The Totally Sweet ’90s: From Clear Cola to Furby, and Grunge to “Whatever,” the Toys, Tastes, and Trends That Defined a Decade by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Brian Bellmont
Authors: Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Brian Bellmont
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by the undeniable charm of the lead actors, the ever-changing romances, and the engaging and witty dialogue. Sure, no one we knew talked as wordily as these kids, but then no one we knew had an affair with their English teacher or platonically slept in the same bed with the beautiful girl next door either.
For kids who grew up right along with the
Dawsonâs
four, the 2003 finale was a monumental event. A little sorrow (Jen dies!), a little romance (Joey chooses Pacey!), and a little wish fulfillment (Dawson meets Steven Spielberg!). The showâs themes were hard to resist. Everyone can relate to the irresistible pull of home and the comfort and the confidence of childhood friends turned adultsâeven those of us who didnât have our own creeks.
STATUS: Gone for good, except for DVDs and reruns. Itâs been replaced by scores of angsty-teen shows, from
The O.C.
to
One Tree Hill
.
FUN FACT: Katie Holmesâs Joey, not James Van Der Beekâs Dawson, was the only character to appear in every episode.
Department 56
T hink youâre too old for a dollhouse once you actually have a mortgage on a real house? Think again. Thanks to Department 56 and its dozens of little ceramic houses, millions of collectors never had to outgrow their hobby.
Department 56 cranked out its first six buildings in 1976 and never looked back. Crafty moms (this was rarely a hobby for dads) chose one or more of the companyâs many series and started collecting the little light-up churches, homes, and businesses the way their kids collected baseball cards. The villages were almost all Christmasâthemed, but once you had them installed on your bookshelves or end tables, they pretty much stayed out all year.
The buildings themselves might have sprung straight from a Thomas Kinkade painting. Quaintness and charm ruled, with the modern world only a distant memory (although there is a McDonaldâs, itâs an old-fashioned one).
The ultimate frustration for kids? The delicate accessories would shatter like frozen taffy if you were at all clumsy. So while it might look irresistible to race those little ice skaters, put the dog inthe mailbox, or see if the caroling nuns could balance on the church roof, your messing around was bound to end in tears and a dustpan full of razor-sharp shards.
STATUS: New houses come out each year.
FUN FACT: Department 56 began as a part of Bachmanâs, a Minneapolis florist, and took its name from the fact that the storeâs wholesale gift-import division was its fifty-sixth department.
Dippinâ Dots
J ust when ice cream seemed like it was a pretty mature technology, along came the sci-fi snackable known as Dippinâ Dots, ice cream frozen in liquid nitrogen and served up in little dishes of colorful, edible beads. Found at state fair booths and in some malls, it was a science experiment from the gods.
Who the heck invented this stuff, George Jetson? (Actually, it was microbiologist Curt Jones.) It looked like something that would pop out of the
Star Trek
food replicator. We didnât actually realize you could freeze ice cream any more than it was already frozen, but there was always something loopy and fun about savoring a dish of Dots. You shoveled in a spoonful and your mouth took it from there, melting and squashing the dots together and carpeting your tongue with cold. You could pretend you were eating food pills from the future, or that you were an astronaut sampling interplanetary cuisine.
Their slogan, the âIce Cream of the Future,â always seemed a little odd to us, though. As futuristic as the treat seemed, how could we be eating the ice cream of the future here in the present? And if we had Dippinâ Dots yesterday, didnât that make them the ice cream of our fairly recent past? Our advice: Try not to think about it, and just get us a spoon.
STATUS: New owners took over in 2012, and the tasty treats are still fixtures at fairs and malls.
FUN
For kids who grew up right along with the
Dawsonâs
four, the 2003 finale was a monumental event. A little sorrow (Jen dies!), a little romance (Joey chooses Pacey!), and a little wish fulfillment (Dawson meets Steven Spielberg!). The showâs themes were hard to resist. Everyone can relate to the irresistible pull of home and the comfort and the confidence of childhood friends turned adultsâeven those of us who didnât have our own creeks.
STATUS: Gone for good, except for DVDs and reruns. Itâs been replaced by scores of angsty-teen shows, from
The O.C.
to
One Tree Hill
.
FUN FACT: Katie Holmesâs Joey, not James Van Der Beekâs Dawson, was the only character to appear in every episode.
Department 56
T hink youâre too old for a dollhouse once you actually have a mortgage on a real house? Think again. Thanks to Department 56 and its dozens of little ceramic houses, millions of collectors never had to outgrow their hobby.
Department 56 cranked out its first six buildings in 1976 and never looked back. Crafty moms (this was rarely a hobby for dads) chose one or more of the companyâs many series and started collecting the little light-up churches, homes, and businesses the way their kids collected baseball cards. The villages were almost all Christmasâthemed, but once you had them installed on your bookshelves or end tables, they pretty much stayed out all year.
The buildings themselves might have sprung straight from a Thomas Kinkade painting. Quaintness and charm ruled, with the modern world only a distant memory (although there is a McDonaldâs, itâs an old-fashioned one).
The ultimate frustration for kids? The delicate accessories would shatter like frozen taffy if you were at all clumsy. So while it might look irresistible to race those little ice skaters, put the dog inthe mailbox, or see if the caroling nuns could balance on the church roof, your messing around was bound to end in tears and a dustpan full of razor-sharp shards.
STATUS: New houses come out each year.
FUN FACT: Department 56 began as a part of Bachmanâs, a Minneapolis florist, and took its name from the fact that the storeâs wholesale gift-import division was its fifty-sixth department.
Dippinâ Dots
J ust when ice cream seemed like it was a pretty mature technology, along came the sci-fi snackable known as Dippinâ Dots, ice cream frozen in liquid nitrogen and served up in little dishes of colorful, edible beads. Found at state fair booths and in some malls, it was a science experiment from the gods.
Who the heck invented this stuff, George Jetson? (Actually, it was microbiologist Curt Jones.) It looked like something that would pop out of the
Star Trek
food replicator. We didnât actually realize you could freeze ice cream any more than it was already frozen, but there was always something loopy and fun about savoring a dish of Dots. You shoveled in a spoonful and your mouth took it from there, melting and squashing the dots together and carpeting your tongue with cold. You could pretend you were eating food pills from the future, or that you were an astronaut sampling interplanetary cuisine.
Their slogan, the âIce Cream of the Future,â always seemed a little odd to us, though. As futuristic as the treat seemed, how could we be eating the ice cream of the future here in the present? And if we had Dippinâ Dots yesterday, didnât that make them the ice cream of our fairly recent past? Our advice: Try not to think about it, and just get us a spoon.
STATUS: New owners took over in 2012, and the tasty treats are still fixtures at fairs and malls.
FUN
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