Guide to Nostalgia

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, according to many people. The phrase is usually used in jest and, indeed, many people seem to be keener than ever on looking back. Some of us even try to recreate the past through how we decorate our houses (someone has designed a spare bedroom to look like World War 2 air raid shelter), through things we collect, hobbies we have and so on.

There are many ways in which people try to return to the past. Museums take us back to an age that used to be - the RAF Museum, for example, where we can look at old aircraft and related items, is a good case in point. Think about classic car rallies and all that happens behind them - people have to own the cars, maintain them and so on. They have car clubs which meet regularly and where the members swap stories and tell each other about past experiences.

Other people save things such as comics and magazines or memorabilia of some sort. There are many sources through which these things can be obtained and some of them are listed on the Where to Go page.

Radio and television are other ways in which people can indulge their nostalgia and there are numerous channels that take us back to the past. If we wish to hark back to a Golden Age (imaginary or not) then we can do so with ease providing we have a digital radio and lots of channels on our television. Old films are shown on some television channels, so we can watch those as well as watching our former favourite television programmes.

Of course, we all have old photos that we can look back on and many of us have newspaper cuttings and so on that we get out from time to time to look at. If we still have one of those things called a record player we might play our old vinyl records that will recall past times. Technology can help us to bring our nostalgia up to date by helping convert, for example, LPs to MP3 tracks and our old 35mm slides to digital photographs. Not everyone will want to do this but many people love to do it.

There are numerous websites that can help us indulge our nostalgia. Perhaps the most well-known is Friends Reunited, which helps us to find our old school friends and other past acquaintances. Getting together with the people we grew up with is the perfect way to indulge our nostalgia!

Most of us love looking back into the past. Our old sporting heroes are better than the current sportsmen, the music was better, the trains and cars had more character and the comics were more imaginative. That's what we think, anyway, and that's why nostalgia is alive and kicking.

So if you want to indulge in a bit of nostalgia but need a few pointers and guidance to help you get started, read our Guide and take it from there. It will show you where to go; how to use the technology; what radio and TV have to offer; how to use the Internet to help with your nostalgia; and the kind of things that people feel nostalgic about.

Just click on the links in the box, get your appetite whetted and get nostalgic. For a quick start, go to www.coldal.org to see the kind of things that people get nostalgic about. It's definitely a feel-good website, so get yourself into the mood.

If you have anything in particular that you're nostalgic about or you can help other people with their nostalgic longings, let us know through the feedback form or by going to our Forum.