In honor of the sweeping internet trend of Throwback Thrusdays, let’s take a trip deep into our past. To a scary place, with no iPhones or Blackberrys. Long long ago, in a far away place (or right here in Austin) there was a time when teenage boys and girls texted on keyboards with only nine keys, and could drop their phones without shattering them beyond repair. What were these mystical devices we all used to whip out in public, and flip open in the middle school hallway? They were flip phones.

At this point flip phones are essentially extinct, except for the few unfortunate souls whose smartphones didn’t quite withstand that one drop onto the sidewalk. But no one can forget how satisfying it felt to snap a flip phone shut at the end of an aggravating conversation, or how tedious it was to compose a text on a standard keypad. It’s always a welcome feeling of nostalgia to hold a flip phone today and wonder to yourself why it doesn’t pick up a WiFi signal. How can you get to Twitter? Where is the selfie cam on this thing? And we can’t forget that flip phones offered no access to Instagram, which means life is basically pointless.

Although the functionality of flip phones was severely limited, back in the day their style factor was top of the line. You could have color-changing LED screensavers, trendy cases that clipped right onto your belt buckles, and those adorable (or wildly obnoxious) key chains that attached right next to your antenna (because antennas were a necessity to get any cell service. Good times).

So as you bustle through your busy life, smartphone in hand, reading Twitter as you walk down the hallway trying not to hit that freshman in front of you, take a moment to reflect on the joy your very first cell phone brought you. And also how wonderful it felt to retire it, and flip it shut for the last time.