changed shape when struck
Air pressure inflated a curved inner tube
16. Which clue most clearly identifies a portable cassette player rather than a portable CD player?
It sends audio through wired headphones
It can rewind magnetic tape wound between two spools
It runs on replaceable batteries
It has buttons for playing, stopping, and changing tracks