Millennial Inventions That Have Actually Been Around for Ages

Millennials, born between 1980 and 1995, are the first generation who grew up with social media. Like the generations that preceded them, they are known for having their own discoveries and generational "things" - from being tech-savvy and more health-conscious to their obsession with podcasts and being more socially connected. But they're also accredited with certain inventions that aren't quite accurate.

This generation has started many new trends, but they have also brought back a few trends from many years ago. While there are several things Millennials have come up with, there are also many things they think they invented but didn’t - these Millennial inventions have actually been around for ages.

Ever since millionaire Tim Gurner suggested that Millennials should stop buying avocado toast if they want to buy a house, avocado toast has been one of the things Millennials are known for. Despite this stereotype that all Millennials spend over $20 on this delicious brunch item, Millennials weren’t the first to come up with it.

There are conflicting ideas about the true origin of avocado toast, but most people give credit to Bill Granger, an Australian chef and restaurateur. Granger, who died in 2023, claimed to have served this dish in his restaurant in 1993.

Mom jeans is a term that describes a specific style of women’s high-waisted jeans. Typically, the idea of “mom jeans” or any name with mom in front of it isn’t meant to indicate something trendy. Instead, it describes something that’s out of style.

Mom jeans became a fashion trend in the 2010s, but it wasn’t the first time these jeans were popular. The original mom jeans came from the 1970s but became popular in the 1980s and 90s. They came back around again for numerous reasons with one of the main reasons being that vintage clothing was in style.

For many Millennials, using dating apps like Tinder or Bumble is pretty common. The popularity of these apps and online dating in general has grown in recent years. According to one statistic, 52% of those participating in online dating are Millennials.

However, the idea of online dating was around before Millennials were using apps to look for a date. Most people consider Match.com to be the first site to offer online dating and the founder of this site launched the free version in 1995. Even the oldest Millennials were only teenagers at the time this site was first launched.

There’s no doubt selfies have been incredibly popular among Millennials. After all, with the rise of social media platforms like MySpace in the early 2000s, Millennials seemed to be the first to start taking selfies, especially from bizarre angles.

The origin of the selfie is the more sophisticated self-portrait, which Millennials didn’t invent. While a selfie implies a casual picture someone takes of themselves, usually on a cell phone, the first recorded self-portrait existed long before social media. Artist Robert Cornelius took a historically significant self-portrait in 1839.

Of all the drinks Millennials prefer, craft beer is one of the most popular. In recent years, we’ve seen even more craft breweries pop up all over the country as Millennials praised some of their favorite craft beers.

It may be surprising to find out that the craft beer movement can be traced back as far as the 1960s and 70s. Home-brewing was legalized in 1978 and many craft breweries started popping up across the country throughout the 1980s.

Ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft revolutionized the way Millennials spent their weekends. Whether they were using ride-sharing as a way to make their way home safely after a night of partying or they were using them as a way to get around while on vacation, it’s often considered a Millennial invention.

Although it may have looked a bit different back then, the concept of ride-sharing isn’t a Millennial invention after all. Some of the first ride-sharing services appeared in the 1970s, including the Dial-a-ride service which was a ride-sharing service for individuals with disabilities.

Even though the gluten-free diet is mainly for those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, this diet became a trend in the 2010s mostly thanks to Millennials. Although the concept of celiac disease isn’t new, the gluten-free fad led to a significant increase in people without celiac disease avoiding gluten.

Even though Millennials are responsible for this diet becoming a trend, experts have known about the connection between celiac disease and gluten since the 1950s. Millennials certainly didn’t invent the concept of eating gluten-free, although they are partially responsible for convincing people without gluten sensitivity to avoid it.

The popularity of food trucks started to grow in the early 2000s. These portable restaurants started to become popular because it was a way for food vendors to sell food without the expense of having a physical restaurant or store.

Social media platforms also helped to make food trucks popular. However, the history of food trucks didn’t start in the early 2000s and they were around long before Millennials were tweeting about them. Although food trucks as we know them are more of a modern concept, we can trace the idea of food trucks back to the 19th century when people used chuckwagons to provide food to traveling workers on the road.

It’s true that the term “binge-watching,” which refers to someone watching multiple episodes of a show in one sitting, hasn’t been around for long. The term itself wasn’t coined until the early 2000s and the obsession with binge-watching as a hobby became popular in the 2010s.

Even if people didn't call it binge-watching, this “hobby” isn’t something new or something that Millennials invented. Members of Generation X were binge-watching Nick at Nite in the 1980s. One of the earlier examples of this practice also came from anime fans who watched numerous episodes of their favorite anime in the 1970s and 80s.

Minimalism has been a trend among Millennials, especially since the Marie Kondo and tiny home craze began. This type of lifestyle emphasizes simplicity–both in design and architecture as well as the physical items we own.

Despite this lifestyle being popular among Millennials, it’s not a new concept that Millennials invented. The roots of minimalism go back to a movement in the 1960s and 70s when this style became popular in art and culture.

Millennials were the first generation to grow up with social media, even while they were still kids. Many Millennials remember getting their first MySpace account and even remember when Facebook was still just for college kids.

MySpace, however, wasn’t the first social media platform. Before there was MySpace, there was SixDegrees.com, a social networking site that launched in 1997. Although some Millennials were old enough to remember this site, many Millennials were too young to be aware of social media until MySpace launched in 2003.

Millennials love their music festivals with many choosing to attend events like Coachella and Lollapalooza. Depending on when they were born and their taste in music, many Millennials attended Warped Tour and Bonaroo when they were growing up as well. Although music festivals have always been popular with Millennials, they weren’t the first to attend these types of festivals.

Music festivals have been around in some form since ancient times, but even the several past generations had their own version of music festivals. Baby Boomers had festivals such as the Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock, and the Glastonbury Festival.