Whilst not someone from the US, I had the same feeling in McDonald's with the original happy meals and the hamburglar. For a child from a very poor family who was on the equivalent of food stamps and without electricity occasionally, the rare McDonald's treat which I ate sat on a toadstool in the restaurant brought real joy to me. Just like the occasional arcade game I actually got to play (although even just looking at a machine without any coins to put in was special) was magical, and still remembered to this day (Virtua Striker). I think there is a real value to nostalgia and for many including me, no amount of money or extravagant trip will ever bring me as much joy as those small treats did in some really hard childhood moments, therefore keeping it around is definitely a sound business model at times.
To take this back to tech, for me it's the same reason, I have a fondness for the early days of the internet and gopher protocol websites that resemble that more closely hold such a big place in my heart.