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Nostalgic Christmas videos are going viral on TikTok

Are you feeling particularly nostalgic right now when you think about the holidays? Christmas videos and photos of collective childhood memories from the '80s, '90s, and early 1980s are going viral on TikTok — and there's a reason why it's happening right now.

The nostalgic holiday footage that's going viral consists of grainy, low-resolution footage shot on VHS camcorders or disposable cameras: children celebrating the announcement of Snow Day on television, families browsing now-closed toy stores like FAO Schwarz, scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and Blink , Christmas trees with tinsel.

The nostalgic images combined with classic Christmas songs have won over many on TikTok, especially parents.

  • “I force my children to live like this.”
  • “Let’s make sure the kids get that experience.”
  • “Kids these days will never know.”
  • “Is it just me or do the Christmas trees no longer shine like that?”
  • “I want the holidays to feel as magical for my baby as they did for me.”
  • “Everything used to have to be 'aesthetic' and it was just magical and joyful.”
  • “Allow your children to live like Christmas in the 90s.”
  • “Can we all just recreate this for our kids?”

Why do nostalgic Christmas videos bring out our inner child?

“Feelings of nostalgia tend to increase during times of crisis,” Rachael D. Robnett, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, tells TODAY.com. For example, says Robnett, during election season or the pandemic.

“In psychology, nostalgia was originally a bad thing – a 'mental illness' like depression and melancholy, whose root was a combination of homecoming and pain,” says Robnett. “The literature is actually more positive: it seems that nostalgia can be a stabilizing force that gives people comfort. One possible reason is that it reminds us of our true selves, which is associated with increased well-being.”

She adds: “Nostalgia also reminds us of our relationships and community, which is a good way to combat loneliness.”

The universal symbolism – the songs we all know and love, the traditions and mass marketing – can make us feel like we're part of something bigger and better.

“We tend to romanticize the past and focus more on the good times than the bad,” says Robnett. “An example is the birth of a child – if we all remembered how difficult it is, perhaps we wouldn’t have any more children.”

Robnett separates the aforementioned “personal nostalgia” (reflecting on positive core memories) from “historical nostalgia,” thereby poeticizing a period of time that one did not personally experience. “Historical nostalgia – for example, when people long for life in the 1950s… could be rooted in dissatisfaction with the present moment,” she says.

The current holiday nostalgia trend on TikTok is likely being driven by Generation Z, those born after 1997.

“Gen Z consumes a lot of nostalgia content,” says Robnett. “They seem to perceive the early 2000s as a simpler and simpler time,” even though many still wore diapers back then. Robnett says the low-quality footage on social media reminds people of a time when “everything wasn't so glossy and precise.”

If you love the vintage atmosphere and want your children to experience what you call a “real Christmas”, then enjoy!

“There’s nothing wrong with getting lost in the Christmas shots,” says Robnett. “Researchers have found that people who are encouraged to feel nostalgic feel a greater sense of social connection and are more likely to seek social support when they are going through a difficult time.”


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